Colin McRae

Overview

Colin McRae was born in Lanark, Scotland on August 5th, 1968. He was a rally race driver in the World Rally Championship, earning multiple victories and championship titles. He won the 1991 and '92 British Rally Championship and, in 1995, obtained the record for being the youngest rally driver to win a WRC Driver's Title.

McRae is most famously known for being the Subaru World Rally Team's premier pilot alongside the infamous Subaru Impreza 555, earning them the World Rally Championship Constructor's Title for three years consecutively in 1995, 1996 and 1997. He went on to race for the Ford World Rallye Team behind the wheel of the, at-the-time, Ford Focus WRC. In 2003, McRae joined the Citroën World Rally Team. He helped them win their first of three WRC Constructor's titles and took a break from rally racing for 2 years. In 2005 and 2006, Colin took part of multiple racing events such as the British Race of Champions as well as the 2006 X-Games.

In 2006, Colin helped design the McRae R4, a race car that was designed to be a more efficient alternative to the typical WRC-tuned vehicle. The car is to be in production within the future and was prominently featured in DiRT 2.

Death

Colin McRae was tragically killed on September 15, 2007, along with his 5 year old son Johnny and two close friends when his private helicopter crashed near McRae's hometown of Lanark, Scotland. McRae was believed to be at the controls at the time of the accident. The crash was thought to be caused by a mechanical failure and not pilot error.

Game Appearances

Most gamers became familiar with Colin McRae from his 1998 PSOne game simply titled "Colin McRae Rally". While the McRae rally series never held a strong standing with an american audience, the franchise was, and still is, incredibly popular in Europe. In the series' current-gen releases, DiRT and DiRT 2, Codemasters decided to drop the "Colin McRae" title for the North American release. The title remained in the PAL release of the games.

While not featured as an NPC in the game, DiRT 2 had an unlockable championship event paying tribute to Colin McRae. The player races in a McRae Motorsports version of the Ford Escort Mk II. Winning the event unlocks a tribute video to his career and legacy and as a rally driver and hero to fans of the series. The video can be found here.