Breaking news: Racer Colin McRae dies in helicopter crash

by Kevin Kelly on Sep 16th 2007 4:03AM

[Update: Codemasters, publisher of the Colin McRae games, has issued an official statement.]

A sad day for fans of racer Colin McRae on Saturday as news broke that he died in a helicopter crash. He was apparently piloting a chopper near his home in Lanarkshire when something went tragically wrong, and according to eyewitnesses it exploded in a fireball. ~~It's not known who else was onboard with him, but some reports say his five year old son may have been aboard as well.~~ McRae's five-year-old son was also killed in the crash.

The official Colin McRae website is completely black as a sign of mourning, and our thoughts go out to his friends and family during this tragedy. The last video game bearing his name, Colin McRae: DiRT was released earlier this summer, and sold over 500k copies in its first week of release. Born in Lanark in 1968, McRae was the son of five-time British Rally Champion, Jimmy McRae. He was the first Briton to be named world champion when he won the event in the mid-1990s and was awarded an MBE by the Queen for his outstanding achievements.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Source

Tags: breaking news, BreakingNews, Colin McRae, ColinMcrae, DiRT, rally, tragedy

Reader Comments (85)

Breaking? ahhh this story is old..

Still sad news.. :(

It's less than 24 hours old you spoon, how is that old?

12 hours is a long time in internet land. Besides kotaku had something up a good 8hrs ago.

Not old, it just happened yesterday, and I guess Joystiq was waiting for official info on the crash because there was speculation whether it was Colin in the crash or someone else flying his helicopter.

Its a sad day for rallying and he was a great driver. He always seemed optimistic and I guess he lived life on the edge enjoying himself. I guess he lived more than some people who live til 80.

R.I.P. I guess.

On some websites they ban people for posting:"First" or "Old!" They should start doing that here too.

And condolences to Colin's family, he seemed like a nice guy.

RIP, the Rally will never the the same :(

His point was that it wasn't breaking news because it wasn't super new. Which I'm sure is a common misconception of breaking news. Most people probably think it means it just happened people are on the scene the helicopter is still burning ect. Breaking news just means it interrupts something. Watching Friends, BAM, BREAKING NEWS, GEORGE W BUSH AND DICK CHENEY RESIGN. You can't really have breaking news in a newspaper or a blog.

Which is all just splitting hairs still anyways.

Hope his kid wasn't in the Helicopter.

You must be young to complain that a story is old and its about somone's death. It's cool though just don't do it again its pretty disrespectful (If you're not young you need to grow up)

...In any case just wanted to wish my prayers to the family.

That's really awful. I wish his family the best.

Jesus, it's always a bit shocking when someone famous just dies like this. Comes out of no where.

R.I.P

wasnt he JUST at the X games?

damn.

RIP

so many celebs seem to die in small aircrafts.

Horrible news. And what a horrible way to die. :(

*mouth slack-jawed in disbelief at what he just read*

Sad. Reminds me of Corey Lidle dieing in the plane crash last year. If you want to pilot an aircraft, make it your career not a hobby.

RIP

damn :(

R.I.P

Goodnight sweet prince.

oh come mr slavio, that was just plain dirty,oh wait

Very sad

He was a great racer, inspired great racing games.

My condolences to his family and friends, and to his fans, which includes me.

RIP

What an absolute legend. Colin, you were great to watch and your games were great to play. RIP :(

Kinda ironic that the guy that took risks on the course didn't die because of it.

R.I.P man, so many people dying this year.

Reminds me of the Crocodile Hunter, spending all that time with crocs and a stupid stingray brings him down.

RIP Colin

Damn, this is very sad news.. But he is already the second rally driver who got his own good game and is dead now. First their was Richard Burns who got his own game and now Colin McRae.. Damn, I was/am a real fan of the series - although I stink at driving -.

Anyway best of luck to the family and friends and of course Rest in Peace dude! I hope you win even more rally's on the other side ;)

damn

While I'm not a huge fan of racing games that don't involve Mario or F-Zero racers (not a fanboy thing, I just have a hard time with racing simulations, I'm just better at playing the fake ones), I am a huge fan of anyone that brings legitimacy to the world of video games. McRae was one of the oldest names that did that. You'll be missed.

I can't believe this. I've been watching him race for years, and very saddened to hear this news. This guy was a bad ass driver with more talent then the best in American racing. RIP

RIP I feel bad for the wife losing a husband and son. My condolences to her.

Jack Thompson will blame this on Warhawk.

from wikipedia:

"Police confirmed the next day that McRae, his five year old son Johnny, and two family friends, Graeme Duncan and Johnny's six year old friend Ben Porcelli, died in the crash"

:'(

Jesus, that's horrible

Yea, I just read the story on BBC. He was with his 5 year old son and one of his son's friends who was 6. They too died in the crash.

That's just horrible.

I never paid much attention to rally racing, but always watched the X games. When McRae flipped his rally car last year, landed it and almost beat pastrana, that was the sickest moment in x games. and i gained a MONSTER amount of respect for the sport and him.

Shocking stuff, sux. aircraft sux

Just heard the sad news over in the states! A great loss to both families & motorsport, an ambasador for Scotland & the UK. condolences to all!

God Bless his Soul.

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/44119000/jpg/_44119460_mcraesonsolpress300.jpg

Wow, that just horrible. He was one of my favorite drivers... I wish his family and friends well.

My prayers go out to all the family and friends affected by this sudden tragedy.

And to the first poster, I can't believe the first words you typed was about how old this news is when it just happened, granted other sites had it posted lastnight but whats the fucking difference, show some damn respect. I could understand if joystiq posted this next sunday or next month but just chill with the timing thing.

I never heard of this guy, so what does he have to do with gaming?

If you never heard of him, then how about you use the same Internet that allows useless people like you to make useless and ignorant posts and Google the man for some information before attempting to make a thought 1st...
P.S. He also just released a top-selling video game called Colin McRae:DiRT so there is the video game link for you there, hero

I hate stories like this. I feel like I just know but there is nothing I can do...
Atleast DiRT was amazing. That can provide some solace, I geuss.

R.I.P. Colin McRae

You will be missed.

I think his name should still be used on racing games. He's the best, and it'd be a nice tribute.

I don't know about that, it would be a fitting tribute, but only if the games stay good

Probably wouldn't sit well with the survivors (who have my condolences, for what those're worth) if Codemasters started lending his name to shoddy products

"Police sources said the blue helicopter used by the 39-year-old multi-millionaire had exploded in a "fireball"."

(from another article)

"He was a flamboyant driver, inspiring one the world's best-selling computer rally games."

so, I guess we went from flamboyant to flammable just like that, huh?

Keep your day job, unless your day job is comedy, in which case: QUIT your day job.

Every one of them, too damn young.

RIP

Sad day for rallying fans. RIP

WHHHHYYYY!

damn tacked on controls did him in...

Get to the CHOPPA!

On second thought....

am cry

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Breaking news: Racer Colin McRae dies in helicopter crash

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