Colin McRae

"365Daytonafan" (365daytonafan01) 09/15/2016 at 04:27 • Filed to: None

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Nine year ago today the world lost Colin McRae one of the greatest natural driving talents.

When in doubt flat out

AuthiCooper1300 > 365Daytonafan 09/15/2016 at 06:06

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Indeed, an exceptional driver.

And yet that fateful afternoon he seemed to have made a colossal error of judgement that took not only his life but also the ones of two children (one of them, his own son) and an adult (a friend of his).

Have a look here:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5423023c…

It makes for [very] sobering reading.

Although a catastrophic mechanical failure could not be ruled out completetly, it has been ascertained that at times he was flying less than 500 feet from the ground (illegal) and attempting what an official report defines as “high-performance manoeuvres”. Sounds a bit like hot-dogging to me.

By honest mistake or negligence he wasn’t even in possession of a valid flying licence for the type at the time.

To sum up - a fantastic rally driver. Maybe not such a wonderful citizen.

We tend to excuse the glaring faults of our heroes (whether their name is Colin McRae or Steve McQueen or Ayrton Senna or Michael Schumacher). If a member of our own families had been on that flight we would probably see the situation in a much, much clearer light.

Bearing in mind all of the above, I cannot even imagine the pain his family must have felt.

365Daytonafan > AuthiCooper1300 09/15/2016 at 07:05

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Very true, and indeed his rallying career would have been even more successful if his analytical thought processes and perhaps situational awareness had matched his natural ability. He would have been less exciting to watch though

MonkeePuzzle > 365Daytonafan 09/15/2016 at 09:19

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he has been an influence on my for sure.