On the 15^th of September 2007 The world of sport lost a champion, rallying lost a true hero and the Scots lost a genuine personality in a tragedy which robbed us of the lives of Colin McRae, his son Johnny, Johnny's school friend Ben Porcelli, and family friend Graeme Duncan. It was a shock which left world rally fans reeling in disbelief and Scottish fans bereft.

Colin McRae was not just a successful rally driver, he was a supremely gifted, but modest individual who was thrust into the limelight. The driving was always something he could cope with, but it was the media pressure which took time for him to come to terms with. Over recent years, he was more able to deal with the high profile demands that his position required, but he never lost his common touch, a fact which endeared him to all who knew him.

After a successful career on two wheels as a junior motocross and motorcycle trials champion, Colin turned his attention to four wheels as soon as he turned 16. With his father Jim heavily involved in rallying, Colin needed a little bit of help to compete in autotest events with his self-built Mini, and so began a long association with Coltness Car Club where a number of club members took it in turns to take him to and from events.

His 17th birthday and a full licence couldn't come soon enough for the talented youngster. In a borrowed Hillman Avenger he was challenging for the lead of his first ever rally event at Kames at the tail end of 1985 before the inevitable happened. He hit a rock and the Avenger rolled - ever so slightly! He still finished, but a lowly 14th. If he thought he had cracked this rallying lark, his next outing on the Galloway Hills proved there was a lot more to learn, and he recorded his first ever non-finish.

It was in 1989 that the world of rallying got its first real glimpse of what was to come. Colin finished 5th overall on New Zealand's world championship counter. And the rest, as they say, is history.

He won the British title in 1991 and 1992 and became the first Brit (since Roger Clark in 1976) to win a round of the World Championship when he won the Rally of New Zealand in a Subaru Legacy in 1993. The world title followed after a nail-biting finish in 1995 against team-mate Carlos Sainz, when the title was decided by the narrowest of margins on the final round, the RAC Rally.

So much for his record, but it was the manner of the man and his driving which ultimately led to an almost cult following amongst rally fans around the world, and then he conquered America.

At the X-Games extreme event showcase in 2006, there were still people who thought Colin was simply a character in a Video Game. When he rolled the Subaru Impreza on the final bend of his final run, but still crossed the finish line, the 80,000 crowd erupted. They thought he had done it deliberately. Yet another legend was born.

Away from the rallying scene, Colin was a devoted father to Johnny and Hollie, and occasionally took his wife Alison along on club events as co-driver. He was a stalwart member of Coltness Car Club. When the club took over a vacant Forestry Commission allocation in 1993 he financially supported the inaugural event and thereafter was persuaded annually to sponsor the event which bears his name to this day.

It was Colin's way of putting something back into the club and the sport. What is less well known is the number of younger drivers that Colin spent time with individually over the years and on a formal basis with the Albar Junior Scholarship in the County Saab Scottish Championship.

He loved anything with an engine, even jet-skis. He and Barrie Lochhead installed a Ford Escort Cosworth RS engine and drivetrain into a Ford Transit van, just so he could get to the water quicker! That passion extended from quads and Rage buggies to race bikes and race cars and ultimately to helicopters.

It was a passion matched with talent. He was competitive in everything he drove from a British Touring Car Championship BMW to a Jordan F1 car, from a Nissan pickup on the Paris-Dakar to Ferrari drives at Le Mans, and even a works MotoGP Suzuki. Outwardly, his was an attacking, exciting, flamboyant driving style, but inwardly, to those who sat beside him, they saw only controlled and fluid aggression.

On the 15^th of September 2007 the world of sport lost a champion, rallying lost a true hero and the Scots lost a genuine personality but Coltness Car Club lost a member and a great friend.