Hollie McRae crashes out of debut rally - but walks away unscathed

Hollie McRae's rally ended with a crash on stage two

The daughter of world rally champion Colin McRae crashed out of her first competitive event - but walked away unscathed.

Hollie McRae was competing in the Roger Albert Clark rally on the 30th anniversary of her father winning the World Rally Championship.

The 26-year-old and her co-driver Jon Armstrong were making their way through stage two of the rally in Kielder Forest, Northumberland, on Saturday when the accident happened.

"We slid into the ditch and the car flipped on to its roof. We were both totally fine and the only thing that came away damaged was the car", said Hollie.

She was eight years old when her father died aged 39, when a helicopter he was piloting crashed near their home in Lanark.

Her five-year-old brother, Johnny, and family friends Graeme Duncan, 37, and six year-old Ben Porcelli were also killed in the crash in September 2007.

Young Hollie with her world champion father Colin McRae

Before beginning stage two of the rally, the crew were warned about a couple of particularly slippery sections of road.

"Conditions became really challenging with snow and ice and we had a couple of close calls," Hollie said.

"We came over a crest and the tyres at the back caught the slush in the middle of the road, we had a spin, hit the ditch and flipped. It was a relatively soft landing."

Both Hollie and Jon were unharmed in the accident, which was a great relief for Hollie's mother Alison.

Hollie said: "I sent Mum a text to let her know we'd had a small slide off the road.

"Once she knew we were OK, we sent her a photo of the car, which got quite a reaction!"

Hollie McRae said she enjoyed the experience despite the result

The crew thanked the marshals for keeping them dry and warm whist they awaited recovery

After their crash, the crew spent eight hours in the forest awaiting recovery, alongside about 10 other crews who had also failed to complete the stage.

Hollie thanked the voluntary marshals for providing "hot drinks and good company".

And she said that despite the rally ending faster than she would have liked, she feels happy that the "expectation and pressure" has now been lifted.

Speaking about any future plans to get behind the wheel, Hollie said: "I've done the trickiest part now, which was overcoming the comparisons between me and my dad.

"It's been really good fun but I think it's going to be really hard to convince my mum to go near another rally car".