McRae

[S2central.net]

I was very saddenned to hear this on the news yesterday. Colin had the kind of raw talent and ability that all of us on here could only dream of having. Such a waste of life - and especially upsetting because of the two young kids involved as well. A terrible tradgedy. Colin will be missed and my thoughts are with his family.

Colin's father Jimmy was a big rally hero locally - and it was he and Bertie Fisher that enthralled me so much about the rally scene from a young age. With friends we would follow them round the stages in the 80s, then when Colin came on the scene we would watch him doing ridiculous things in a Nova. The next time I saw Colin, he was doing Gravel notes in a Subaru Legacy in Waterford. I think it was at the time when he'd just landed the works drive at Subaru and he was hooning around town with a massive grin on his face. Everyone was jealous of course, but the took the stick very well for someone so young.

The echoes of this helicopter accident with the one that killed Bertie, his son Mark and other family members a similar distance from their home are unavoidable. Its a very sad day indeed.

Paul

[rs2315]

I was very saddenned to hear this on the news yesterday. Colin had the kind of raw talent and ability that all of us on here could only dream of having. Such a waste of life - and especially upsetting because of the two young kids involved as well. A terrible tradgedy. Colin will be missed and my thoughts are with his family.

Colin's father Jimmy was a big rally hero locally - and it was he and Bertie Fisher that enthralled me so much about the rally scene from a young age. With friends we would follow them round the stages in the 80s, then when Colin came on the scene we would watch him doing ridiculous things in a Nova. The next time I saw Colin, he was doing Gravel notes in a Subaru Legacy in Waterford. I think it was at the time when he'd just landed the works drive at Subaru and he was hooning around town with a massive grin on his face. Everyone was jealous of course, but the took the stick very well for someone so young.

The echoes of this helicopter accident with the one that killed Bertie, his son Mark and other family members a similar distance from their home are unavoidable. Its a very sad day indeed.

Paul

I,ll second that
rs2315

[europeanme]

Sad, sad day indeed.....

Thoughts are with his family.....

R.I.P.

[HPmuirt]

What can I add that had not already been said....Three families devastated to a degree that I just cannot comprehend.

Yet grief is also a personal thing and to that end, I was virtually moved to tears on hearing this news (also now in writing this) as it signals the loss of my final hero and the only one on my list that I ever met.

First on my list was Steve McQueen and the final place belonged to Colin. I too followed his career from close up as I used to marshall rallies all year, in all conditions, in order to gain a good job in the RAC/Network Q GB rallies in the good ole days when they toured the country, rather than just doing Wales (how I miss the awesome 36 miles of Pundershaw, Clumber and Tatton Parks and the Grizedale stages)

I met Colin (and also Richard Burns after we banned his father from the paddock at a service area ) on a few yet fleeting occasions, but he was always very friendly and chatty, even just before a critical stage when fighting for a win.

My best memory was when myself and some friends were running the start of a 1km special stage on an airfield up near carlisle. Colin was first up so we had longer to wait with him at the start than the other cars, who came in 1 min intervals. At the time we were building an Austin A40 rally car for classic rallying on the cheap so we crawled all over Colins car when he arrived. When we were done, he an Nicky asked if everything was OK and whether we had fixed the suspension and gearbox. He was happy to chat as I counted them down, then at 30 seconds he said 'cheers lads' and closed his window with a wink. As he ripped off the line, his morror very nearly took my wedding tackle with it (from then on I remembered to standback as I finished my count down). Colin was on fire around that stage and just staggering to watch...simply raw talent being allowed to express itself

The best picture I have of Colin (must remember to scan it) was as he crested the bridge in Clumber Park, setting the car up fo a sharp left. Now all the cars came over in Scandanavian flick mode facing to the right, but Colin was damn near sideways The crowd were so shocked at his flamboyant driving that they just stood there, in silence, mouths open. Slowly they recovered and all you could hear were people turning to each other and saying 'did you see that!', or 'he was so sideways he nearly got wedged' or 'holy f@ck, that guys a maniac'. The man was just shear unadulterated talent

Sorry for the long post, but you cannot just summarise Colin McRae, you need real prose to describe what he gave to the sport and the fans and even then, it will never be enough. Rest in peace.

Cheers n tears

Si

[A1quattro]

There will be a min/silence at 12.oo noon sat22nd at catle coombe ,
rallyday

[Davidsinclair05]

I met him when i worked in lanark nice guy but a really dry sense of humour.

[The Chef]

A terrible time for all. Colin McRae along with much missed Richard Burns are and always will be my modern day heroes. Having been a fan of Rallying since I could walk. Im still feeling numb over the news as I was away from the media this weekend.
Even more tragic is the fact that such young children were killed too. Just awful.
God rest their souls

[Jas11n]

Just a little heads up guys, ITV4 is showing an hour long tribute on Colin today (Sunday) at 5.30pm.

Jas..

[WeeSteve]

will have to make sure i catch that.
i attended the McRae forest stages rally yesterday, it was nice to see all the tributes on the competitors cars, i wish i had been able to get through to perth city hall to see his Mk2 on display.