Colin McRae, his young son and others killed in copter crash

He was in the helicopter. I cannot believe it was a helicopter pilot error because as my best friend and the godfather of my daughter I know he was a very safe pilot.

"We have been close business partners and friends for seven years. He is the best person I have ever met in my life. I have to try and understand what I have just been told."

McRae's friend the rally journalist Jeremy Hart who flew with the champion several times described him as a "very good, very measured pilot whose natural ability with machinery was second to none". "Colin regularly flew all over the UK and into Europe," said Hart. "He knew the terrain and conditions at Jerviswood very well. It was the place he flew into most regularly.

"As a driver Colin was misunderstood slightly as being reckless but everything you saw with him came from pure raw talent as opposed to being learnt. He was the Michael Schumacher of rally driving.

"It's so ironic that he should die in a helicopter crash when he had competed and had brushed with death so many times as a rally driver."

This is indeed very sad news. In fact it reminds me of the death of motorcycle and F1 legend Mike Hailwood who was killed along with his son in a traffic accident while going out for some fish and chips with his kids back in 1981, and was struck by a truck that made an illegal turn. Like McRae's passing, so incredible and so ironic.

McRae was a huge part of Subaru's rally success over the past decade or so. He was also a huge hit at both this year's and last year's X-games; especially last year, in which he flipped his Subie racer , landed upright and continued on to take  second place, fractions of a second behind Travis Pastrana.

Full story here and here . More on the life of Colin McRae can be found here and here ; and finally, a nice video tribute to this great racer here .

Incredible coincidence—and good luck!
Subaru rally team chief Dave Richards and his wife survive a helicopter crash in Essex England, which occurred after McRae's crash. Both walked away from the crash and were treated for shock. Richards was a good friend of McRae, and is CEO of Prodrive which recently bought Aston Martin from Ford.

A Prodrive spokesman said: "David and Colin were great friends and it's an amazing coincidence that this has happened.

"Colin was a Subaru driver for many years and during that time he and David got to know each other very well. David is devastated about what has happened to Colin.

"We are just thankful he and Karen are OK."

Full story here and here .