Friday Feature: Colin’s Mad Max Day

“This is Colin McRae we’re talking about here. A man who doesn’t know anything but flat out.”

Two rolls and a brief trip back up the stage – you don’t see this in Formula 1. Colin McRae has his Mad Max day during the third day of the 2002 Cyprus Rally.

With a World Rally Championship drivers’ title and 25 rally wins to his name, Mcrae is a legend of motorsport. Having said that, Nicky Grist may just be the bravest man alive. To say nothing of their little Ford Focus!

While leading the 31st Cyprus Rally, the pair rolled their Ford Focus RS WRC 02 when they hit a hidden rock on an apex. They got the car going again and, looking only slightly worse for wear, got it back to service. There, their team of magic-working mechanics straightened it out as much as they could, and sent the pair back out in time for the next stage.

“It suddenly dawned on me. My God we’re going down the road the wrong way!” – Nicky Grist

Having relinquished his lead, McRae was on a mission, working to snatch it back from Marcus Grönholm. Pushing for sixth gear in a fast fifth gear corner, he sent them for another barrel roll.

Back on its wheels, their indestructible Ford Focus was still up to chase some points, so they carried on, with Grist quickly realising that they’d been turned around in the process and were now heading back the way they came. A handbrake turn later, they were heading in the right direction and still managed to claim sixth overall.

Check out Colin McRae’s Mad Max day in the video below, and continue on for the highlights of Day Three of the 2002 Cyprus Rally.