… 20 (15!) Questions with – Colin McRae …
Whilst raiding the archives the other night I came across this chat I had with Colin McRae in 1998, and since you lot seem to like a bit of nostalgia I thought I would reprint the interview here. I chatted to Colin after he bounced back from retirement on Rally Catalunya in Spain with diff failure to win in Corsica. He was driving for Subaru at the time with Nicky Grist on the Notes and was about to depart for Argentina. It’s not strictly part of the new ‘20 Questions with’ series, but I thought it might be of interest anyway. Different times, eh? …
JB: On the in-car TV coverage, we saw you narrowly missing that cow on the last stage, did it give you a fright?
CM: That was the 3rd one! That was what put Tommi (Makinen) out last year. It went the wrong way for Tommi, but the right way for me. It’s such a barren landscape out there, no fences, It’s a constant problem. Even a sheep can put you out of a rally, but a cow is much bigger, Tommi was very lucky last year. The car was destroyed after it tumbled down a ravine. Animals are always a bit of a worry in rallying, it’s difficult to secure the route 100%.
JB: Is it always in the back of your mind, something around this next corner?
CM: No, you can’t afford to keep thinking that. If there is something there, you just have to sort it out when you get there.
JB: Spectators appear to be another sort of animal.
CM: Not so much in Corsica, but in Catalunya there were a couple of hairy moments with spectators. In Portugal there were absolutely diabolical, but all the rallies are better than they used to be. They can never be safe enough as far as I’m concerned. All the organisers are aware of that and the FIA have got a big push on just now, they actually cancelled on stage in Corsica. It was a good thing, because if they don’t, folk won’t take them seriously. They cancelled the stage because of a jump off a side road on to a main road where the photographers had lined both sides of the road after the jump. If a driver had lost it, even a wee it, there was nowhere to go with stone walls and a rockface. They wouldn’t move, even when told by the FIA security helicopter. You know what it’s like, they shuffled about and moved back a bit and then crept back, so they just cancelled it. We lost a stage because of that.
JB: You had a long association with Pirelli in the British Championship before moving on to Michelin in the WRC team and then back to Pirelli, is there much difference between them now?
CM: We are the only team on Pirelli. It goes in roundabouts, sometimes better, sometimes not as good. But because there are two manufacturers involved, it’s a big competition between them. If we were all on Michelin we would probably end up with a ‘control’ tyre as companies wouldn’t need to spend the money. After Catalunya, there was a week before Corsica and that week Pirelli designed and manufactured a completely brand new tyre and built up stocks for the rally. That was what we used in Corsica.
JB: What about differences between cars?
CM: The thing that makes the difference now is the tyres. Looking at other times, we appear to have fallen behind a wee bit in the dry, whereas last year, we were good there. In the first two days of Corsica we used wets and were annihilating everyone, that’s down to tyres for sure. In the wet they’re good but we need to work on them for the dry.
JB: You nearly fell foul of the new tyre tread rules, how is that working out?
CM: When the FIA brought in treaded tyres, the rule stated there always had to be at least one millimetre of tread. This was the first time they tried to enforce the rule, but I reckon it was the wrong circumstances, our reason was a puncture. In a way it was a good thing, because it’s made everyone sit up and take notice. On the Acroplis last year, all the Michelin runners finished one particular stage with canvas hanging out the tyres and we were alright. On Catalunya last year, Michelins again had a problem and nothing was done about it. At least now, everyone is aware that the FIA are taking more notice. If the rule is there, it has to be enforced. It was the right decision they made with ours in Spain.
JB: Are mousse filled tyres OK now?
CM: There used to be a problem with heat build-up but it’s not so bad now although Michelin seems to have a wee it of a problem at the moment. That’s why Carlos (Sainz) had a problem on the last day, he took a gamble and ran without mousse. Our times with and without mousse are no different, at least with mousse you’re got security. I had two punctures in Spain, and both times didn’t lose much time, around 10 seconds.
JB: These F2 cars are awfy quick.
CM: Very similar in power, about 300 hp now for Peugeot and Citroen slightly more. Our (WRC) cars have 320 – on a good day! The big difference is weight, their cars are 960 kgs and ours 1230, and they run the same size of tyre as us. The F2 car is more in balance than our car. It’s not that their cars are too quick – ours are too slow, but that’s because the WRC cars are restricted in tyres and engines. But the minute we get on the gravel they’ve got no chance.
JB: Max Mosley has stated that the FIA is comfortable with F2 cars scoring points on WRC rounds, is that OK?
CM: Yeah, they should, why not. Our cars should e quick enough not to have to worry about these guys getting in between us.
JB: You were second in Argentina last year, how different is it?
CM: Roads and conditions are very similar to what we’re used to. The only real difference is the landscape. Very few trees, very open and barren, wioth fast, sandy surfaced, wide roads.
JB: Who’s going to win in Argentina, has Malcolm got the Ford sorted?
CM: The Ford has always been a good car. Ever since the Sierra it had the basis of a very good rally car but they seemed to lose their way when Francois Delecour was there. It took a while to get back on track, then there was a reliability problem with gearboxes, diffs and transmissions, but now malcolm has changed all that and the car is reliable. The car is being changed next year so development will slow down, but the car now is good enough to win.
JB: The Toyota Corolla is a revelation is it not?
CM: It was a bit like us going from the old Impreza to the new WRC, it looks different, but underneath the technology is well proven. Whereas Ford are going the other way, they will have a transverse engine and gearbox like the Toyota and a totally different drivetrain. They’ll have a lot of work to do, it’s a totally new area for them.
JB: Mitsubishi is still strong, is that the main threat?
CM: For sure, Tommi is very quick and very committed and Richard (Burns) is a good number 2 in the team.
JB: Can Subaru maintain the momentum?
The only reason we need to keep testing is tyres really, we know the car and the set-ups for each event. It takes about 20 minutes to change from wet to dry set-up but it takes longer to change from tarmac to gravel because of brakes, suspension, roll bars, etc. There is no need to make such changes on an event as they are all one thing or the other. The last time we had to change mid-rally was San Remo where we’d start on gravel, do a day on tar, and the back to gravel. We used to have to change the cars in a 45 minute service at night. It was a fair job to get it done in time.
JB: Are you doing China?
CM: How did you know about that? It looks like (then he spotted me clutching a team Press Release), is that a Press Release you’ve got? Let me see it. Yup, I’m doing China, it says it here! I didn’t particularly want to do it, but it’s good publicity for the team sponsors. I’m looking forward to seeing my pal John Hamilton who now works in Hong Kong.
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