Three-time World Rally Champion Petter Solberg will join the celebrations to mark the achievements of Colin McRae at Knockhill Circuit on Saturday 20 September.
Thirty years on from McRae winning the World Rally Championship, the McRae International Rally Challenge brings together stars of the past and present to remember the UK’s first ever WRC champion.
Alongside Solberg will be Jimmy and Alister McRae, and Colin’s daughter Hollie. His mother and wife, Margaret and Alison, will also be there, along with his former co-driver Derek Ringer.
Petter Solberg said: ‘Colin was somebody I will always remember as such a good friend. He helped me so much at the start of my career. Sometimes you know, you can find these drivers who are a little bit afraid for the younger guy coming to the team – not Colin. He took me in the car on the test, and he told me everything I asked. And I asked a lot!
‘The years we had in the world championship together were so special, so many stories – including the one about him, me and Tommi Mäkinen being the last to leave the bar the night I got married.’
Other stars from the rally world include Stig Blomqvist, Luis Moya, and Louise Aitken-Walker, which means there will be five world champions in attendance.
Solberg added: ‘Colin was this incredible, fierce competitor who was also such an amazing, helpful, generous and lovely family guy. To be with Alison, Hollie, Jimmy, Margaret, Alister, and the whole family in Scotland will be something very special for me. Celebrating what Colin and Derek Ringer, his co-driver, achieved in 1995 is fantastic. The way they won it, with such an amazing drive on the RAC Rally, was so typical of both of their abilities. We’ll never forget this.
‘For sure, this is going to be an emotional weekend, but it’s not often we have this chance to remember such a great friend, to honour his memories and be among other friends and family.’
