I can only hope that this got covered in the prerace show of Loudon as the little bit at the end was an absolute joke and nothing more than an afterthought...but I figure that was the first they mentioned about it so I might as well do this; former World Rally Champion, Colin McRae (and three others; two family friends and his son, Johnny), was killed in a helicopter crash over the weekend.
It is my opinion that McRae caused the explosion of Subaru WRX sales in my part of the world and also increased the global awareness of rallying with his Playstation games.
Born in 1968, McRae made his WRC debut in 1987 driving a Vauxhall Nova before joining forces with Subaru in 1991. His first overall round win came in 1993 in Rally New Zealand before going on to win the title in 1995. Including Vauxhall and Subaru, he also raced with Ford and Citroen (and subbed for an injured Sebastian Loeb last year) while making one-off appearances for Skoda in 2005. He won a, then record, 25 rounds, his last being the 2002 Safari Rally in Kenya.
I may not follow rallying all that closely (I prefer tarmac racing to dirt), but those drivers are the best in the world...without question.
Yes, both F1 and NASCAR (the two series I follow the most) drivers have amazing reflexes and drive at stupidly high speeds...but only in the world of rally would you find the slightest mistake meaning you risk a 300 foot drop (and higher) off a cliff with only trees slowing the fall.
McRae may have only won the title once, but he was one heck o####reat driver
Colin (and his son) leaves behind his wife and daughter...to which I give my sincere condolances through this horrible time.
i don't follow it (rally cars) much either, but this man stood out. i was stunned with this news, which somehow was made more horrific with the tragic end of his sons life and the other passengers. it is just so sad to hear about young life being taken away like that. it really hit home while i have my little one running around the house. again i feel so sad for the families they have left behind.
it got a (very brief) mention right at the end of the race....after they'd done all their driver interviews.
I didn't know about the second crash so glad no one got hurt
I know exactly what you mean about him standing out, Will. I remember when they had just started using the 3D superimposing thing with the rallies showing how 2 drivers differ from each other with racing lines. They showed the Safari rally and Colin's car went completely off the map....he was taking a shortcut through a field somewhere and ended up about 30 seconds in front of the other guy!
Last edited by Tezgm99 on September 17th at 6:38 PM.
Tez, thanks for posting this. My husband did Rally Car school on our Hmoon in New Zealand and you are so right, those drivers are the absolute best. My husband said it was the most challenging driving he had ever done (and he has been to many racing schools) and couldnt believe it when his driver took him around the course 6x faster than he had drove it.
Our thoughts are definitely with Colin's family and friends. So sad.
hey tez they did say alittle about it while the race was going on. when they were focused on JJ, who they said had raced with him in that world racing thing they do in the off season. i remember because it was the first i had heard about it.
Last edited by williamwilman on September 17th at 7:14 PM.
Very sad news indeed. I heard about it on SIRIUS radio. I hope this family/friends will find great strength together and in each other during this time of sorrow.
I have always been a lover of Formula One racing, but my dad always dragged me to the RAC rally when I lived in England. It was a shame that I missed out of Colins extraordinary achievements, I had already left England for the states.
Despite that, it was something i would often read about in my husbands Motorsport magazines. Such a shame that it was not covered on TV as much as it should be.
It really is a brilliant motorsport, such an ugly way to die, My respects to a great family man a hero to many and a grieving family.
This is not only a tragedy for modern day rallying, but also possibly for the future as McRae's 5 year old son also died in the crash. The kid, according to his grandfather, Jimmy McRae (himself a British Rally Champion), said he was already showing a desire to get into a rally car.
The response over here has been incredible, especially as Richard Burns died of cancer not so long ago. Among other things the Subaru owners club, the cars McRae drove to his Championship, basically shut the roads around the crash site and his house when the travelled round the area as a mark of respect.
Tez is a rare creature; an Australian who was living in New Zealand before moving to Canada. He's also a Civil Engineer who is hoping to spend his Monday to Friday sitting in front of a computer surfing the inter...uh, working hard for an Engineering Consultant or Contractor when he finds a job. His heart is torn between his two loves; F1 and NASCAR.
Due to his high interest in those, his blogs will likely focus on them with the occasional foray into sports that don't get much (if any) mention on this website. All blogs and/or comments will more than likely have his usual dollop of sarcasm and general Aussie spin on them.
Amazingly, he also managed to score 2 MiB nominations on consecutive days (August 5 & 6, 2007) after announcing he had been keeping track of them...he's considering hiding under his bed as a result.
