McRae vs Burns: The 2001 WRC Title Decider That Went Horribly Wrong

Cold, wet, and bleak Welsh forests in November 2001 set the scene for one of the wildest finales motorsport has ever seen. Four drivers arrived with a chance at the World Rally Championship. Only one would leave as champion, and the way it happened still feels unreal.

At the heart of it all sat Burns vs McRae, two British heroes on home soil, backed by a roaring crowd and decades of rivalry between Subaru and Ford. Around them, Tommi Mäkinen and Carlos Sainz waited for any mistake.

What followed in those forests was not a heroic, flat-out charge for glory. It was fog, mud, crashes, confusion, and survival. It was a title decided by who could keep their head when everything else fell apart.

Four Drivers, One Crown: The Setup in Wales 2001

By the time the teams reached Cardiff for the Network Q Rally of Great Britain, the script felt almost too good to be true. Four stars, three of them already world champions, all still in the fight.

Four heavyweights: Colin McRae, Richard Burns, Tommi Mäkinen, and Carlos Sainz.

All of them had a mathematical shot at the title. The weather was classic Rally GB: cold, soaking wet, and foggy. Perfect for drama, terrible for nerves.

McRae's Style and Lead

Colin McRae arrived as the points leader in the Ford Focus WRC 2001. He was already a world champion and a hero to fans who loved his flat out style.

If there was a chance to win, Colin would go for it. It did not matter if it meant risking everything.

Burns' Calculated Game

Richard Burns came in with a very different approach in the blue and gold Subaru Impreza. Calm, smooth, and always thinking ahead, he rarely looked wild on camera, but he was always in the hunt.

• Always thinking

• Always calculating

• Playing the long game

  
  

Where McRae attacked, Burns managed. That contrast defined the whole Burns vs McRae story.

Mäkinen's Ruthless Edge

Tommi Mäkinen, driving the Mitsubishi, was already a legend with four world titles. He did not need fireworks to win championships.

• Ruthless consistency

• Huge experience

• Grinding results in all conditions

He arrived in Wales just one point behind McRae, still very much in range of a fifth crown.

Sainz's Slim Shot

Carlos Sainz, the "professor," shared the Ford Focus WRC 2001 with McRae. Known for his discipline and precision, he lived for preparation and detail.

His title chances were slim. He needed to win the rally and hope the others hit trouble. In rallying, though, strange things often happen.

A Chaotic Season That Led To Cardiff

The fact that four drivers were still in contention at the final round says a lot about the 2001 season. Nobody had a clean run. It was a year of speed, failures, and missed chances.

For McRae and co-driver Nicky Grist, the first part of the year looked cursed.

McRae's Early Misfortune

The year started in Monte Carlo with real promise. McRae fought Mäkinen on the legendary Col de Turini and even climbed into the lead. Then the Focus developed a fly-by-wire throttle problem.

In a hairpin, they spun. The car sat in the middle of the road, idling, and Colin shouted that he had no throttle. Over the radio, the team told them to reboot the system. So there they were on the Col, power cycling the car as Mäkinen blasted past.

The restart worked for a moment, then the throttle cut again. Later they tried to rig a manual throttle cable by the side of the road while a TV helicopter watched from above. Tools went flying in frustration. The rally slipped away.

The bad luck did not stop there:

1. Monte Carlo: Throttle issues, spin, failed fixes, and a lost lead.

2. Sweden: A spin into a snowbank cost around 5 minutes.

3. Portugal: Engine failure in heavy rain ended their event.

4. Spain: A fuel pump problem stopped the Focus again.

Four rallies, zero points. For most seasons, that would end any title hope.

Rivals Struggle Too

The only thing that kept McRae in it was that his rivals were having their own problems.

Mäkinen still looked sharp early. He won Monte Carlo and Portugal and took a podium in Spain. But he was not unbeatable.

Richard Burns and Marcus Grönholm also hit retirements and mechanical issues across the early rounds. No one was stringing together a perfect year.

