Colin McRae: chancer who took on the world

The statue of William Wallace gazes down on the town of Lanark from the steeple of St Nicholas's Church, but Colin Steele McRae, who was feared dead last night in a helicopter crash in his home county of Lanarkshire, was the Braveheart of modern times.

McRae wasn't just a rally driver, he wasn't just a world champion. He stirred the emotions as few sportsmen have ever done. He was a chancer, but then that was precisely what made him an irresistible hero.

He was the youngest world rally champion when he won the title in 1995, at the age of 27, and the only frustration for him and his followers was that he never became champion again. But therein lay the allure of the man. It wasn't championships or even rally wins that made him the icon he was. It was that spectacular, seat of the pants, and, yes, risk-taking style that set him apart from the rest.
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At his peak he was acknowledged as the fastest man in rallying, and he brought a buzz and sense of expectation to his home event, the RAC Rally, now Rally GB, comparable to Mansell-mania on the track.

McRae was born to compete. His father, Jimmy, was five-times British rally champion. Colin's younger brother, Alister, also became an international class rally driver.

But the real star of the family was Colin. He never missed an opportunity to try his hand on his dad's motorbikes, and as a young teenager explored the limits of a mini around the old mineshafts near his home in Lanark.

He had his first rally in 1985, at the wheel of an Avenger, borrowed from a friend, and although he flew off into a peat bog, he managed to continue and went all the way to the pinnacle of his sport.

He paid £850 for his own first rally car, a Sunbeam. He entered the British Championship in 1989 and had his first experience of world championship competition, driving a Ford Sierra, the same year. He also made his debut on the RAC Rally.

His frequent excursions earned him the nickname 'McCrash', but he reasoned that he could harness his natural speed once he'd found the limit of his, and his car's, capabilities.

He was signed up by Subaru and became the youngest British champion in 1991. He kept the title in 1992 and the following year became a full-time world championship driver. His first win came in New Zealand that same year, and also in 1993 he became the first British driver since Roger Clark, in 1976 to win the RAC Rally.

In 1995 he won an intense and sometimes controversial duel with his Subaru team-mate, Spain's Carlos Sainz, to become champion, clinching the title on home ground.

He went close again, both with Subaru and Ford, but was thwarted by a combination of unreliable machinery and his own fallibility.

In 2000, that fabled bravado almost cost him his life. He went off the road in Corsica and was suspended, upside down, in a ravine. According to his physio, he was within 15 minutes of death.

McRae admitted that was his greatest escape, but his appetite for the challenge was undiminished. The following year the championship was again within his grasp, but McRae couldn't resist the prospect of finishing the job with a flourish, and instead crashed out at Rally GB. His demise effectively handed the title to his English rival, Richard Burns.

McRae often taunted Burns, insisting he took the cautious, boring approach. McRae was ever the cavalier. When he had a few beers, McRae would ring Burns and tell him the Englishman knew he loved him really.

McRae wasn't always known for his humour, and often he could be awkward and uncooperative in public. But those close to him saw that other side, the lad from Lanark who just wanted to have fun. He still believed he could cut it at the top, but admitted that, at the age of 39, it had to be next year or never.

He was preparing for another Dakar rally in the new year, yet he would have loved one last chance in the World Championship. His hordes of fans would have loved that, too. Instead, they have the memories.

By nature a man in a hurry, he considered his helicopter a convenient means of transport. But he insisted he only ever took risks in competition, never with family and friends. Therein lies a cruel irony.