Life To The Extreme
http://www.atomicsportsmedia.com/articles/924/1/Life-To-The-Extreme/Life-To-The-Extreme.html
Nick Dorrington
By Nick Dorrington
Published on 10/17/2007
Rally car driver Colin McRae lived a high-speed life. When it tragically ended in a helicopter crash it left family, friends, and fans stunned and saddened. ASM's Nick Dorrington has a look at the life and times of one of the greats of rally car.
Rally car driver Colin McRae lived a high-speed life. When it tragically ended in a helicopter crash it left family, friends, and fans stunned and saddened. ASM's Nick Dorrington has a look at the life and times of one of the greats of rally car.
Life To The Extreme
"Colin was a remarkable man who wore his heart on this sleeve and was the epitome of a racer; fearless and attacking, yet he remained true to his roots and grounded despite the international fame and recognition that he achieved. The world is a sorrier place without him."
The words of Formula One driver David Coulthard as the news broke that his fellow Scot, and former World Rally Champion, Colin McRae had died in a tragic helicopter crash along with his 5-year-old son Johnny.
David’s words perfectly describe a man whose Rally career was always spent pushing the limit of whatever machinery he was piloting.
From the moment he first stepped into a Talbot Sunbeam to compete in the Scottish Rally Championship in 1986 it was clear to many that this was a driver who would have a great future in the sport. His exciting style of driving drew many comparisons to his hero, Finnish driver Ari Vatanen, who was also famed for searching out, and often exceeding the limits of his car.
It was actually Vatenen’s former co-driver Dave Richards that gave McRae his big break. After five years on the Scottish Rally circuit, and with a couple of cameo World Rally Championship appearances to his name, McRae joined Richards’ Prodrive team to compete in the British Rally Championship for the 1991 season. He piloted the Subaru to two successive championships, and in 1993 was promoted to the newly formed Subaru World Rally Team.
One victory at the Rally of New Zealand in his first season, along with a further two victories in 1994, again at New Zealand and also at the Rally of Great Britain, put the emerging McRae among the favourites for the 1995 World Championship.
After the Toyota team were thrown out of the Championship with two races remaining, it was left to McRae and teammate Carlos Sainz to battle it out for the Championship, in which McRae held a five point lead going into the penultimate event. Sainz won at his home event in Spain, with McRae second, but the roles were reversed at McRae’s home event, as he took his second successive victory at the Rally of Great Britain, and with it the 1995 World Rally Championship. It was a double celebration in the McRae household that year, as his brother Alistair McRae took the British Rally Championship crown.
With Damon Hill competing for the Formula One World Championship and McRae for the World Rally Championship, this period and the next couple of years to follow saw a real boom in Motorsport interest amongst the general British public. In the following two seasons,
McRae finished second in the Championship on both occasions, behind Finnish driver Tommi Makinen, despite three victories in 1996 and five in 1997.
McRae’s final season with Subaru was the 1998 season, where he managed a further three victories, but could only finish third in the Championship standings at the end of the season. Richards, his team manager for the majority of his time with Subaru, left the following tribute to McRae:
"There are few people in life I would ever call a legend, but for me Colin was one of those people. He was just so competitive, and so extreme in everything he did. And yet also great fun. He matured over the years to be a great pal."
Bizarrely, Richards himself was involved in a helicopter accident just hours after making that statement, but was thankfully able to bring the vehicle to ground safely, without injury.
McRae moved to Ford for the 1999 season, but reliability issues for the new Focus Rally car, along with a few accidents, restricted McRae to two victories and only a sixth place finish in the overall standings come the end of the season. 2000 followed a similar pattern with one victory and a fourth place finish in the Championship.
The words of Formula One driver David Coulthard as the news broke that his fellow Scot, and former World Rally Champion, Colin McRae had died in a tragic helicopter crash along with his 5-year-old son Johnny.
David’s words perfectly describe a man whose Rally career was always spent pushing the limit of whatever machinery he was piloting.
From the moment he first stepped into a Talbot Sunbeam to compete in the Scottish Rally Championship in 1986 it was clear to many that this was a driver who would have a great future in the sport. His exciting style of driving drew many comparisons to his hero, Finnish driver Ari Vatanen, who was also famed for searching out, and often exceeding the limits of his car.
It was actually Vatenen’s former co-driver Dave Richards that gave McRae his big break. After five years on the Scottish Rally circuit, and with a couple of cameo World Rally Championship appearances to his name, McRae joined Richards’ Prodrive team to compete in the British Rally Championship for the 1991 season. He piloted the Subaru to two successive championships, and in 1993 was promoted to the newly formed Subaru World Rally Team.
One victory at the Rally of New Zealand in his first season, along with a further two victories in 1994, again at New Zealand and also at the Rally of Great Britain, put the emerging McRae among the favourites for the 1995 World Championship.
After the Toyota team were thrown out of the Championship with two races remaining, it was left to McRae and teammate Carlos Sainz to battle it out for the Championship, in which McRae held a five point lead going into the penultimate event. Sainz won at his home event in Spain, with McRae second, but the roles were reversed at McRae’s home event, as he took his second successive victory at the Rally of Great Britain, and with it the 1995 World Rally Championship. It was a double celebration in the McRae household that year, as his brother Alistair McRae took the British Rally Championship crown.