The door stayed open.

McRae's Huge Comeback Run

Everything swung in Argentina.

There, McRae and Grist were in a different league. On the first proper stage they were faster by over 17 seconds. They grabbed the lead and never let go.

Then they backed it up with wins in Cyprus and the Acropolis Rally. These were three of the roughest, most demanding events of the season. McRae won all three.

From zero points after four rallies, McRae suddenly sat level with Mäkinen at the top of the standings. The Focus looked strong and Colin looked almost unstoppable. The mood at Ford flipped from despair to belief.

Late Setbacks Before Wales

Rallying has a way of biting back as soon as confidence grows.

On the Safari Rally, the Focus suffered a steering failure at low speed on a slow section. Another retirement.

In New Zealand, road position tactics started to matter. Burns led, McRae sat second and began eating into Richard's lead thanks to cleaner roads. The gap dropped to around 15 seconds. Then McRae spun while pushing hard, and the win slipped away.

Australia brought what many still see as one of the big "what if" moments of the season. After earlier controversy over sweeping gravel, organizers let drivers choose their road position.

McRae turned up late for the running order "fishing" ceremony. He was penalized to the back of the queue and ended up running first on the road on Saturday. In loose gravel that hurt badly. He lost around 1 minute 40 seconds sweeping for everyone behind.

He still fought back to fifth for two points, but it felt like a big chance lost.

Points Standings Before Rally GB

By the time the teams rolled into Cardiff, the numbers were tight.

Driver	Team	Points
Colin McRae	Ford	42
Tommi Mäkinen	Mitsubishi	41
Richard Burns	Subaru	40
Carlos Sainz	Ford	33

Everything would be decided on the Network Q Rally of Great Britain.

Friday: When The Real Fight Started

The event opened with a short super special stage around the docks in Cardiff. It was more show than real rally, but it gave fans an early look at the title fight.

The clear focus was Burns vs McRae. Two British drivers, both in with a shot at becoming world champion on home ground.

McRae beat Burns in their head-to-head run and set the overall fastest time. The Welsh crowd loved it. First strike to Colin.

Burns, a few tenths back, did not seem worried. He knew this kind of stage proved almost nothing. The real fight would start in the forests on Friday.

Classic Forest Stages: Speed And First Drama

On Friday morning the crews headed into the famous Welsh stages: narrow, fast, tree-lined tests with changing grip and patches of fog.

McRae did exactly what everyone expected. Flat out from the start, he won the first big forest stage and looked in control. The Focus looked planted, Grist's notes flowed, and the timing screens showed Colin as the man to beat.

Behind that headline, something huge was already happening.

On the same morning, Tommi Mäkinen's Mitsubishi hit a marked hole in the road. Every other car drove the same line with no problem. On Mäkinen's Lancer, something broke. The suspension collapsed and he limped to a halt.

Just like that, his final rally with Mitsubishi was over on day one. His world title hopes vanished with it.

The four-way showdown became three.

Sainz Slips Back

Carlos Sainz also ran into problems on Friday. A puncture and issues with the tire's mousse insert cost him serious time and pushed him down the order.

With Mäkinen out and Sainz delayed, attention shifted even more toward McRae in the Ford and Burns in the Subaru. It was turning into a straight Burns vs McRae story.

The Crash That Changed Everything

Then came the stage that turned the rally on its head.

Rhondda: Fog, Speed, and One Hidden Bank

The next big test was held in foggy, greasy conditions. Fast, flowing, tree-lined, exactly the kind of stage that could make or break a title bid.

On board with McRae and Grist, you can hear Nicky calling out a string of quick-fire notes. Among them, a sequence something like:

"Six crest 70 left tightens and six right tightens to five minus."

Colin picked his line and committed. What he could not see, hidden in the grass on the inside, was a small bank or ledge.

The Focus hit it.

Instead of sliding through the corner, the car was launched. Grist later described the impact in a way fans still remember: land, sky, trees, land, sky, trees, then a series of heavy hits before the car finally came to rest.

