08-05-2025
Colin McRae's daughter Hollie takes the wheel in major rally event
Hollie will be co-driven by grandfather Jimmy at the McRae Rally Challenge
Hollie McRae has a very obvious bloodline connection to Lanarkshire motorsport, but has only recently embraced it in the driving seat.
The daughter of legendary rally driver Colin McRae, Holly was involved in the sport, but in a media capacity, and kept her distance.
However, Hollie will compete in this year's McRae Rally Challenge from September 20-21, with grandfather Jimmy co-driving, while uncle Alister and cousin Max are also involved.
Hollie didn't just keep her distance from competing, she didn't even watch races, but has decided to take part on her own terms.
She told DirtFish: 'I think at some sort of subconscious level, there was part of me that just avoided rallying for a long time, because after losing dad, we didn't attend many events, so it did feel quite foreign to me.
'If I don't try, I can't be the bad McRae. I had big shoes to fill and I just suddenly thought I'm never going to be the next world champion, so I don't really know how else to fit into it.
'Because of that, I probably tried lots of other things before being brought back to motorsport.
'The fact that I've been able to find my way back to the sport in a way that suits me through the media stuff has been really special. I think it proves to other people, and to me, that I'm doing it from an internal drive.
'It's not to try and match whatever any other McRae has done in the past.'
Hollie added: 'I feel like it has been a long time coming, and it's definitely one of the questions I get asked most whenever I'm at an event – when are we going to see you driving a rally car?
'Co-driving was actually first discussed between gramps and I two years ago for Rally Legend, but as the event got closer and closer, the things that the event wanted me to do, social media-wise, were just getting bigger and bigger.
'Considering it's something I had geared myself up for before, and it didn't happen, and it would be a nice way to experience a very special event, I thought 'why not'.'
