Death Of Rally McRae

David Coulthard has led the tributes to Colin McRae, the former world rally champion, who died in a helicopter crash over the weekend.

McRae, 39, was confirmed today as one of four who perished in the crash, along with his five-year-old son Johnny, and his friends, six-year-old Ben Porcelli, of Lanark, and Graeme Duncan, 37, who lived in France.

The Squirrel aircraft came down in Jervis Wood near Lanark just after 4pm and immediately burst into flames. Strathclyde police said the damage to the helicopter was so bad that it could not immediately be determined how many people were on board. The Air Accidents Investigation Branch has been called in to investigate the cause of the crash. 

Fellow Scot and Formula One driver Coulthard, who was due to partner McRae in Team Scotland for the latest version of the Race of Champions at Wembley Stadium in December, said: "He and Alison [McRae's wife] were good friends and I cannot imagine either without the other. 

"He was fearless, flamboyant, blindingly quick in the car".

A statement issued on McRae's official website by his father, Jim, on behalf of the family said: "It is with much sadness and regret that we have to make this statement".

"It is unbelievable that Colin and Johnny's lives have been taken so prematurely and in such a tragic manner".

Our thoughts are also very much with the families of Ben Porcelli and Graeme Duncan. Ben was a great buddy of Johnny's and they had always spent a lot of time together both in and out of school. Graeme, who now resides in France, had been a close friend of Colin's since their schooldays and was back in Lanark on holiday. 

Colin was very much an inspiration and role model to motorsport fans the world over. 

As you can imagine this is a very difficult time for the family and we would ask that our privacy be respected and we be allowed to grieve in private.

First Minister Alex Salmond paid tribute, saying: "Colin McRae was an outstanding Scottish sportsman of international stature and achievement". 

David Richards, McRae's former boss at Subaru where he enjoyed much of his rallying success, said his death was a terrible loss. 

"I remember when I put him in a Formula One car at Silverstone and how great he was in that straightaway. It could have been a sports car, touring car, Paris-Dakar, you name it. It's unusual to call somebody a legend, but it's very appropriate for Colin." 

Richards recalls occasions when he was tearing his hair out with McRae, but knows it was his "have-a-go-instinct" that was also so endearing and made him such a hit with fans. 

"It was just trying to the maximum no matter what happened with Colin - but some of the accidents he had!" added Richards. 

"I always look back to Finland in 1993 when he must have rolled on three separate occasions in the event. Every time we thought that was the end of the story, only for him to knock the dents out of the car. By the third accident I was knocking the dents out of the car with him! 

It has been suggested if McRae had been less gung-ho he might have won more than the one world title as he was runner-up on three other occasions and third once. 

But Richards replied: "That was his style, that was the special thing about him. You would never want to take that away from him." 

Naturally, as time progressed and with family in mind, Richards witnessed McRae change into a more mellow character. 

"But I knew him more of late as great company and a great pal. I met him at Goodwood the other day, and then I chatted to him on the phone only this week. He had matured over the years to be a great guy." 

Nicky Grist, McRae's co-driver since 1997, said the whole of the rally world was in shock. 

"He was such a great character and will be sorely missed," Grist said. 

A post-mortem examination will be carried out on the bodies with a formal identification expected within the next few days. Police are preparing a report for the procurator fiscal. 

David Learmount, an aviation expert, said McRae was somebody who took safety very seriously. "There's no way at the moment you can know whether something was wrong with him," Learmount said. "I don't think the weather was bad enough. He would have made a judgment about the weather, and I don't think he would have misjudged that. It's pure speculation but my suspicion would be that something went wrong with the helicopter".

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