McRae convoy to stretch 20 miles from Subaru HQ

McRae convoy to stretch 20 miles from SWRT

Nearly 1300 Subarus will gather in the UK to celebrate the life of Colin McRae and create a convoy which will stretch nearly 20 miles.

Fans up and down the country will be able to watch the convoy as it travels more than 300 miles from Lanark, Scotland to the home of the Subaru World Rally Team in Banbury on Saturday 30 August.

The convoy of Subarus departs the McRae's hometown of Lanark at 1000hrs, led by Jimmy McRae in one of Colin's original cars, before travelling south. By the time it reaches Birmingham, it will have grown to more than 700 cars and stretch for more than ten miles. Watching from a single point, it will take ten minutes for the memorable note of the flat four boxer engines to pass by.

On Sunday 31 August, 1300 cars will gather at the Subaru World Rally Team's base from 1000hrs before assembling behind Colin's 1996 Impreza 555 rally car for a second convoy heading north, this time 20 miles long. On arrival at Prodrive's test track in Warwickshire, they aim to break two official Guinness World Records. Firstly, the cars will write out 'COLIN MCRAE' in a sign nearly half a mile long and visible to passengers landing at Birmingham airport, and then form a parade of 1300 Subarus.

While entry to the McRae Gathering is now closed, organisers are hoping fans will show their support along the route. "It would be great to see people cheering us along" said Grant Hendry, one of the organisers of the McRae Gathering. "When the idea of the convoy to commemorate the life of Colin was born, we never dreamt 1300 Subarus would be taking part. We even have Subarus joining us from all over Europe, from Poland and the Ukraine to France and Spain, while some fans are flying in especially from Australia and Argentina to be part of this memorable occasion."

The McRae Gathering has already raised more than 25,000 GBP for the McRae family's officially nominated charities and is hoping to raise more money along the route.

-credit: mcrae-gathering.co.uk