Max McRae battled back from a double puncture to finish second in the British Rally Championship event on 7-8 August 2026 and take another big haul of points in the title fight.
The 21-year-old Scot made the early running in his Å koda Fabia RS Rally2, setting the fastest BRC time through the opening Durris test despite picking up a puncture towards the end of the stage.
His luck turned on the following test, when two more punctures left him nursing the car through the remainder of the stage with just two inflated tyres. The early advantage went with it.
Max and co-driver Cameron Fair regrouped overnight and launched an immediate fightback on Saturday morning, hauling themselves back into contention on one of Scotland's toughest gravel rallies.
By the finish they had recovered to second in the BRC classification, having spent the weekend trading times with a field that included FIA World Rally Championship leader Elfyn Evans and M-Sport WRC driver Jon Armstrong.
Second place on a weekend like that is worth more than the points alone. The stage times were there, the pace was there, and the recovery was the work of a crew who know how to keep a championship campaign alive when a rally turns against them.
"That was a properly hard weekend and the team did a brilliant job to get the car back out fighting," said Max. "To come away with second after the Friday we had is a big result for the championship. We showed we've got the pace to be at the front, and there's still everything to play for."
Max's season to date has been his strongest yet. Victory at the Jim Clark Rally in May was his second British Rally Championship win and his first on tarmac, and it followed a breakthrough maiden BRC victory on the Cambrian Rally last October.
The Grampian result keeps him firmly in the hunt as the championship heads towards its final rounds