Aftermath: Silence In The Car, Shock In The Forest

The Focus landed upright, but badly damaged. Steam poured out. Bodywork was mangled. The hood folded up over the windshield.

Inside the car, there was a moment of quiet. Grist asked if Colin was OK. Colin said yes.

They both knew their championship was gone. It was only stage four, but this was the moment their season collapsed.

A little further down the road, Richard Burns and co-driver Robert Reid arrived at the scene. They saw the shattered Focus on the side of the stage.

The reality hit them. One of their main rivals was out. The title picture had shifted in an instant.

A few corners later, even Burns almost slid off, overshooting a junction and reversing back onto the road. You could feel the tension.

By the end of Friday, the leaderboard looked very different. Marcus Grönholm, the defending world champion in the Peugeot, led the rally. Burns sat second, about half a minute back, with Harri Rovanperä close behind. Sainz had fought his way to fifth after his earlier issues.

Mäkinen was out. McRae was out. Burns no longer needed to win. He just needed to stay near the front.

Saturday: Survival Mode And A Dark Turn

Going into Saturday, Richard Burns knew the maths. With McRae and Mäkinen gone, he did not have to win Rally GB. He only had to finish somewhere inside the top four to become world champion, no matter what anyone else did.

That sounds simple on paper. In rallying, nothing is simple.

Early that morning, his Subaru gave him a scare even before the stages started. The Impreza refused to fire as it left parc fermé. The crew ended up changing the spark plugs on the spot.

It was controlled panic, but they got it going and Burns headed out to the forest.

Grönholm In Control At The Front

Out on the stages, Marcus Grönholm did what he does best. Fast, tidy, and smooth, he led from the front without taking silly risks.

Burns held a steady second place. Rovanperä applied some pressure from behind, but Burns refused to chase stage wins. He knew the title was his to lose. The risk was not worth it.

Sainz's Nightmare Accident

Then the event took a much darker turn.

On a second run through one of the forest stages, in poor visibility and slick conditions, Carlos Sainz went off at a junction and hit a group of spectators.

Around 15 people were injured. Air ambulances landed on the stage. Two stages were canceled. The mood of the entire rally flipped in a moment.

Sainz and co-driver Luis Moya were physically OK, but emotionally shaken. Ford decided to withdraw both Sainz and teammate Mark Higgins from the rally. By that point, the manufacturers' title felt unimportant compared to the health of the fans.

Burns would later say that when something like that happens, the championship feels very small. All you want is for everyone involved to recover.

That Saturday evening, the service park was quiet. Times and positions were no longer the main topic. Grönholm led. Burns stayed second. Rovanperä sat third. Alister McRae, Colin's brother, ran fourth in a Hyundai and was having a great rally.

But nobody felt like celebrating.

Burns Holds His Nerve

Through all of this, Burns and Reid stuck to their plan. No big risks, no wild pushes. Only clean, calculated driving.

It was classic Burns. While others went out in a blaze of glory or heartbreak, he survived.

Sunday: Bringing It Home

Sunday morning brought the final four stages. On paper, it was simple. Richard Burns started the day in second place. He could afford to drop to fourth and still become world champion.

That did not mean anyone in the Subaru camp relaxed.

Final Push To The Finish

Grönholm kept setting fast times at the front. He was on course to win Rally GB for Peugeot and looked like he was enjoying the challenge.

Harri Rovanperä sensed he might be able to take second from Burns. He pushed harder and eventually slipped ahead, dropping Burns to third.

For Burns and Reid, that was fine. Third place still gave them enough points. Their job was to stay on the road, protect the car, and ignore the temptation to chase Rovanperä.

Further back, Alister McRae faced a problem of his own. In heavy rain, his wipers failed. To keep going, he rigged a quick fix using a radio cable to drag the wiper blade across the screen by hand. It worked well enough for him to hold on to a very impressive fourth place for Hyundai.

