Colin McRae

A while back I wrote a piece called "Introducing Antti" [Kalhola], a 20-year-old video editing genius from Finland, and promised to bring you a video on my rally hero, the late Colin McRae.

Before we get to Antti's tribute to Colin, here is a bit on the guy who did things his way and always drove the [cars] as fast as possible.

Born in Lanark, Scotland, Colin McRae was the son of five-time British Rally Champion Jimmy McRae and brother of rally driver Alister McRae. Racing was in his blood and in 1995 he became the youngest ever World Rally Champion, a record that is still in his name.

To Colin what mattered most was driving as fast as possible and never backing off, even when others thought he should in order secure a points paying position. In spite of this, the Subaru World Rally Team won the Constructors' tittle three times ('95-'97), with Colin's driving. In 1999 Colin switched to Ford where he won 9 events, and in 2003 he moved to Citroen. Even though his "on the limit" driving style kept him from winning an event, the team still won the first of three consecutive Constructers' tittles. In 2007 Colin died in a tragic helicopter accident that also claimed the lives of his son and two family friends. Colin was the pilot.

To watch the Antti Kalhola tribute on the late Colin McRae, please click here. The original video has been removed from YouTube. This one was seems to have been an anonymous post.


Colin used to say: "We are here for good time, not a long time."
And so he drove as well, often crashing out of a race whilst in the lead or in second. He was interested to push to the very limit constantly, which can be seen in the video below. It was shot onboard Colin's Ford Focus RS during the 2001 British Rally. It depicts the all-out mentality of the Scott which made him such a great, but controversial driver.



After just one season with Citroen, it's management was forced to choose between the Spaniard Carlos Sainz and Colin, with the nod going to the former based on his previous season's performance.

Colin found himself out of WRC in 2004 for the first time in 10 years. However, he quickly adjusted and pursued other interests, including competing in the Dakar Rally, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and the Race of Champions. In 2006 he competed in the first ever live televised American Rally in L.A. as part of the X-Games, and rolled over the car on the penultime corner after an awkward landing from a jump, which damaged the front bumper and left front tire. Even so, Colin kept pushing and finished just 0.13 seconds behind eventual winner Travis Pastrana. This feat solidified Colin's driving and introduced him to the younger generation who went absolutely nuts with his performance.

The video below shows the other side of the man...a definite must see.



Colin McRae died as he liked to drive, on the edge. His good friend and ex-Formula One driver, David Coulthard, described him as "an understated yet fantastically talented individual". Nicky Grist, out of Abergavenny, Wales, an accomplished rally driver himself, was his longtime navigator.

This McRae/WRC Ford Focus
lithograph adorns my garage

Colin may be gone but is not forgotten. He lives on in our memories, through the McRae Vision Charity, and "Colins Crest". The latter is the longest jump along the SS2 Vargasen stage of the Swedish Rally and is sign of respect for the late Colin McRae.

Thanks for reading.

Source:  Antti Kalhola (with permission), Wikipedia, World Press.

Photo credit: Vermont SportsCar Rally, own library