Collie

A while back, I was about half-way through a blog entry about why I wasn’t happy with Formula 1. I planned to finish it up, include some details about the spy scandal, and then post it. Then came the news.

 

I received a text message from a friend that morning, telling me that one of my favorite racing drivers, Colin McRae, was dead. My initial feeling was disbelief, but soon it sunk in that the finest rally driver there ever was had been killed. He died in a helicopter crash along with his son and two family friends.

 

Let me preface this by saying that I rarely got to see Colin race. He joined the World Rally Championship five years before I was born, and won the WRC title in 1995, when I was all of four years old. My only time watching Colin live was at the 2006 Rally Turkey (when he was standing in for a hurt driver Sebastien Loeb) and the 2006 and 2007 X Games Rallies. But from just one moment of one event, I knew that Colin was a true champion.

 

Coming into the final stadium Super-Special stage in the 2006 Rally X Games, Colin was right on the tail of leader Travis Pastrana. By the time he entered the final jump and turns of the stage, he was almost two seconds in front of Pastrana, and was well on his way to the gold medal. But when he landed his car at the end of the jump, it dug into the ground and rolled. In true Collie fashion, though, the next second he was on all four wheels. Colin was back to racing, coming around the corner for second place.

 

That was the spirit I always admired and loved about Colin McRae. No matter what, he always fought for the win with every fiber of his body, and wouldn’t settle for anything less. Colin had the drive to fight for every bit of speed. He was also a hero to many, including me. That’s what has made his death so hard.

 

He may have just been a racing driver who made his name 6,000 miles away from where I am, and a person I never met, but I looked up to Colin McRae. Motorsports will never be the same without him, and I send my condolences to his family and all of the people who, like me, continue to be inspired by Colin.

 

Rest in peace, Collie.