Wed 22 May 2024
Max McRae will make his second start in this season’s Probite British Rally Championship this weekend armed with a Rally2 car – plus important kilometres on Tarmac following his run to fourth place among the FIA Junior ERC contingent on Rally Islas Canarias earlier this month.
The 19-year-old is tackling selected rounds of the British championship this season in an M-Sport Ford Fiesta Rally2 alongside his Junior ERC title campaign in a TRT Rally Team-run Peugeot 208 Rally4.
He will contest the Beatson’s Building Supplies Jim Clark Rally from 24 - 25 May on sealed-surface stages in the Borders region of Scotland.
“We’re going to the Jim Clark on the back of the Canaries, which was a decent result for us,” Scottish driver McRae said. “The good thing is that I’m very much in that mindset for driving on asphalt. OK, the roads in the Scottish Borders are a bit different to those we used around Las Palmas, but it’s still the same principle.
“In the Canaries, the road was quite similar to a race track, you were looking a lot at the lines, about carrying speed and enjoying fairly consistent high grip. In Scotland the grip level can change a fair bit. For example, on a fundamental level, has the farmer taken the cows out of the field in the last few days? We’re on roads which are lined by farms.
“The rhythm of the stages on the Jim Clark changes more as well. You can turn onto some narrower places, then have some wider quick bits – there’s lots to keep you busy.”
Chris Ingram, the 2019 ERC champion, is the top seed on the Jim Clark Rally. Osian Pryce, an ERC points-scorer last season, is seeded fourth with McRae, who will be co-driven by FIA ERC3 champion co-driver Cameron Fair, seeded 13th.
Meanwhile, McRae will continue his Junior ERC title challenge on BAUHAUS Royal Rally of Scandinavia from 13 - 15 June.
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