Dreamcast18
09-17-2007, 05:22 PM
STRATHCLYDE, Scotland — Rally driver Colin McRae and his 5-year-old son were among four people killed when the Squirrel helicopter that McRae was flying crashed in a wooded area near the rally driver's Lanarkshire estate.
McRae, 39, won the 1995 World Rally Championship driver's title. He was the son of five-time British rally champion Jimmy McRae.
Police said the dead included McRae's son, Johnny, and two family friends: Graeme Duncan, 37, and Ben Porcelli, 6.
McRae competed regularly in the World Rally Championship throughout the 1990s. He was on Prodrive's Subaru team from 1991-'98 and was Great Britain's first World Rally champion when he took the crown in 1995. He was reportedly working on a deal to return to full-time WRC competition next year and was scheduled to participate in the Dakar Rally in 2008. He had dabbled in other forms of racing, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2004 in a Prodrive-prepared Ferrari 550GTS Maranello, and in events associated with the X Games.
His co-driver Nicky Grist told the BBC that McRae "used to drive to the max and push everything to the absolute limit" in rallying but that he had told Grist he believed, "You don't mess about in a helicopter."
His racing success and his risk-taking driving style led to video-game tie-ins through a 10-year association with the Codemasters game company that resulted in the popular video games Colin McRae Rally and DiRT.
McRae is survived by his wife, Alison, and daughter Hollie, 9
http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com//media/il/news/2007/0917/colin.mcrae.500.jpg
McRae, 39, won the 1995 World Rally Championship driver's title. He was the son of five-time British rally champion Jimmy McRae.
Police said the dead included McRae's son, Johnny, and two family friends: Graeme Duncan, 37, and Ben Porcelli, 6.
McRae competed regularly in the World Rally Championship throughout the 1990s. He was on Prodrive's Subaru team from 1991-'98 and was Great Britain's first World Rally champion when he took the crown in 1995. He was reportedly working on a deal to return to full-time WRC competition next year and was scheduled to participate in the Dakar Rally in 2008. He had dabbled in other forms of racing, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2004 in a Prodrive-prepared Ferrari 550GTS Maranello, and in events associated with the X Games.
His co-driver Nicky Grist told the BBC that McRae "used to drive to the max and push everything to the absolute limit" in rallying but that he had told Grist he believed, "You don't mess about in a helicopter."
His racing success and his risk-taking driving style led to video-game tie-ins through a 10-year association with the Codemasters game company that resulted in the popular video games Colin McRae Rally and DiRT.
McRae is survived by his wife, Alison, and daughter Hollie, 9
http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com//media/il/news/2007/0917/colin.mcrae.500.jpg