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Elsewhere, Formula 5000 was steadily falling out of favour. The European series was struggling for numbers, and for 1976, had morphed into the G8 Championship, in which any stray Formula 1, Formula 2, Formula Atlantic, or Formula 5000 car could compete. New Zealand held its last International race for F5000 in early 1976, and soon introduced Formula Atlantic as its premier single seater category. But F5000 was still in good health in Australia, with full fields and strong competition.

So, following the Riverside Can-Am event, McRae retro-fitted the GM3’s F5000 bodywork, and sent the car to Australia, to contest the four-round 1978 Rothmans International Series. At Sandown, he qualified third, but failed to finish. At Adelaide he qualified seventh, and finished fifth. At Surfers Paradise he qualified 14th, nearly 3 seconds off pole, and finished seventh. Things improved for the final at Oran Park, where McRae qualified second, and finished third.

In the three-round Australian Gold Star, McRae fared much better, winning both the Sandown and Calder rounds, and placing fifth at Oran Park to emerge as the 1978 Australian Gold Star Champion.

Following its Australian races, McRae sent the GM3 to New Zealand, where it was completely rebuilt for the SCCA Can-Am series. It was lengthened, widened, and the brilliant Steve Roberts crafted the most magnificent swooping alloy body. Underneath, the McRae featured ground-effects, and was devoid of front and rear spoilers. Such was the transformation, it was given a new designation, re-emerging as the GM9.

Beautiful and impressive as it was, funding was in short supply, and as a result, the rebuild had been slow. Painted silver, the vast GM9 finally made its SCCA Can-Am debut at the final round of the 1980 series, at Riverside, where McRae failed to record a practice time, and retired from the race with suspension failure after nine laps.

The 1981 Championship provided little joy for the under-funded GM9, which had now sprouted a full-width rear wing. At the opening round at Mosport, McRae was out of the race after four laps with more suspension problems. At Round 2, Mid-Ohio, he qualified 13th and finished 11th. He was entered for Watkins Glen, but failed to start the race. He also failed to start at Road America. He skipped Round 5 at Edmonton, Round 6 at Trois-Rivieres, and Round 7 at Mosport, returning for Riverside, where he qualified tenth, and finished seventh, albeit, four laps down. Having qualified 15th at Laguna Seca, McRae was involved in a shunt, and failed to finish. In the season finale at Caesars Palace, he qualified 11th but failed to finish. No doubting, it had been a miserable season.