Breaking news: Racer Colin McRae dies in helicopter crash

[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]

Reader Comments (85)

This is just awful.

Just awful.

never heard of him, but that sucks. esp. if his son was with him

Your comments: 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 first caught wind of this on the NASIOC.com forums (subaru enthusiast forum -- McRae gained acclaim as a driver for the Subaru World Rally Team), and even the thought of it turned my stomach. It almost felt that it couldnt' be true since I cannot remember a time in my tenure as a rally fan that Colin wasn't around; it made me numb. When news from reliable outlets in the started reporting he was indeed dead, I had a very unexpected sense of loss -- the reality is that I've never met him, but still had a personal connection with what he meant to the sport.

Then it was reported that his son and up to 2 others may have been in the chopper with him. Tragic.

Condolences to all the families involved, and thanks for the good times, Colin.

-JT

This is so sad. He died with his son and his son's friend. (Wipes off tear.)

I wish his family the best.

May all the posters of the smartass comments here die a terrible death.

that's enough death for one day buddy. take a dignity break

I hope and pray for the best in the McRae family. This was a tragic loss, both to them and the various industries that McRae touched.

Rest in peace, Colin.

Rest In Peace Colin, thank you for everything that you have provided us.

Condolences to his family and friends, may you find strength and peace throughout these times.

If it wasn't for Colin, I wouldn't know much about rally sport.. R.I.P.

His 5yo son was with him? This are really bad news. Best of wishes towards his family.

Mr Slavio, you have instantly lost all respect anyone ever had for you. Congratulations. Now bugger off.

RIP the Rally world will miss you.

Accidents are bad as it is but it really strikes home when there are children that are lost. I hope the families get all the support they need.

R.I.P. McRae and Good Luck to the McRae Family at getting through all of this. He was a brilliant driver and a great man.

The fact that it was reported that he had his young son with him at the time really socked me in the gut...so young...other than that, what else can I say that hasn't already been said? --RIP

You know, hearing of adults dying isn't too big of a deal for me. A star, who ever, it's just a shrug moment for me. But hearing that a 5 year old and a 6 year old were in the helicopter is a real tear jerker. It's the saddest thing to hear of children dying.

That sucks.

He should have played more flight sim games.

R.I.P.

This stinks. Colin was the only reason why I even bothered to watch the X-Games. RIP, I hope you're up there in heaven with Richard Burns, Ayrton Senna and Dale Earnhardt.

I came so close to buying Dirt yesterday as a memorial to Colin, but I ended up preordering Sega Rally Revo instead. Maybe in the next couple of weeks, I'll get Dirt...

Too soon?

Something just feels weird.

Not conspiracy theorist weird, just "Wow, I can't believe McRae died" kinda weird. It's this weird feeling of looking at his picture and realizing that he's dead.

:(

You know what would be really funny? If you and your family died in an air accident. That would be hilarious!

Man, I thought Richard Burns dying of brain tumour a few years ago was awful. This is just horrid. Why do all the cool, crazy people die young while being relatively sensible or of something mundane?

BTW, Richard was also another bat-shit insane rally champ with his name on a game. Also was a bit of a gamer if Jeremy Clarkson, is to be believed.

...a helicopter crash is not exactly what one would define as mundane. Although unfortunate in the nature of death, I do see your point.

I always though McRae would die in a car, not in a helicopter... kinda like what happened to the Crocodile Hunter and his unexpected death by stingray.

RIP

Maybe in the not too distant future, him and Dale Earnheart can race.
Unfortunately as Ecclesiastes 9:11 says "time and unforseen occurance befall us all."

R.I.P.

What else is there to say?

No joke will ever be funny, and there's just something wrong with a person dying so young.

Hopefully he's having a good time partying it up wherever you go when you die.

R.I.P. Man =(

I do not know you well Colin, RIP. Joystiq, please delete these malicious comments that are on this board.

that WOULD be hilarious.
this kinda reminds me when someone from cnet died a litle while ago.
still, he lived more than 99 percent of us do.
except for his kid though. :(
thatd totally suck.
next time you play DiRT (it stands for Distance= Ratio by Time)
pour a little red bull, or mountian dew or whatever out for him.
then clean it up.

I wish when daredevil rich adrenaline junkies got their kicks, they would do it WITHOUT little kids in the mix. That 5 year old didn't understand that a helicopter can be very dangerous. But I guess it was Colin's genes to do with what he wanted despite anything I might say.

I'm sure that kid had 5 pretty damn fun years.

Aww man this is terrible. :( I JUST saw him compete in the X-Games a couple of months ago..

*sigh*

RIP great god of Rally racing sir.

Sad day.

RIP Colin, Johnny and friends.

that's sad. he died because of what was most likely an equipment malfunction that occurred while doing something he enjoyed recreationally, and it's even sadder that his little boy died with him. for a man to be killed doing something that was casual in comparison to his usual daredevil antics is a real tragedy. no one can blame this accident on his risk-taking career. condolences go out to his family and friends.

i won't pretend i'm a die-hard rally fan that closely followed his career, but this news saddens me nonetheless. RIP Colin McRae.

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Breaking news: Racer Colin McRae dies in helicopter crash

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