Skoda scored a strong finish with Armin Schwarz in fifth, and Kenneth Eriksson took sixth for Hyundai.

Podium Moment: A Champion At Last

At the front, the result was clear.

• Marcus Grönholm won the rally for Peugeot.

• Harri Rovanperä finished second.

• Richard Burns finished third and scored four points, just what he needed.

Richard Burns and Robert Reid were World Rally Champions.

At the end of the final stage at Margam Park, Burns reached across, grabbed Reid's arm, and shouted, "You are the best in the world." It was raw and honest. A season of pressure and calculation, released in one shout.

He told TV crews that he could not quite believe it. You can hear him almost trip over his words as the reality sinks in. He had become the first, and still the only, British driver to win the World Rally Championship.

Grönholm, who would be his teammate at Peugeot the next year, was one of the first to congratulate him. There was huge respect between them.

Burns did not win Rally GB this time. He did not need to. He had won the war, not the battle.

What Ifs, Heartbreak, And The Legacy Of Wales 2001

Looking back, Wales 2001 feels like a crossroads for all four of the title contenders.

For Colin McRae, it became one of the great "what if" moments in rally history. He arrived at his home event leading the standings, in stunning form after three big wins, and started the rally as favorite.

It all ended because of one hidden bump, a small bank on the inside of a fast corner, a few centimeters in the wrong direction. His father, Jimmy McRae, later said that sometimes it really does come down to a few centimeters. If Colin had been just a little wider, he might have missed the bank, carried on, and built the lead he wanted.

Malcolm Wilson, the Ford team boss, called it one of the hardest moments he had ever had in rallying. After years of building the Focus program, to see the title slip away so suddenly on the final round hurt deeply.

Mäkinen's Bad Luck Goodbye

For Tommi Mäkinen, Rally GB 2001 marked a painful farewell to Mitsubishi. His title hopes ended not with a mistake but with a suspension failure in a marked hole that everyone else drove through without trouble.

There was no blame on the driver, just the rough luck that rallying can deal out. Without that failure, he would have stayed right in the title fight all the way to Sunday.

Sainz And The Weight Of An Accident

For Carlos Sainz, the rally will always be linked to the spectator accident. Even though the injuries were not fatal, a crash involving fans leaves a deep mark on any driver.

It was a horrible way for his final shot at the 2001 title to end. After that, positions and points mattered less.

Burns' Bittersweet Triumph

For Richard Burns, the 2001 title would gain even more meaning in the years that followed.

Just a year later, in 2002, he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. The 2001 championship, his first, also became his only. He never again had the chance to fight for the title at the same level.

He passed away in 2005, aged just 34.

That knowledge adds a bittersweet weight to the image of Burns on the podium in Wales. At the time, it looked like the start of a long reign. Looking back, we know it was the high point of a career that ended far too soon.

Why Wales 2001 Still Matters

Wales 2001 was the last great four-way final round title fight the WRC has seen. It was a season of chaos, courage, and heartbreak that ended with the calmest driver of the four playing the long game better than anyone.

• Fog, mud, and treacherous stages.

• Mechanical failures at the worst moments.

• A title favorite crashing out in seconds.

• A serious spectator accident that changed the tone of the event.

• A championship decided by survival, not sheer speed.

In the middle of all of it, the story of Burns vs McRae captured what makes rallying so powerful. On one side, pure attack, on-the-limit driving for the win. On the other, patience, strategy, and quiet, relentless scoring.

Four champions started that week in Wales with a shot at the crown. One crashed out in spectacular style. One was undone by a hidden hole in the road. One saw his fight end in a moment no one will ever forget. And one kept his head while everything around him fell apart.

That calm, thoughtful driver from Reading walked away as world champion, and rally fans still talk about that weekend in the Welsh forests as one of the sport's greatest stories. FULL YOUTUBE VIDEO STORY LINK: Watch now! https://youtu.be/b4h9od-BOQU?si=Lehlpw1CpF362tz4