Kotaku
A bit of sad news today. Colin McRae, the British rally car driver who lent his name to a series of racing games by Codemasters, died yesterday in a helicopter crash near his home in Lanark, Scotland yesterday afternoon. McRae was Britain's first World Rally Champion in 1995 and has been confirmed by his manager to have been piloting the Squirrel helicopter that was carrying him and three other passengers. It is believed that one of the passengers was McRae's five year old son, Johnny who is also feared dead although this has not been confirmed as of yet. The identity of the other passengers is still unknown due to extensive fire damage.
Our hearts go out to Colin's wife, daughter and the rest of his family and friends.
Rally champion Colin McRae dies with son in helicopter crash [Times Online]
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Comments
Tis a sad day indeed :'(
Jesus, that's really sad. R.I.P McRae.
According to this article, [ [www.autosport.com]], there were no survivors.
Condolences to the McRae family.
There's a typo in his name in the article Flynn.
@Bobinator2000: Truely.
His son is feared dead also. That's just awful.
RIP Colin and Johnny.
OMG, Why are all the famous people dying off :(
R.I.P. Colin, my generation will miss You.
What the fuck... I just saw him do a barrel roll at the X-games this year :(
It truly is a sad day...
what a loss...
@AkikoMyazaki: "OMG, Why are all the famous people dying off :("
Um, people die all the time. If you're famous, it just gets in the news beyond your local obituaries.
Yet my heart does go out to his family.
such a shame R.I.P. Colin.
What a tragedy, even his son died. My condolences to the rest of the family, especially his Wife and Daughter. They just lost two of the people most precious to them in the same day.
wow. hard to know what to say.
Funny how someone we never met can have the ability to touch us by virtue of their death.
A tragic day for the family, I wish I could say something to sum up their loss, but I can't think of the words.
Thats incredible, condolences to the family of one of Britain's greatest drivers and a great family man.
He will be missed solely in the world of motorsport and gaming.
Here's a tribute video:
[www.youtube.com]
Full respect to Colin Mcrae. The man should be proud of his life achievements.
R.I.P.
R.I.P Colin McRae. Sadly, I hardly knew ye.
Rest in peace, Mr. McRae.
r.i.p colin mcrae we will miss you alot mate
even though i watch motogp and f1, i still watch wrc rallying and colin was very talented in the rally car and i loved every minute that he was racing
my condolences goes out to colins family
My condolences go to his family, may he rest in peace.
What a sad day. My deepest sympathies go out to his family.
This is very sad news. I used to work at Codemasters and even spotted Colin around on the odd occasion he would come to the studio.
So sad that his 5 year old son was on board also. :(
RIP.
My condolences and best wishes do go out to his family and friends.
what a horrific way to die...
R.I.P Mr. McRae. you will be missed
Damn, and his son as well?? I hope it was quick and painless for them :/ RIP
Reminds me of the Life Aquatic
:( very sad.
This happened merely a mile away from my home. Needless to say, it's horribly tragic and I'm shocked.
R.I.P. :(
My deep condolence... May you find peace on the other side.
Goodness, that's pretty sad. I pray for their family and tragic loss.
Was racing not extreme enough? Why do all these guys who provide us with entertainment feel the need to do something that always seems to lead to do?
You will be missed Colin.
Oh god. Rest in peace Colin... and poor Johnny, if you didn't make it out alive. :(
Goodbye, Mr. McRae. :-(
So sad to see drivers (or anyone...) go before their time.
Wow, that's bad.
R.I.P.
Thank you for sharing your talents with us and helping to popularize rallying bringing it to the masses Mr. McRae.
My heart goes out to your family.
R.I.P
And yet Paris Hilton still lives.
Depressing. My condolences to the family.
Rest in peace
I'm in shock. My condolences to his family.
Wow. This article really shocked me and I couldn't believe he passed. RIP
holy shit.. i hope the wife can continue to live. really shitty. rest in peace.
NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
@AkikoMyazaki: When it comes to famous people dying off, here's my theory:
If you take all the reasonably top tier movie stars just in America right now, you'd get tons... and that's just in America- when you factor in the rest of the world, you get many more, and that's just current day actors, then you factor in all the other types of celebrity- sports players, singers, etc., and when you factor in years and years of celebrities, it becomes hard to keep track of them- Which is why it usually takes me by surprise when celebrities die.
See, for instance, I, being in America and not being a racing fan, can't remember the last time I thought of Colin McRae, his death seemingly came out of nowhere (and it kind of did), but it doesn't make it any less sad...
Rest in peace Collion McRae.You were my favorite Rally racer I grew up watching your races and playing your games.You will be missed.
Awful, awful news.
How horrible. What a tragedy this is. Thoughts and prayers to the McRae family.
Read in peace
yeah, whats with all the game people dying lately ? hope his kid wasnt one of the passengers...RIP
Came on to check out Kotaku and this is what I see...
He was one of my favorite racing idols to look up to. His blank stares during races and his uncanny talent in rally racing; it just saddens me to hear of such an early departure, along with his son also. :(
It puts me in a disbelief close to when I heard about the WTC while in highschool.
I hope both him and his son, and the two others who died with them, well into the spirit world.
It must be quite hard on his wife to hear about this tragic news also.
what?! the greatest Rally Car driver on earth died in a HELICOPTER crash? RIP Colin McRae and passengers ...this rooster tail's for you!
Terribly sad thing to hear...My deepest condolescens to the family.
My heart goes out to Colins family. You will be deeply missed. RIP.
I need to play a memorial session of DiRT now.
Maybe I'll pick up DiRT now, I have been thinking about it for a while. I'd hope that the McRae family would get a portion.
R.I.P Colin, you were a fantastic WRC driver, a gamer and a family man.
If Johnny is dead as well, then omfg, god doesnt seem to have a nice bone in his body.
Everybody buy DiRT please. Its what he would have wanted us to do.
His family deserves the licensing money from the game.
Please, support Colins family. Buy DiRT.
Fly free, my majestic Pegasus. Fly free.
@poematik14: When I played the de