There was a lot to shout about for British motorsport fans in the mid-1990s. On two wheels, Carl Fogarty was double World Superbike Champion, winning in 1994 and 1995, and twice more later in the decade.
On four, there was even more: in Formula 1, Damon Hill thrillingly beat Michael Schumacher in 1996 and, in the World Rally Championship, Colin McRae was tearing around the world slugging it out with rival Tommi Mäkinen.
The precocious Scot won overall in 1995 but despite three wins couldn’t retain his crown in 1996 – ‘If in doubt, flat out’ had its downsides…
The teams’ trophy did return to Banbury in 1996, though, as Mäkinen spent the year ploughing his own furrow at Mitsubishi as team-mates came and went.
McRae’s three wins, a third and two fourths were backed up by full-season team-mate Kenneth Eriksson and his three podiums. Italian Piero Liatti joined them in all but one event, giving McRae ample rear gunner support.
Only once were two Subaru team-mates on the same podium, curiously, at the season closing Rally Catalunya. McRae, driving N1 WRC, won ahead of Liatti. That registration might not jump to mind like 1995 RAC winner L555 BAT, but it is just as important a car because it was Subaru's last to take a win in the Group A era.
And what an era Group A was, safer but by the end as fast if not faster than the perilous world of Group B. Lancia Deltas, Subaru Imprezas and Mitsubishi Evos are just some of the stars, and Colin McRae was just one among Miki Biasion, Mäkinen and the like.
N1 WRC, one-for-one in its outings with the works team and ironically swearing in the new Subaru era with its numberplate, has been preserved in Banbury and is a key part of the incredible Heritage Collection. It will be adding its considerable presence to Local Heroes at the Scramble on Sunday 23 April, too. It will be joined by Steve Rockingham's ex-Prodrive P100 ALL, too.
Despite drivers' championships for the late Richard Burns and evergreen Petter Solberg, Subaru and Prodrive only won one more teams’ title. It was another for the record books: 1997 and the first year of the WRC spec cars. That car had a big act to follow in N1 WRC.
Don’t miss it on Local Heroes, as we celebrate cars, teams and experts within 30 miles of our home at the Scramble.
