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It was his first time competing outside of Australia, but he didn't disappoint.
Photography by Kevin Glendinning, Roger Dawson & Conor Edwards Words by Luke Barry The serenity of the scene belied the challenge that awaited.
Max McRae’s Donegal International Rally debut was the equivalent of playing your first tennis match on grass at Wimbledon , but yet nobody looked stressed.
Alister McRae greeted DirtFish with a smile: “Wonderful weather,” he grinned, looking up at the grey sky , a bit of a contrast to what he’s used to in Australia.
His boy was here to tackle his first ever rally outside of Europe, and first proper rally on asphalt.
But, waiting for Max and co-driver Mac Kierans to pull into service from parc fermé, Alister was more than happy to chew the fat. “The Mount Errigal hotel hasn’t changed and I’m sure when I left that the last time I had a hangover!” he laughed. “When you drive in you remember stuff, but to think what is that 25 or 26 years [since I was last here]? “It’s a long time but you still remember a lot of it and you still see some of the faces, they look the same age as they were then but that’s just because I’m older as well!” In all seriousness though, there was an important mission in-hand: “I just hope he can basically get a good clean run, get through all the stages and just build the speed up,” said Alister. “It’s definitely a baptism of fire, especially now that it’s wet and it’s drying out so it’s going to be tricky. “All the stages today I think will be the tricky ones so if he can get through them without any problems and then he’s got Saturday and Sunday to start to have a bit of a push and see. “He doesn’t have a lot of experience at all so it’ll be a steep learning curve.
Obviously everything he’s jumped into he’s gone well so we’ll see how it goes.” The sight of McRae’s Ford Fiesta Rally4 halted the conversation, and Alister was straight over to catch up with Max.
DirtFish offered our hand , it was the first time this writer had met Max , and soon got talking about the three-day challenge that lay ahead. “It’s my first rally out of Australia, so pretty excited, pretty nervous, mixture of emotions all round but we’ll just get into it,” Max said in his unassuming manner that DirtFish soon comes to learn is typical of the man. “I think today we’ll just get through these stages because these stages are pretty tricky.
Saturday, Sunday on the classic stages we might be able to have a bit of a push, but again we just want to get to the end of it. “It’s a big rally as well so we’ve got lots of time to get into it, and yeah we’ll just have fun as well and get experience.” It’s at that moment Max is presented with an iPhone.
Jimmy McRae and Arthur Kierans have been out doing gravel notes on the day’s stages, and they’ve got the onboard for Max to look at.
We joined him. “Looks sketchy,” we remarked. “Yeah it’s tricky,” responded Max. “Lots of places to catch you out.” Attempting to contemplate just what a task this is going to be, we asked: “How old are you?” “I’m 18 today actually,” said Max. “You kept that quiet!” “Yeah.” And with that, he’s off and away into his very first Donegal.
Despite the peril, McRae makes it look easy.
A slide into the side of a haybale that dents the bodywork slightly on Friday aside, McRae brings the car back without a scratch on it.
His consistency is rewarded with a third place finish in class and 53rd overall, 38 spots up on his seeding of 91. “We weren’t looking at that coming into the weekend but after seeing some times we saw if we could have a bit of a push on and it was really nice to come away with third against some real quick drivers, some of the quickest in the country,” Max admitted. “It was a tricky weekend straight from the start, I’ve definitely learned a lot more this weekend than I have in any of the other rallies that I’ve done.
But we’ve made it to the end and that’s the main thing, so we’re over the moon with that.” The pride from Max’s gramps and Irish rallying royalty Jimmy was obvious.
There to welcome Max in at the end of the last stage, he was beaming when analyzing Max’s performance with DirtFish. “I told him if you’re lying in a ditch on the first or second stage then you’re not getting the experience of driving these roads, so just drive to your own ability and that’s what he did.
He was quite good I’ll tell you. “When you think that he’s never even seen the roads in Ireland never mind driven them, I think it’s a fantastic result.
So cool and comfortable, I’ve been more worried than Max has been.
But it’s a fantastic result.” Dad Alister’s view was similar: “I’m really impressed, especially coming for the first time because each day was a different type of day. “The first day was wet and slippy then it dried out, the second day was a bit faster and drier and then today it was wet again so each day’s been different and he’s coped with it really well.” “He drove very well, I know if I was that age I wouldn’t have been fit to do that, no way!” laughed co-driver Kierans. “To take the car home without a mark on it on such a tricky rally on tricky stages, it’s very, very good to be quite honest.
It’s brilliant.” What was perhaps more brilliant though was to see a McRae back on the entry list in Ireland.
The family may be more widely remembered for the exploits of Colin in particular in the World Rally Championship, or Jimmy, Colin and Alister in the British Rally Championship. “We let dad go in everywhere first, he’s like royalty here!” Alister laughed.
Jimmy agreed: “”I’m more famous in Ireland than I am on Lanark high street!” Jimmy chuckled.
Seven Circuit of Ireland wins would do that.
But it was wonderful to witness it.
