Tribute to rally great Colin McRae
17 September 2007 Rallying star Colin McRae was one of four people killed in a helicopter crash on Saturday. Trackside’s Keith Collantine pays tribute to the fearless champion. Colin McRae became a household name in a sport that previously had only a niche following. He was celebrated for his fearlessness, his speed, and above all his refusal to give up in the face of adversity. McRae cemented his position in the affections of British fans by becoming the first Briton to win the World Rally Championship. He beat team mate Carlos Sainz to the title, the pair racing their iconic blue and yellow Subaru Impreza WRXs. He laboured to repeat the feat and was runner-up on three further occasions. Improbable returns from injury were a McRae trademark. After cheating death in an enormous crash on the 2000 Tour de Corse, McRae was back at the wheel for the San Remo rally three weeks later. In 2002 he suffered another severe accident on the Tour de Corse, badly breaking his finger and damaging the tendons. But eight days later, with the appendage splinted and swathed in bandages, he scored a point on the Catalunya Rally. He became one of motor racing's celebrities, his name synonymous with rallying thanks to in part to his hugely popular series of computer games. When he won the Safari Rally in 2002 he became the driver with the most world rally championship victories. That honour now belongs to reigning champion Sebastien Loeb. It was his third win on the brutally tough event held on long, dusty and fiercely hot desert roads of Kenya. It was also his final triumph in the WRC. He returned to the deserts competing in the Paris-Dakar Rally and proved his skill in other racing disciplines. He finished ninth in the Le Mans 24 Hours in 2004, sharing a Ferrari 500 with Rickard Rydell and Darren Turner. He was due to race alongside F1 driver and fellow Scot David Coulthard in the Race of Champions event at Wembley Stadium this December. Coulthard hailed his countryman as, “fearless, flamboyant and blindingly quick.” The loss of McRae, who had been considering a comeback to the WRC next year, is another blow to British rallying. In 2005 Michael Park, British co-driver to Estonian rally winner Markko Martin, died in a crash on the Rally of Great Britain. That December Richard Burns, World Rally Champion of 2001, died of a brain tumour. Auto Trader links Formula 1
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