Autoblog

Click above for high-res gallery of Colin McRae's tribute

Oh, those Brits. When they're not faking making corn circles they're writing a rally legend's name using 1,086 Subaru Imprezas as pixels. This, of course, was the finale to the weekend long celebration of Colin McRae's life, which saw over 1,100 Scoobys converge on Prodrive's test track in Warwickshire. Precisely how many cars took part in the ensuing 30-mile convoy is unknown, but if you don't have anything better to do right now, you can have a go at counting them in the video after the jump (and look out for the near miss at 6:42). Even the local constabulary showed up in a WRX pursuit car.

The half-mile-long sign you see above broke the Guiness World Record for, err, writing signs with cars by a cool 800, but more importantly Colin's fans raised over $80,000 for the McRae family's chosen charities.

With the rally racing world still mourning the death of 1995 WRC champion Colin McRae, game maker Codemasters has decided to pull advertising featuring the deceased driver. The very successful game, Colin McRae: DiRT, used McRae as its spokesman in Europe, but not in the States. Management at Codemasters came to the decision to pull the ads after consulting McRae's family, which is the decent thing to do.

McRae's death was a crushing blow to all who knew him, and the news that three others, including Colin's son, also passed only made things worse. Codemasters did the obvious and right thing in pulling the ads, but we hope McRae's name stays on the cover of the game as tribute to his vast contributions to rally racing.

[Source: Joystiq]

A little over a day after a tragic helicopter accident has claimed the life of famous rally driver Colin McRae and three others, including his 5-year-old son Johnny, fans and members of motorsport alike are paying tribute to the legend with kind words. With perhaps the most fitting gesture so far, the Scottish Subaru Impreza Drivers Club formed a parade of Subarus outside of McRae's home in Lanark, Scotland, leaving a makeshift shrine and a note that said, among other sentiments, "May you enjoy going 'flat out' in God's special stage." Well known drivers in other types of motorsport also followed the career of McRae, and those who have commented on his death include Formula One driver David Coulthard, legend himself Jackie Stewart, and MotoGP rider Valentino Rossi.

[Source: Reuters, Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty]

The Times is reporting that former World Rally Champion Colin McRae has died after the helicopter he was piloting crashed into the ground near his home in Strathclyde. Also on board was his five year-old son, an unnamed adult male and child. According to reports, there were no survivors.

People close to McRae assert that he was as adept at piloting a helicopter as he was behind the wheel.

More is available from the Times Online here. We'll update this post as more information is available.

Thanks to all who tipped in.

UPDATE: More information here and here.

It's obvious that the fast-paced risks Colin McRae endured during his time behind the wheel have set the tone of his retirement. The term "retirement" is a total misnomer however, as McRae has kept himself busy consulting, marketing and developing his own line of rally machines. The R4 is so close to completion that McRae has taken on another project dubbed the Enduro.

Much like the R4, its purpose is to offer privateers an entry-level means of competing in cross-country rallies, approved by the FIA's T1 regulations that cover everything from Dakar to other Baja-style campaigns.

The machine was developed in conjunction with MDV Specialist Engineering and is made up of a space-frame chassis in which a Land Rover-sourced, turbocharged diesel 2.7-liter V6, tuned by Roush, produces 240 HP and 383 lb.-ft. of torque. Power is sent to the all four wheels via a six-speed ZF transmission equipped with a non-variable LSD in both the rear and center.

As with the R4, McRae envisions the Enduro competing in a one-make series, named the Pirelli McRae Enduro Trofeo, which will include three FIA World Cup events and three Baja series campaigns. Pricing is expected to be around 150,000 euros when it's finally offered up next year.

[Source: EVO]

We just saw Subaru's new lineup of rally drivers at the LA Auto Show last week, but little did we know we were in the presence of insanity. Ken Block, driver of the #43 car was on hand to show his team some support as they announced the contract extension of Travis Pastrana. It's hard to believe now, because Ken looked like a relatively normal guy, but he is certifiably insane. Who in his right mind would take a rally car, even one as capable as the WRX, and launch it 130 feet through the air?

Tipped to this story by 0-60 magazine, we managed to track down the YouTube video to show the jump in extremely poor quality, but in an attempt to prove that the still photos accompanying the story don't get taken for fakes. It seems cable fixture The Discovery Channel put this jump together for Stunt Junkies, "a TV Show where each episode revolves around a fearless feat never performed before," according to 0-60. Stunt Junkies shows how stunts are done, taking it from concept to completion. This particular episode is tentatively set to air in February. Click through the read link to hear what Block had to say about the jump, the X-Games, and fellow rallyers Colin McRae and Travis Pastrana. And to see some killer still shots too!

[Source: 0-60 Magazine]

If we've said it once, we've said it a thousand times -- bicycling is dangerous. Possibly even more dangerous than piloting a turbo-charged, all-wheel-drive hatch through the tree-lined corridors of a World Rally Championship stage. We meant to leave this little nugget of information on Sebastian Loeb's answering machine, but alas, we were too late. The Citroen hot shoe broke his arm during a cycling accident and is unable to drive his Xsara in the World Rally of Turkey this October 12-15. A pity really, as Loeb is currently in first place for the driver's championship, towering over his nearest competitor with a 35-point lead.

Citroen however has called out the big guns, in the form of ex-racer extraordinaire Colin McRae and long-time co-pilot Nicky Grist. The three-time World Rally champion will pilot the Xsara during the race in Turkey, although his participation in future races has not been ruled out.

We know McRae is still on top of his game, with his last run in the WRC back in 2005 for Skoda and his recent antics competing in the X-Games, it's evident that he is in top form. Rumors are also beginning to circulate that he may make a full-time return to the WRC in 2007.

[Source: Channel 4 and WRC.com]

Finally some shots of the R4 rally car designed by Colin McRae himself for a single-make rally series have surfaced. The car debuted at the Goodwood Festival of Speed last weekend, but shots from that event have been surprisingly hard to come by. We've already told you about the R4 at length here, but to reiterate it's got a 340-hp, 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine that's mated to a six-speed sequential gearbox. In that form it can hit 60 mph in five seconds, although more powerful versions of the engine are already in the works. McRae designed the £130,000 rally car especially for a single-make rally race series of which we know very little about at this time.

[Source: Autocar

One of the most successful drivers in rally history, Colin McRae, has designed his own rally car that will be put into limited production after its debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed this weekend. The Prodrive Subaru Impreza rally car pictured helped make McRae a household name, along with the videogame Colin McRae Rally that has graced all manner of game machines.

4Car reports that the car was designed with the privateer in mind and will feature four-wheel drive, a 2.5L engine and a unique spaceframe chassis. Not much else is known about the rally car, like which partners McRae has collaborated with to produce it or where the financial backing comes from, but we'll get our first look at the car this weekend at Goodwood, and hopefully more info to fill in the gaps.

[Source: 4Car]