Jimmy is a walking legend on the Emerald Isle, and that was no more obvious than walking to the finish ramp with him and Alister outside the Mount Errigal Hotel, and legions of fans shouting “Jimmy!
Jimmy!” Max too was welcomed by all , other competitors keen to get photos with him and share their memories of his gramps Jimmy, dad Alister or uncle Colin. “It means a lot because people are still passionate about what my uncle did and what my dad and my grandpa have done,” Max said candidly. “You see more people come up to my grandad than my dad to get photos!
My gramps always walks with a smile, so he still loves seeing all the fans and what not, and I like interacting with people and seeing the fans. “It’s nice to see everyone, especially to come over here and everyone loves it so it’s pretty cool.
It’s completely different here in terms of fans and the energy around the service park.” The moment wasn’t lost on Jimmy either. “I’ve now done gravel notes for Colin, Alister and Max,” he said. “That’s the job complete.” Words: Luke Barry Tags: Alister McRae , Donegal International Rally , Max McRae Publish Date June 21, 2022 DirtFish https://www-dirtfish.imgix.net/2022/06/Max-McRae-Donegal-Rally-2022-pic-4-Conor-Edwards.jpg?fit=scale&fm=pjpg&h=520&ixlib=php-1.2.1&q=70&w=780&wpsize=entry-main June 21, 2022 Up Next Sign up today and be the first to know about special offers, exclusive products and more!
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Subaru Impreza STI Sedan & Hatchback Features Roll Cage: Every rally car requires a welded-in safety cage.
The roll cages in our cars are built in-house from scratch.
Racing Seats: Driver and co-driver need to be firmly mounted to the structure of the vehicle.
The use of hinged-back seats in rally vehicles is prohibited in rally and most forms of racing.
Racing Harnesses: Safety first.
A minimum of a 5-point harness is required by all American rally sanctioning bodies.
The 5 points consist of 2 shoulder harness, 2 lap belts and a single anti-submarine belt (not shown).
Handbrake: Most rally cars use a hydraulic handbrake.
The purpose of the handbrake maneuver is to turn a car around a very tight corner by locking up the rear wheels aiding in the rotation of the car around the corner.
Engine: Our Subaru STi’s use a 2.5 liter 4-cylinder Turbo-charged Boxer engine.
Drive train: The Subaru STi is equipped with an advanced all-wheel-drive system with an active center differential.
Gravel Rally Tires: Being a rally school, we spend most of our time on gravel roads.
To maximize the learning experience, we outfit all of our cars with the latest gravel rally tires for maximum traction.
Method Rally Wheels: It is very important to have a durably strong, yet lightweight rally wheel that can hold up to constant abuse, rocks, rough roads and punctures.
At DirtFish, we use and trust Method Race Wheels.
Suspension: Rally is rarely on a perfectly smooth roads, because of that rally cars require suspension that can take the abuse.
We choose to use Reiger rally suspension on our cars.
Brakes: Rally cars commonly use a 15″ rally wheel.
In order for the wheels to fit on our Subaru STi’s, we had to convert them to a Group N brake setup.
Underbody Protection: Driving at high speeds over variable surfaces can easily damage parts.
With the constant spray of gravel that gets thrown at them, skid plates and urethane underbody protection help with the longevity of the underbody of the cars.
Subaru BRZ Features Roll Cage: Every rally car requires a welded-in safety cage.
The roll cages in our cars are built in-house from scratch.
Racing Seats: Driver and co-driver need to be firmly mounted to the structure of the vehicle.
The use of hinged-back seats in rally vehicles is prohibited in rally and most forms of racing.
Racing Harnesses: Safety first.
A minimum of a 5-point harness is required by all American rally sanctioning bodies.
The 5 points consist of 2 shoulder harness, 2 lap belts and a single anti-submarine belt (not shown).
Handbrake: Most rally cars use a hydraulic handbrake.
The purpose of the handbrake maneuver is to turn a car around a very tight corner by locking up the rear wheels to aid the rotation of the car around the corner.
Engine: The Subary BRZ is powered by a 2.0 liter naturally aspirated Boxer engine.
Drive train: The Subaru BRZ is rear-wheel-drive and equipped with a limited slip differential.
Gravel Rally Tires: Being a rally school, we spend most of our time on gravel roads.
To maximize the learning experience, we outfit all of our cars with the latest gravel rally tires for maximum traction.
Method Rally Wheels: It is very important to have a durably strong, yet lightweight rally wheel that can hold up to constant abuse, rocks, rough roads and punctures.
At DirtFish, we use and trust Method Race Wheels.
Suspension: Rally is rarely on a perfectly smooth roads, because of that rally cars require suspension that can take the abuse.
We choose to use Reiger rally suspension on our cars.
Brakes: Rally cars commonly use a 15″ rally wheel.
Luckily with the Subaru BRZ’s, the stock brake system is more than adequate for our programs.
Underbody Protection: Driving at high speeds over variable surfaces can easily damage parts.
With the constant spray of gravel that gets thrown at them, skid plates and urethane underbody protection help with the longevity of the underbody of the cars.
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