Riding with the king
Posted by Charlie Turner at 12:40PM on Monday 17 September, 2007 6 Comments
I was lucky enough to meet Colin McRae twice. I say met, but our first encounter pushes that definition quite a bit to be honest.
When he was on a hot lap of Sweet Lamb, a decent-sized rock spat out of the back of Colin's WRC Impreza as it passed me, leaving a neat dent in my head.
Like any McRae fan though, I didn't mind. In fact, I was delighted to be have been touched by his genius.
The second time I met him was a few years later. Colin, bored of the bullshit of WRC, had quit and was set to drive one of the Prodrive 550s at Le Mans. Myself and TG photographer Lee Brimble had been given the enviable task of meeting him at La Sarthe with a 575 Maranello, and we were there to shoot some pictures of him taking it out for a spin.
We hooked up with Colin among the melee of scrutinising onlookers where, helpful as ever, he blagged us into the fray by giving Lee and I his teammate Darren Turner's passes. Once in, we chewed the fat including my mentioning of how he assaulted me with a rock all those years ago.
"Sorry about that," said Colin with a wry smile, "but glad you enjoyed it!"
We took a couple of photographs of him in the pit, and then we went out for a lap.
I set off in the hire car, trailing Colin and Lee in the 575. I remember thinking how gently he was heading to our pre-arranged meeting point at the old signalling point at the end of the Mulsanne, where we pulled up.
More photography, more chat:
"How do you like the 575, Colin?"
"Aye, it's nice, feels slidey. Is it slidey?"
"Hell yes," I say. "It's the most slidey car there is, Colin."
"I'm feeling a bit slidey," he replied, a glint returning to his eye.
We head down towards Indianapolis through Arnage and onto the Porsche curves. Colin is looking racey now. You can see how the whole attitude of the car has changed as we head up to the roundabout on the road outside the entrance to Porsche.
I close up behind the 575, only for it to downshift and explode away from us.
Colin deftly flicks to the right then the left, then back to right and he's on the lock-stops. He disappears to the other side of the roundabout and we wait. Three seconds later and still on the lock-stops, he's drifting past us and onto his second sideways lap.
As we follow, he flicks it from lock to lock and out of the roundabout and bangs up the gear, past Maison Blanc and onto the entrance to the circuit.
We stop amongst traffic and Colin gets out. "You're right, it's nice and slidey," he says, and with that, and a shake of hands, he's off.
A hero who lives up to every expectation is a rare thing, and Colin did so in spades.
I, like thousands of rally and race fans will miss him. My thoughts, like the thoughts of anyone who ever saw him in action I'm sure, are with his family.
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6 Comments for "Riding with the king"
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A great Scotsman, driver and father has sadly left us.
When I was 12, he was the one driver who got me interested in rallying, and then onto cars. I remember going to see my first ever rally, and him sliding round a hairpin at a ridiculous speed, and I thought "wow, i want to do that!"
RIP Colin, you'll forever be a legend.
Colin was a great guy. I have always loved the WRC and when he quit I was heartbroken. There was no one to really support for ages. I remember when I first saw Sebastien Loeb, and while he was good, he didn't have the same level of passion for cars that Colin seemed to.
Then back in 2006, Colin was back for part of the WRC season and I got straight back into it. Colin you'll be sorely missed.
A true legend, no other driver could match his talent. My thoughts are with his family, he will be sadly missed!!
Many drivers just cruise around or set an average pace round a circuit. Colin never did, whether he was in first or last place. He always went flat out and that is why he'll be remembered as one of the greats.
Backing off a little at times would probably have meant more titles, but it wasn't in his nature.
The biggest loss though is to his family and friends. Colin, we will miss you.
I only ever saw Colin driving at Knockhill in 1992 as a guest in the BTCC. He was spectacular to watch all weekend as he could make his BMW slide and was - as usual - very fast.
The highlight was when he got his bumper under the one of the front runners and pushed him through the hairpin at a comical rate. The crowd loved him immensely! And from there my hero was born.
Will be sorely missed. R.I.P. Colin and my condolences to all his loved ones.