The present format of the two existing books (1980-1989 and 1990-1999) has proved popular commencing with written reports on each event and followed by a comprehensive photographic section featuring previously unpublished photographs. This latter section has been divided into sub-sections headed ‘People’ and ‘Cars’ with a few extra personality pages, but the inclusion of a separate ‘McRae’ section, Scottish rallying’s ‘first family’, has proved even more popular.
With that format established it was always planned to follow it in this third book and therein lies the dilemma. How to present the ‘McRae’ section. First thought was to gloss over those dark days in September 2007 and simply record the facts, but a few friends have suggested that those events and subsequent events, should indeed be documented as part of Scottish rallying.
Of course it is all a matter of public record, but for many rally fans it is more than that. Official crowd estimates recorded over 20,000 people attending the outdoor service in St Leonard’s Church in Lanark on that fateful day. Photographs don’t do the crowd justice as the huge numbers overspilled Lanark High Street (which had a capacity of 20,000) into St Leonard’s Street and Bannatyne Street while inside the packed church there were 750 family members, friends and guests.
The following year there was a spectacular ‘celebration of life’ at the Coltness Car Club organised Colin McRae Stages Rally and that too will have to be documented.
Meanwhile work continues on writing up the rally reports from each Championship season followed by the job of photograph selection. Only when that is done will attention turn to the ‘final’ chapter, although I’m not really looking forward to that task.
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