Colin McRae - a Tribute

Avinash Bali • September 17, 2007, 12:06:50 IST

A tribute to one of the greatest rally car racers of all time.

The name Colin McRae will undoubtedly be familiar to gamers, rally aficionados and non-gamers alike. The 39-year-old British rally car racer who was known as the maverick of the rally world passed away on Saturday in a most unfortunate helicopter crash that not only took his life, but also snatched away his five-year-old son Johnny. He is survived by his wife Alison and daughter Hollie.

McRae began his career in 1986 and his speedy as well as risky antics earned him the name “McRae the Madman” from ardent fans and colleagues alike. With pure skill and determination he went on to carve a name for himself in the sport that’s virtually part of his DNA. He was literally born into racing since his father Jimmy McRae was a five-time British Rally champion himself, and from the tender age of twelve Colin took to the track the same way a moth takes to a flame.

Not content with dominating the world of rally racing, Colin turned his attention to the world of video games where he tied up with British game developer Codemasters to deliver the Colin McRae series. Even though Colin wasn’t a developer himself he worked closely with Codemasters to provide any sort of technical knowledge needed to make the games as accurate and authentic as possible.

The very first Colin McRae game called Colin McRae Rally hit the United Kingdom in 1998 and went on to make its American debut two years later. While the first game hit only the PlayStation and the PC, its subsequent iterations were released across a variety of platforms such as the PS2, the PSP, the Gameboy Advance, the Xbox and so on.

Most of the Collin McRae games (there were six in all) catered to hardcore rally car buffs, but all that changed in 2007 with DiRT, the very first Colin McRae game that appealed to the casual gamer as well. DiRT is only available on the Xbox 360 and the PC as of now, but the PS3 version is expected to hit the stands anytime soon.

If you’d like to offer your heartfelt condolences to Colin’s family and friends, do head right here .

Written by Avinash Bali

Nash, as he prefers being called, woke up to the wonders of gaming rather late but don't bring that up around him. It's a touchy subject. A self confessed Battlefield veteran, Nash spent a good part of 2010 on the Steam Battlefield - with Bad Company (see what we did there?). He has a zero tolerance policy towards RTS games but is currently showing an interest by picking up and moving people - who he refers to as units - in the office. Thank God he's not that enthusiastic about Angry Birds or we'd be seeing women flying all over the place. Bali... Bali, put the receptionist down now. see more