Motorsport pays tribute to McRae

The world of motorsport has paid tribute to former world rallying champion Colin McRae, who is believed to have died after a helicopter crash.

David Richards, McRae's former boss at Subaru, said the 39-year-old Scot will be remembered for his winning attitude.

Richards said: "He had a competitive spirit like I've never seen."

Official confirmation of his death is still awaited, but his agent Jean-Eric Freudiger told The Times that McRae had been piloting the helicopter.

Strathclyde Police said there were no survivors.

Richards added: "He was one of those people who had an extraordinary spirit that you just can't define. It's a terrible loss."

McRae, 39, the son of five-times British rally champion Jimmy, wrote his name in the record books in 1995 when he became the first Briton to win the world rally championship.

And Richards insisted it was his fearless and at times gung-ho approach that won him many admirers in the sport and fans outside it.

"That was his style. He had a real have-a-go instinct," Richards said.

"It was a special thing that you would never want to take that away from him."

Max Mosley, the president of motorsport's governing body, the FIA, said: "It's tragic that he should die like this when he's retired from the dangerous part of his career.

"I don't think anybody disliked him, everyone was his friend in the sport.

"Some of his achievements in rallying were absolutely extraordinary. Everywhere he went he was an ambassador, an ambassador for the sport and for Scotland, he was terrific."

Martin Whittaker was Colin McRae's team boss at Ford and is now the Chief Executive Officer of the Bahrain F1 circuit.

He told BBC Sport that McRae was an immensely influential driver, adding: "First of all, his personality was extraordinary.

"But I think it was his driving, his flamboyancy. It was gritty, it was gutsy and his determination was better than anything I'd ever seen.

"He had that attitude which was sort of 'press on regardless'. He was spectacular, he had lots of accidents, but at the same time he was the youngest world champion.

"He delighted many hundreds of thousands of rally fans and of course he endeared himself to millions around the world.

"He brought the sport from something that was perhaps not so well known and became a household name."

Source: BBC Sport