2003 - By now McRae had won wore
WRC rounds than any other driver (25) and signed a big money deal to drive with the French Citroen team, it was a star studded line up, team mates were Carlos Sainz and an up and coming driver by the name of Sebastien Loeb.
First event of 2003 was a dream start for the Citroen team with a 1-2-3 finish on the Monte Carlo Rally. McRae took second place behind Loeb, this would however be Colin's best result for the team all season.
The rest of the 2003 season was frustrating for Colin, this was partly due to some bad luck, and perhaps the fact that the
WRC cars were becoming more train like (i.e. on rails!) and this did not suit his driving style, where Sainz and Loeb were more precise in their style. He did bring many points finishes though.
Finland, flying high :-) ....
....followed by a typical McRae crash!!
It was decided by the FIA that for the 2004
WRC season only two points scoring drivers would be allowed in each team, this left Citroen with a difficult decision, it was Colin who would have to leave the team, Sainz and Loeb had better results during 2003. Colin McRae would be left without a drive for the 2004 season!
Colin managed to secure a drive on the Dakar Rally in 2004 & 2005 for Nissan, he showed great promoise, setting some fastest times.
He also returned to old employer Prodrive for a one off drive in the 2004 Le Mans 24 Hours, his team mates were Rickard Rydell and Darren Turner, Colin apparently held up well against his more experienced race driving team mates, they finished an impressive 9th overall in this Ferrari 550.
Two years passed before Colin was back back in the
WRC fold, an invite came from Skoda to run a car on the 2005 Rally GB, Colin did a good job and brought the car home in 7th overall. The result was however totally irrelevant, Markko Martin's Peugeot crashed into a tree and his British co driver Micheal Park was killed
McRae on a spectator stage on the 2005 Rally GB. He had made up with Nicky Grist and they were a team (Again!!)
Skoda offered McRae a further outing on the 2005 Rally Australia, he nearly pulled off what would have been an amazing second overall finish but was dashed with a clutch problem, he showed that he still had what it took though.
Colin's final
WRC appearance came unexpectedly when Loeb injured himself in a cycling accident, he made a one off showing for Citroen on the 2006 Rally of Turkey, it was a problematic and frustrating rally though, mechanical problems causing McRae and Grist to finish outside the top ten.
In August 2007 Colin stated that he still fancied another drive in the
WRC, but he also admitted that time was running out (He was now 39)
What came next rocked the world of motorsport to the very core. I remember getting a phone call from my dad, he said it had just been on TV that Colin McRae's helicopter had come down near his house in Lanark, it looked bad, it was
Colin was dead, along with his son and two friends. All the years of risk taking on the
WRC, nobody ever thought Colin would end up losing his life in this manner.
Colin McRae 1968-2007
