Colin McRae picked up the motorsport bug from his famous father Jimmy, who won the last of five British titles in 1988. By then, Colin was already making a name for himself in the junior ranks.
It was an impressive run to sixth place in a Ford Sierra on the RAC Rally in 1990 – complete with three stage wins – that earned McRae his big break and a phone call from David Richards, the boss of Prodrive and the Subaru rally programme. In 1991, Colin dominated the British Rally Championship and even led the RAC Rally outright for a few stages.
Richards decided that his young Scotsman was ready for more World Rally Championship outings in 1992 and paired him in Subaru's line-up with Ari Vatanen.
Second place on the snow of Sweden was an incredible start for McRae, but it was his adventures on Rally Finland that cemented his reputation for pushing the limit. On the fastest roads in rallying, he rolled his Legacy twice, yet somehow carried on, finishing eighth.
In 1993, McRae claimed his first WRC victory in New Zealand: the first and only win on the world stage for the Legacy. For 1994, Subaru introduced the Impreza and brought in two-time world champion Carlos Sainz as McRae's team-mate. The two drivers had contrasting styles and became fierce rivals over the following years. That came to a head in 1995 when they were fighting to win the championship.
During the penultimate round in Spain, Richards ordered his men to hold position – Sainz leading McRae – to ensure that Subaru wrapped up the manufacturers' title. McRae wasn't so keen on the idea and overtook his team-mate. Eventually though, Colin reluctantly checked in late so that Sainz won.
Fired up, McRae defeated Sainz to win the RAC Rally and the title, becoming Britain's first world rally champion. At 27, he was also the youngest ever world champion: a record he still holds today. That famous title was won on Pirelli tyres.
In the following years he struggled to repeat that success, however, as Tommi Makinen and Mitsubishi stormed to four consecutive titles. At the end of 1998, McRae left Subaru for Ford and a multi-million dollar deal to drive the new Focus World Rally Car.
McRae's best chance of a second WRC title came in 2001, in a ‘Battle of Britain' against Englishman Richard Burns. McRae was leading the final round in Wales when he crashed, ending his hopes on the spot. In 2002, further wins in Greece and Kenya made him the first driver to reach 25 victories, but they would be his last.
McRae hadn't finished with competition when his life was tragically cut short in 2007 after the helicopter he was piloting crashed near his home in Scotland. For many, he will always and forever be the greatest rally driver that ever lived.