R.I.P Colin Steele McRae 1968-2007

[pajerokid]

grabe... i feel just the same when senna died.

[HyBrideVo]

For those who doesn't know Colin McRae very well here's a short summary..

Few have done more than Colin McRae to place rally driving so prominently in the public's imagination.

Next to its richer and more glamorous motorsport cousin of Formula One, rally championships were a poor comparison. But Colin McRae, with his flamboyant driving style, brought such excitement to the off-road sport that the former plumber's name has become synonymous with the sport.


Born into a successful Scottish motor-racing dynasty, McRae became Britain's first World Rally Champion, clinching the title in 1995.

At the age of just 27, he was the youngest world rally champion.

The achievement enshrined his name into motorsport legend and earned him an MBE from the Queen.

Since an early age, his natural driving talent was clear.

Born to Jimmy and Margaret in 1968 in the quiet Scottish market town of Lanark, south Lanarkshire, he showed a fascination with cars from the age of two.

His father won the British Rally Championships five times, and by the age of 14-years-old Colin was already following in his footsteps by clinching several junior trial-bike titles before switching to cars.

Unable to get a job in a local garage, McRae eventually joined the family's heating and plumbing business, helping to maintain and repair the company's vans whenever they had engine troubles.

His first victory came in 1988, at the Tweedies Rally in the south of Scotland, when he was co-driven by his childhood sweetheart and wife to be Alison Hamilton.

Just five years after his famous victory, a devastating smash at 125mph nearly ended his dreams and his life.

Misjudging a treacherous bend on the notorious Tour of Corsica, his Ford Focus clipped a rock face and plunged 30 feet into a ravine.

McRae shattered his right cheekbone and damaged his eye socket. But despite the lucky escape, McRae continued to race, totalling 25 world championship wins.

He secured a £3.5 million a year contract with Ford and enjoyed the trappings of the Grand Prix superstars.

Despite moving to Monaco in 1995, partly through his friendship with Formula One driver David Coulthard, he recently began spending more time back in Scotland as his family has grown up.

In recent years he has enjoyed a highly successful sideline as a star of a rally car computer game series that bears his name. It has become the best selling rally car game of all time.

After taking some time out from rally driving from 2004, McRae turned his hand to developing his own car which, in his own words, would “put the fun back into motoring”.

He had been due to race the McRae R4, which cost more than £1 million and three years to develop, competitively this autumn.

His younger brother Alister has also enjoyed success as a professional rally driver.

McRae has two children Hollie, 8, and Johnny, 5, with his 39-year-old wife Alison.

[HyBrideVo]

Colin McRae: chancer who took on the world

The statue of William Wallace gazes down on the town of Lanark from the steeple of St Nicholas's Church, but Colin Steele McRae, who was feared dead last night in a helicopter crash in his home county of Lanarkshire, was the Braveheart of modern times.

McRae wasn't just a rally driver, he wasn't just a world champion. He stirred the emotions as few sportsmen have ever done. He was a chancer, but then that was precisely what made him an irresistible hero.

He was the youngest world rally champion when he won the title in 1995, at the age of 27, and the only frustration for him and his followers was that he never became champion again. But therein lay the allure of the man. It wasn't championships or even rally wins that made him the icon he was. It was that spectacular, seat of the pants, and, yes, risk-taking style that set him apart from the rest.
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At his peak he was acknowledged as the fastest man in rallying, and he brought a buzz and sense of expectation to his home event, the RAC Rally, now Rally GB, comparable to Mansell-mania on the track.

McRae was born to compete. His father, Jimmy, was five-times British rally champion. Colin's younger brother, Alister, also became an international class rally driver.

But the real star of the family was Colin. He never missed an opportunity to try his hand on his dad's motorbikes, and as a young teenager explored the limits of a mini around the old mineshafts near his home in Lanark.

He had his first rally in 1985, at the wheel of an Avenger, borrowed from a friend, and although he flew off into a peat bog, he managed to continue and went all the way to the pinnacle of his sport.

He paid £850 for his own first rally car, a Sunbeam. He entered the British Championship in 1989 and had his first experience of world championship competition, driving a Ford Sierra, the same year. He also made his debut on the RAC Rally.

His frequent excursions earned him the nickname 'McCrash', but he reasoned that he could harness his natural speed once he'd found the limit of his, and his car's, capabilities.

He was signed up by Subaru and became the youngest British champion in 1991. He kept the title in 1992 and the following year became a full-time world championship driver. His first win came in New Zealand that same year, and also in 1993 he became the first British driver since Roger Clark, in 1976 to win the RAC Rally.

In 1995 he won an intense and sometimes controversial duel with his Subaru team-mate, Spain's Carlos Sainz, to become champion, clinching the title on home ground.

He went close again, both with Subaru and Ford, but was thwarted by a combination of unreliable machinery and his own fallibility.

In 2000, that fabled bravado almost cost him his life. He went off the road in Corsica and was suspended, upside down, in a ravine. According to his physio, he was within 15 minutes of death.

McRae admitted that was his greatest escape, but his appetite for the challenge was undiminished. The following year the championship was again within his grasp, but McRae couldn't resist the prospect of finishing the job with a flourish, and instead crashed out at Rally GB. His demise effectively handed the title to his English rival, Richard Burns.

McRae often taunted Burns, insisting he took the cautious, boring approach. McRae was ever the cavalier. When he had a few beers, McRae would ring Burns and tell him the Englishman knew he loved him really.

McRae wasn't always known for his humour, and often he could be awkward and uncooperative in public. But those close to him saw that other side, the lad from Lanark who just wanted to have fun. He still believed he could cut it at the top, but admitted that, at the age of 39, it had to be next year or never.

He was preparing for another Dakar rally in the new year, yet he would have loved one last chance in the World Championship. His hordes of fans would have loved that, too. Instead, they have the memories.

By nature a man in a hurry, he considered his helicopter a convenient means of transport. But he insisted he only ever took risks in competition, never with family and friends. Therein lies a cruel irony.

[XTO]

first, i thought it was rally related. rest in peace mc rae.

[ptk675]

RIP. He's one of my favorite WRC drivers pa naman.. maybe he's being called for the HRC* already..

Heaven's Rally Championships

[yuichi]

now Colin McRae, last year it was Richard Burns. who will forget this guy who steered Subaru to 3 consecutive WRC Crowns from 1995-1997 ( 1995 Drivers Champion as well). Surely one of the 5 best drivers in Rally History.

RIP

[blue1108]

huhuhu, naiiyak n naman ako. nabawasan n nmn tyo ng mga genuine good guys ng motorsports. sna nga lagyan ng roll bars mga choppers o kya humanap cla ng paraan pra maimprove survival rate ng helicopter crashes....

[empy]

RIP...we lost him too soon, but what a life he had!!

[yuichi]

nice vid, tribute to the great man.....
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5i9WcJjwPg"]YouTube - Colin McRae Tribute - Fast Lane Daily - 17Sept07[/ame]

[falken]

Sigh, another idol less for me. R.I.P. Colin McRae.