While noting that his son's induction, a little over a year after his tragic death in a helicopter crash, was "good for motor sport", Jimmy added, somewhat ruefully, that "it's a pity we don't have any younger talent". It would be a fitting tribute,
he agreed, if a Colin McRae memorial initiative could unearth and support talented young drivers.
"He was involved in sponsoring a couple of younger guys," said Jimmy, "and the Colin McRae Vision Foundation has been created to help young drivers. But along with Knockhill (racing circuit] we're thinking of trying to do something else in Colin's memory; something that would help people into the sport. It's something we're working on.
"Nowadays drivers are being discovered younger and younger – we've just got a (Formula 1] world champion who's 23," added McRae senior in reference to Lewis Hamilton. "With Formula 1 there's karting as a pathway, but with rally driving it isn't so easy. So we need to see what we can do, especially at grassroots level."
A spokesman for Knockhill confirmed that a scholarship is being discussed, with plans also well advanced to open a Colin McRae Centre at the country's premier motor racing circuit. It would be attached to Knockhill's Rally Lodge, taking the form of a mini museum. "All of Colin's cars are at his home, and the family has very kindly agreed to let us borrow them, to allow us to display them one at a time," said Raymond Smith, the Knockhill PR manager.
"The cars include the Subaru he won the 1995 world championship in," adds Smith. "But it also includes some of the cars he started racing in – a Sunbeam Talbot and Vauxhall Nova among them. I remember him racing at Knockhill in his red Sunbeam Talbot. The museum will also include other memorabilia: his overalls, gloves and trophies. We feel quite honoured that Colin's family is allowing us to do this." The centre could open as early as April next year.
Before the next Colin McRae is discovered, Jimmy was keen, last week, to acknowledge the achievements of Hamilton. "He had us all on the edge of our seats," said the five-time British rally champion, a sparkle in his eye. "But he was a fitting winner – he had a few penalties throughout the year that, in my opinion, he shouldn't have had.
"I met Lewis at the motor sports awards, but I know his dad a bit better. We have something in common: we both know what it feels like to have a son competing at that level."
Runners banking on RadcliffePAULA Radcliffe is visiting Scotland this week, arriving on Friday and staying until Saturday. Fresh from her successful defence of her New York Marathon title, Radcliffe travels initially to Stirling, meeting her predecessor as Britain's best distance runner, Liz McColgan, to lead a training session involving the latter's group of endurance athletes.
Radcliffe is the latest high-profile athlete to visit Scotland thanks to the Bank of Scotland's sponsorship of Scottish Athletics – a sponsorship that, so far at least, seems unaffected by the uncertainty surrounding the future of the bank – following American 400m star Jeremy Wariner last year, and Michael Johnson before that.
It will be Radcliffe's first visit to Scotland since 2003, when she won the European cross-country title in Edinburgh. As well as coaching, she will address the 200-strong audience at Scottish Athletics' Annual Awards dinner. National endurance manager Mike Johnston said: "I cannot think of a more inspirational figure for the young athletes and their coaches."
Scot plans tennis Ryder CupEUAN McGinn, the head tennis coach at Stirling University who has previously worked with the Murray brothers, Elena Baltacha and Jamie Baker, is behind the European Collegiate Tennis Association (ECTA) Champions League Finals, being held this weekend at the LTA National Tennis Centre in Roehampton. Edinburgh and Stirling Universities have made the finals, along with the universities of Montpellier, Moscow, Montenegro, Warsaw, Bath and Leeds Met.
As the name suggests, the concept is ambitious. But McGinn, the ECTA Operations Director, says that the ambition is there to take it to the next level, basing a tournament on the Ryder Cup, with the Europeans taking on their US counterparts. "Talks are well advanced with a view to staging the first Ryder Cup-style event in 2010," says McGinn.
Qualifying rounds for the finals were staged in France, the Republic of Ireland, Montenegro and Scotland. Barclays Bank and Tretorn are sponsors and Montpellier are reigning champions.
