McRae’s Help Celebrate 25 years of Motorsport at Kames

[Mark CSL]

McRae’s Help Celebrate 25 years of Motorsport at Kames.

Sunday June 28th sees the Scottish Old Skool Escort Club joined at Kames Motorsport Complex by father and son team Jimmy and Alister McRae to celebrate 25 years of the track. Jimmy, father of late World Rally Champion Colin McRae and five times British Rally Champion himself, will be taking to the track in Colin’s Mk2 Escort rally car. Possibly the fastest and most famous Mk2 in the world, this will be the car’s first outing since Colin died in 2007. Alister, also a British Rally Champion and former WRC driver, will be driving a Group 4 spec’ MK2 Escort last piloted by World Champion Ari Vatanen on 2008’s McRae Stages Rally. Both drivers will be auctioning off limited numbers of passenger runs on the day in aid of the McRae Vision charity, founded in memory of Colin. Those not lucky enough to win a run with either of the McRae’s will be able to buy a run in one of the other cars taking part on the day. All money raised on the day will go to the Colin McRae Vision charity which aims to educate and encourage young Scots into motorsport and help underprivileged children.

In the quarter century Kames has been open, Kames has played host to the McRae family many times. The Kames trophy Rally was the first competitive event that both Colin and Alister took part in. Sadly it was also the last place Colin ever drove, testing the 350bhp R4 rally car he’d developed, two days before the fatal crash. In happier times, Jimmy officially reopened the resurfaced and rejuvenated circuit in the summer of 200X with many other visits taking place over the years.

Alongside the on track action Kames will see the largest gathering of rear wheel drive Escorts in Scotland as well displays of many other classic Fords and the show and shine competition. Also on display will a collection of rally cars including not only Escorts, but the McRae R4 car itself. For Ford fans and owners there will be a range of trade stands and a large auto-jumble to browse and buy from.

Kames is a unique facility in British motorsport having been created, owned and operated wholly by volunteers of East Ayrshire Car Club. Over the past 25 years the track has grown both in size and stature, playing host not only to the Mcrae’s but current WRC championship contender Miko Hirvonen, while in August this year the British Sprint Championship will visit Kames for the first time. In recent years the sprint track has been resurfaced with F1 grade tarmac and the complex’s rally roads have also been refreshed with a tarmac surface as well as upgrades to the trackside facilities.

The day will start off at 10am with entry to Kames costing £5 for adults while children enter free! The Kames Café will be open all day for those on track and the public alike. Kames is located around an hours drive from Glasgow next to the village of Muirkirk, satnav’s will find it at KA18 3QQ.



Colin Driving his Mk2 Escort on a test day at Kames:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zq3my_Y6tmI&fea...

Colin McRae Vision webpage:

http://www.colinmcrae.com/vision.asp

Scottish Old Skool Escorts:

http://www.scottisholdskoolescorts.co.uk/

EastAyrshire Car Club Ltd.

http://www.eastayrshirecc.co.uk