RIP Colin Mcrae

One of my favourite sporting celebrities died in a helicopter crash last night. He was piloting the copter, and his 5 year old son was also onboard.

I started playing the Colin Mcrae series of computer games back in 95 on my PC, and started idly following the World Rally Championship afterwards. His personality made it fun to watch, and sucked me right in.

Now it's 2007, and I've been playing DiRT for the last couple of months (it's not badged "Colin Mcraes DiRT" here, just DiRT", and I guess it's going to be the last one with his name attached now. Thankfully it's really good.

With all the focus on cheating in F1, this is news the motor sport's community wasn't prepared for, as if you ever could. Best wishes go to Colin's wife, who has just lost a husband and her son.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/09/15/ncopter215.xml

Colin McRae, with his flamboyant driving style, brought such excitement to the off-road sport that the former plumber's name has become synonymous with the sport.

Born into a successful Scottish motor-racing dynasty, McRae became Britain's first World Rally Champion, clinching the title in 1995.

At the age of just 27, he was the youngest world rally champion.