Colin McCrae dies, aged 39

Jack's Smirking Revenge

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http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/more_sport/article2461339.ece

THE former rally driving champion Colin McRae was killed and his five year-old son feared dead in a helicopter crash yesterday afternoon. The aircraft came down in Jerviswood, Lanarkshire, half a mile from the family's home and burst into flames just after 4pm.
Jean-Eric Freudiger, McRae's agent, said the 39-year-old driver had been piloting the helicopter himself. Also on board were believed to be his son Johnny, another adult - said by locals to be a school friend of McRae - and another child. McRae's wife Alison and their daughter Hollie, 9, were not on board, friends said.
Strathclyde police said in a statement: "Four people were onboard the helicopter," adding "The bodies were found within the helicopter which is owned by Mr Colin McRae of Jerviswood House, Lanark. It is believed he was onboard the helicopter."
McRae became Britain's first World Rally champion in 1995. He was one of the country's most successful sportsmen, achieving 25 wins in World Rally events and 42 podium places. He was a flamboyant driver, inspiring one the world's best-selling computer rally games.
THE former rally driving champion Colin McRae was killed and his five year-old son feared dead in a helicopter crash yesterday afternoon. The aircraft came down in Jerviswood, Lanarkshire, half a mile from the family's home and burst into flames just after 4pm.
Jean-Eric Freudiger, McRae's agent, said the 39-year-old driver had been piloting the helicopter himself. Also on board were believed to be his son Johnny, another adult - said by locals to be a school friend of McRae - and another child. McRae's wife Alison and their daughter Hollie, 9, were not on board, friends said.
Strathclyde police said in a statement: "Four people were onboard the helicopter," adding "The bodies were found within the helicopter which is owned by Mr Colin McRae of Jerviswood House, Lanark. It is believed he was onboard the helicopter."
McRae became Britain's first World Rally champion in 1995. He was one of the country's most successful sportsmen, achieving 25 wins in World Rally events and 42 podium places. He was a flamboyant driver, inspiring one the world's best-selling computer rally games.

The helicopter came down within half a mile of McRae's 16th-century home, which has an adjacent helipad. The weather had been overcast, with southwesterly winds gusting to 30 knots and good visibility.
Officers with dogs and torches continued to comb the woodland near the crash into the night.
McRae's wife, a childhood sweetheart and his former co-driver, was taken back to the house under police escort shortly after 6pm.
McRae's friend the rally journalist Jeremy Hart, who flew with him several times, described him as a "very good, very measured pilot".
"Colin regularly flew all over the UK and into Europe," said Hart. "He knew the terrain and conditions at Jerviswood very well.
"As a sportsman he was a true hero. As a driver Colin was misunderstood slightly as being reckless but everything you saw with him came from pure raw talent as opposed to being learnt. He was the Michael Schumacher of rally driving.
"It's so ironic that he should die in a helicopter crash when he had competed and had brushed with death so many times as a rally driver."

This is a really sad accident I think. I have a lot of respect for McCrae; he was one hell of a rally driver. After being in a number of horrific crashes in his rally career, it's somewhat ironic that he should die in a freak helicopter accident like this.
 
Fuck i didnt know he died :'(
I had alot of respect for him too.
 
Damn. I heard that he may have been killed and I've been out all day so I didnt hear the confirmation of his dead. well that just sucks i really repected him :sad:
 
Aren't we funny?
:rolleyes:

Ignore him.

Yeah I was shocked and upset cause just on the 14th he released a new computer game and I was chatting about him and how one of his games was one of the first racing games I ever played.

Its sad that such a talented man and his young son had to be taken from their family like that. My prayers go to them and also to his sons friend and father who were also killed in the incident.
 
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