The 67-year-old Scotsman will replace Andrew Barnes in one of the two JLT Rally Team-backed entries. Barnes has a prior commitment and the JLT team has invited McRae, a five-time British rally champion, to deputise.
McRae, from Lanarkshire, has driven on a number of rallies for Tuthill Porsche, the United Kingdom’s foremost preparation firm of historic Porsche rally cars, and finished second overall on last year’s Karcher Summer Stages Historic Rally in Barbados, winning his class in the process with the Banbury-based operation.
“It’s great to have Jimmy back in one of our cars and driving in the Tuthill Porsche Challenge,” said Tuthill Porsche director and Challenge founder Richard Tuthill. “Jimmy has driven for us on plenty of occasions in the past and it goes without saying that he has lots of experience. After Francois Delecour drove on the opening round of the Tuthill Porsche Challenge earlier this month, having Jimmy competing in the series is equally significant.”
McRae, who will be co-driven by Pauline Gullick, said: “Nobody knows historic Porsches better than Tuthill Porsche. The desire is always there to drive, the Kielder Forest is a great place to go rallying and Tuthill Porsche always prepares a good car. I’ve done a lot of testing with them in the past and had a good result in Barbados last year in one of their cars.”
John Lloyd, who finished second on the Tuthill Porsche Challenge opener, the Bulldog Historic Rally, said he was delighted to call on McRae and Gullick’s services. “Pauline has co-driven for me in the past and Jimmy has done a lot of events under the JLT banner so I’m pleased to welcome them back into the team.”
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