Max McRae delivered a stunning drive to second overall in his debut at Saturday’s Rally of the Tall Pines in Bancroft, ON.
The 20-year-old Scot was in Canada to drive a Peugeot 208 Rally4 on behalf of Team FJ and Stellantis Motorsport. Continuing an outstanding run of form, he amazed the North American rally community by winning stages and showing a clean pair of heels to all but one in a field packed with four-wheel drive cars.
Boasting considerably less power than most of his rivals, Max’s front-wheel drive Peugeot ran faultlessly throughout the event.
“What a great event,” said McRae. “I didn’t really know too much about what to expect from the roads or this rally. After Cam [Fair, co-driver] and I completed the recce, we knew we were going to have some fun – the roads were so fast with so many crests and jumps. It was just like Finland, but not an easy place to come and try to learn quickly and then compete against crews who have been doing the event for so many years.
“I’d heard a few stories about the potential for snow and ice,” he continued. “But, in the end, we had a mainly mild and dry event – that was great, it really gave us the chance to show what this car can do. The key for us was a really good, two-pass recce and then use those notes to make sure we could carry as much speed as possible through the high-speed corners and onto the straights.
“Honestly, the roads were awesome. It was a long rally with more than 100 miles across 16 stages – even some of them at night. There were a lot of firsts for me here, I haven’t done much in the dark, so to win a stage in those conditions and take 20 seconds out of an R5 car was pretty special.
“The second half of this season has been fantastic and winning the class and finishing second overall here is just the perfect way to end it. The team here has been amazing, everybody has been so welcoming to Cam and I – it’s a great place to rally.
“Now we’re working on our plans for next season, we’ll talk more about that soon. But for now, I just want to say a huge thanks to DirtFish for hosting me earlier in the week – it’s always mega to go there and say hello to everybody. I got some driving done and had a great time with everybody.
“Thanks to all my partners for the support this season and, of course, to Team FJ and Stellantis Motorsport for the opportunity to drive the car. I can’t wait for next year already!”
The team also spoke about McRae’s finish.
“This was an amazing result for Max and for the team and Stellantis Motorsport,” said Didier Clement, Head of Customer Racing at Stellantis Motorsport. “To set four fastest times overall and to be fastest two-wheel drive on every stage was incredible. We know that the Peugeot 208 Rally4 is a very good car, but this shows also what a very good driver Max is. We are looking forward to doing more in North America.”
- By DirtFish media office
