Team Information Top Ari VATANEN Tiziano SIVIERO Colin McRAE Tina THÖRNER Giniel DE VILLIERS Jean-Marie LURQUIN

DRIVER 36 years old, born on 5 August 1968 in Lanark Married, two children 2nd participation in the Dakar List of awards in the Dakar: 20th in 2004 (two stage wins) Rally-raid wins: Baja Portalegre 2004. List of rally awards: Great Britain champion 1991 and 1992; 25 victories in world competition, World Champion 1995. This driver doesn’t leave anyone indifferent. Anyone who has once seen a car driven by Colin McRae in a rally special stage will keep an indestructible memory of it. The primary quality of a driver is to know his limits to be more familiar with them. The Scotsman, though, doesn’t have any limits. This “mad dog” excels in all terrains. Long the record holder in the number of world rally wins, World Champion in 1995, Colin McRae is one of the emblematic figures of the discipline. Without a crew at the beginning of the 2003 season, the Scotsman didn’t hesitate for a second when Nissan offered him a chance to take on the Dakar. With the desert he finds a playing field that is up to his talent: immense. Victor in the Safari three times, the African rally of the World Rally Championship up to 2002, Colin McRae has always had a penchant for long-haul events, where only those who know how to surpass themselves succeed in making a name for themselves. At the start of the Clermont-Ferrand on 1 January 2004, some people doubted the ability of this uncommon champion to rein in his passion in an event in which the least deviation is unforgiving. Colin responded on the track, with two stage victories and an extraordinary human adventure during the marathon stage of Tidjikja, during which he spent a night alone in the desert. With this story McRae entered into the legend of the Dakar. Now it’s on the winner’s list of the event that he wants to write his name. His victory in the Baja Portalegre last October at the wheel of the Nissan 2005 Pickup is a new undeniable sign of the talent and versatility of this incredible driver. “There isn’t a lot to say. It’s the Dakar, that’s all! In comparison with last year there are more long specials. It’s necessary to link up major chunks of more than 500 kilometres. But that doesn’t make a lot of difference in the preparation. It’s in the race that your fate is decided. The marathon stages are going to be difficult, it’s going to be necessary to manage the car. But I like that. In a rally like this you can have a problem right up to the last kilometre, you never know what can happen to you, but it’s clear that the victory will hinge on Mauritania because that is where the largest part of the race will take place. There will surely be more sand than last year. We’ll have to slave over the maps to prepare well for what is waiting for us!”

1986 Started rallying with Talbot Sunbeam   1987 Finished 36th on Swedish Rally with Vauxhall Nova on his WRC debut   1988 Joined Peugeot Junior team   1989 Drove Ford Sierra to fifth in New Zealand   1990 Sixth on RAC with Ford   1991 Joined Prodive Subaru     British Rally Champion   1992 Five WRC events - 2nd in Sweden - 8th WRC for Drivers     British Rally Champion for Subaru, taking all six wins   1993 Eight WRC events 1st WRC win in New Zealand with Subaru 8th WRC for Drivers   1994 Wins in New Zealand and RAC Rally with Subaru 4th WRC for Drivers   1995 Full WRC programme with Subaru Wins in New Zealand and RAC Rally     Wins the World Championship for Drivers   1996 Wins in Acropolis, San Remo and Catalunya with Subaru, 2nd WRC for Drivers   1997 Winner of five WRC events with Subaru, 2nd WRC for Drivers   1998 Winner of three WRC events with Subaru, 3rd WRC for Drivers   1999 Move to Ford, wins in Kenya and Portugal, 6th WRC for Drivers   2000 Wins in Spain and Greece with Ford, 4th WRC for Drivers   2001 Drives for Ford, Wins in Argentina, Cyprus and Greece, 2nd WRC for Drivers   2002 Drives for Ford, Win in Greece and Kenya, 4th WRC for Drivers   2003 Drives for Citroen, 7th WRC for Drivers   2004 Dakar - Nissan Rally Raid Team - Nissan Pickup 2004     UAE Desert Challenge - Nissan Pickup 2003     Baja Portalegre - Nissan Pickup 2005 - 1st overall classification   Team Information Top