Outside my family, there have been two main loves of my life, motor bikes and rallying.
The tragic loss of Colin, his 5 year old son, plus a friend and his son is very difficult to take in.
Colin McRae was an ex World Rally Champion and incredibly quick on a bike. Many people, better qualified than me, reckon he could have easily got inside the top ten in WSB, but top ten would never have been good enough for him!
I have walked for miles and stood out on cold wet winter nights in forests in Kielder, Wales, North Yorkshire and many other places, and for much of that time the highlight was seeing one man drive a car on mud or gravel like few men could. Hours in the cold and wet, made special by a brief site of one man, driving his Impreza at an impossible pace down that forest track......COLIN.
A few seconds and out of site, just the sound of that turbo flat four motor for the next minute or so going away into the distance. When you’ve been down the same roads yourself in your own rally car, you sometimes think, I could go that quick if I had a works Ford or whatever, but with Colin you knew you were dreaming! He was world class and a Brit, and there are not enough times when we can say that these days.
He was obviously past his best at the sport he loved, but only 39. Following on quite soon after the tragic deaths of two other heroes of mine, (both at a similar age), Richard Burns and Steve Hislop, the latter uncannily also killed in a Helicopter crash in a similar area, I find it hard to take in.
He will always be remembered as one of the greatest drivers on four wheels, forget the wrapped in cotton wool Formula 1 lot.
My sympathy goes to his family, to have something like this happen so near to your own house must be even more impossible to bear.
I will always remember the pleasure he gave me, the visions of that blue Scooby blasting through Kielder and the like will stay with me forever.
The sad loss of Colin McRae
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A sad day indeed