Colin McRae Obituary

Colin McRae was born on 5th August 1968 in Scotland.  His father is 5 time British Rally Champion Jimmy McRae, and older brother is fellow WRC driver Alister McRae.

Personal Life

Colin McRae was married to Alison, together they had 2 children, Hollie, and Johnny the latter died with McRae in the helicopter accident.  McRae lived in Monaco for the Tax-Break for a short time around 1995, cementing his friendship with fellow Scot, and F1 driver David Coulthard.  However, as years went by and his family grew older Colin McRae began to spend more time back in Scotland at his Lanarkshire Mansion.

Motorsport Career 

McRae began rallying in various Scottish championship events driving a Talbot Sunbeam.  He caught the eye of many people with his brave, and fast style of driving.  He moved onto driving a Vauxhall Nova and then into a 4WD Ford Sierra.  In 1989 he finished 5th in the Rally New Zealand in Ford Sierra Cosworth.

 In 1991, 1992 McRae drove for the Prodrive team in British Rally Championship.  He won the title both years, and graduated to the works WRC team.

 In 1993, at the Rally New Zealand piloting a Subaru Legacy, McRae took his first WRC win.  In 1995 he went on to win his first, and only WRC title, the first Brit to do so.  In 1998 he won the Race Of Champions.  McRae was also runner up 3 times in the WRC championships.

 After a long relationship with Subaru, in 1999, McRae moved to the new Ford team driving the M-Sport Focus.  He won the Rally Portugal and Safari Rally in that year, but the Ford was dogged by reliability problems.  McRae missed out on the title in 2002 by a very narrow margin.

 In 2003, McRae moved to the new and revamped Citroen team driving a Xsara.  It looked promising, but he only finished 7th in the driver standings.  He wanted a move back to Subaru, but they had already replaced the seat he intended to fill with a talented young driver named Mikko Hirvonen.

 After a year out of the sport, in 2005 McRae returned to the WRC.  He piloting a relitivly uncompetitive Skoda Fabia VRS, but managed to finish 7th, which was something considered near impossible in the WRC paddock.

 In 2006 McRae did the Dakar Rally in a Nissan Truck.  In 2006 McRae competed in the American X-Games.

McRae made a stunning return to WRC, a year after his last event.  The Rally Of Turkey, driving for Citroen in place of an injured Sebastian Loeb would prove to be his last WRC event ever.  The Scot finished outside the top 10, and his contract was not renewed for the following events.

Death

Colin McRae was killed, along with 3 other including his son Johnny in a helicopter accident, 1 mile north of Lanark (where his home is situated) in Scotland.  The Squirrel helicopter was being piloted by McRae.  It is unknown what caused the accident as yet, but mechanical problems are a likely possibility.

Goodbye and R.I.P LEGEND COLIN