September 1, 2008

More than 1000 Subaru owners and thousands more fans have celebrated the life of Colin McRae this weekend.

To mark the fifteenth anniversary of Colin’s first WRC win, in New Zealand, Prodrive – who manage the Subaru world rally team, organised the convoy, which at its peak stretched 30 miles.

The estimated 1100 Subaru cars, left Colin’s home town of Lanark on Saturday morning, led by his father Jimmy McRae, himself a former five times British rally champion.  Nine hours and 300 miles later, it arrived at Prodrive’s headquarters in Banbury, having been cheered along the way by thousands of fans who stood and cheered on every available motorway bridge on route.

“Literally every bridge had people waving and cheering us along with many hanging the Saltire (Scottish flag), from the railings.” said Grant Hendry, who led the McRae Gathering convoy. “It turned what was an already memorable event into a truly amazing and emotional occasion.”

The convoy re-gathered at Prodrive’s headquarters in Banbury on Sunday morning, before being led back up the M40 by Colin McRae’s original 1996 Impreza rally car.  In a fitting finale to the event, a sign almost half a mile long and made up of 1086 Subarus spelt out COLIN MCRAE and the Scottish Saltire in a new official Guinness World Record – smashing the previous record by more than 800 cars.  The cars then broke a second Guinness World Record by creating the largest parade of cars as they left the Prodrive test track.

Colin McRae died on 15th September 2007, with his five year old son Jimmy, when the helicopter he was flying crashed.  It is thought that the cause was mechanical failure.  Two family friends also perished in the accident.

It is estimated that the event has raised nearly £40,000 for the McRae charities.

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