With Damon Hill competing for the Formula One World Championship and McRae for the World Rally Championship, this period and the next couple of years to follow saw a real boom in Motorsport interest amongst the general British public. In the following two seasons,
McRae finished second in the Championship on both occasions, behind Finnish driver Tommi Makinen, despite three victories in 1996 and five in 1997.
McRae’s final season with Subaru was the 1998 season, where he managed a further three victories, but could only finish third in the Championship standings at the end of the season. Richards, his team manager for the majority of his time with Subaru, left the following tribute to McRae:
"There are few people in life I would ever call a legend, but for me Colin was one of those people. He was just so competitive, and so extreme in everything he did. And yet also great fun. He matured over the years to be a great pal."
Bizarrely, Richards himself was involved in a helicopter accident just hours after making that statement, but was thankfully able to bring the vehicle to ground safely, without injury.
McRae moved to Ford for the 1999 season, but reliability issues for the new Focus Rally car, along with a few accidents, restricted McRae to two victories and only a sixth place finish in the overall standings come the end of the season. 2000 followed a similar pattern with one victory and a fourth place finish in the Championship.
Life To The Extreme
The 2001 season looked like it might go the same way, as the first four rounds of the Championship passed McRae by without a point.
However, three consecutive victories put McRae back into the title picture and he led the Championship going into the final round, at the Rally of Great Britain. McRae couldn’t take the title as he crashed out of the Rally, allowing fellow British driver Richard Burns (also now departed) to take both the victory and the World Championship.
He won two Rallies in 2002, but in a season dominated by Marcus Gronholm, finished a distant fourth in the Championship. A highly-anticipated move to Citroen for 2003 didn’t pay off, as McRae endured his first winless season since joining the Championship and stumbled to seventh place in the overall standings.
This poor performance led to Citroen dropping McRae, who after failing to gain a seat at Subaru, decided to concentrate on entering the Paris Dakar Rally. He has made sporadic appearances in the World Rally Championship since, and was said to be hopeful of securing a drive for the 2008 season, before his death.
Outside of Rallying, McRae is a well known name to Video Game players due to the successful Colin McRae rally games produced by British programmers Codemasters. They issued a statement shortly after his death:
“For over ten years, Colin was part of the Codemasters family and it was a privilege to have a man recognised as a true legend on the team. He always took a keen interest in the game experience, wanting to make sure it was without equal in its portrayal of the sport.
“His contribution was inspirational and brought his technical expertise and passion for rally driving to each and every McRae game. Through the popularity of those games, he brought a whole new audience to the sport itself.”
They have also pulled television adverts for the latest game in the series, Colin McRae: DIRT as a mark of respect to Colin and his family.
McRae was highly regarded throughout the Motorsport community and the tributes have poured in since the news of his death broke. Valentino Rossi dedicated his recent win in the Portuguese round of the Moto GP championship to the Scotsman, saying:
"He gave me a lot of passion for that sport; always a great show, sometimes some mistake, but always very fast. Yesterday he died in the helicopter, but I dedicate this victory to him."
The respect that McRae has garnered throughout his years in the sport is clearly enough for him to be described as a true legend of Rallying. Our thoughts are obviously now with his family, who have to deal with not only the loss of Colin, but of his six-year old son Johnny, who was also on-board. Condolences also to the families of Ben Porcelli (6) and Graeme Duncan (37) who were also killed in the accident.
Motorsport has lost a true great and he will be sorely missed.
However, three consecutive victories put McRae back into the title picture and he led the Championship going into the final round, at the Rally of Great Britain. McRae couldn’t take the title as he crashed out of the Rally, allowing fellow British driver Richard Burns (also now departed) to take both the victory and the World Championship.
He won two Rallies in 2002, but in a season dominated by Marcus Gronholm, finished a distant fourth in the Championship. A highly-anticipated move to Citroen for 2003 didn’t pay off, as McRae endured his first winless season since joining the Championship and stumbled to seventh place in the overall standings.
This poor performance led to Citroen dropping McRae, who after failing to gain a seat at Subaru, decided to concentrate on entering the Paris Dakar Rally. He has made sporadic appearances in the World Rally Championship since, and was said to be hopeful of securing a drive for the 2008 season, before his death.
Outside of Rallying, McRae is a well known name to Video Game players due to the successful Colin McRae rally games produced by British programmers Codemasters. They issued a statement shortly after his death:
“For over ten years, Colin was part of the Codemasters family and it was a privilege to have a man recognised as a true legend on the team. He always took a keen interest in the game experience, wanting to make sure it was without equal in its portrayal of the sport.
“His contribution was inspirational and brought his technical expertise and passion for rally driving to each and every McRae game. Through the popularity of those games, he brought a whole new audience to the sport itself.”
They have also pulled television adverts for the latest game in the series, Colin McRae: DIRT as a mark of respect to Colin and his family.
McRae was highly regarded throughout the Motorsport community and the tributes have poured in since the news of his death broke. Valentino Rossi dedicated his recent win in the Portuguese round of the Moto GP championship to the Scotsman, saying:
"He gave me a lot of passion for that sport; always a great show, sometimes some mistake, but always very fast. Yesterday he died in the helicopter, but I dedicate this victory to him."
The respect that McRae has garnered throughout his years in the sport is clearly enough for him to be described as a true legend of Rallying. Our thoughts are obviously now with his family, who have to deal with not only the loss of Colin, but of his six-year old son Johnny, who was also on-board. Condolences also to the families of Ben Porcelli (6) and Graeme Duncan (37) who were also killed in the accident.
Motorsport has lost a true great and he will be sorely missed.