Sept 17, 2007

Racing legend Colin McRae, his son, and two family friends died in a helicopter crash on Saturday, September 15, when it went down near McRae's family home.

For those of you who don't know, McRae has worked closely with Codemasters on the popular Colin McRae racing series for several years now. The PS3 version of DiRT hit shelves last week.

The BBC reports: "Rally champion Colin McRae, his five-year-old son, a six-year-old boy and a family friend were killed in a helicopter crash, police believe. Strathclyde Police released the names of the four people they thought were on board the crashed aircraft on Saturday."

A statement from Colin McRae’s father, Jim McRae has been released on behalf of the family:

“It is with much sadness and regret that we have to make this statement.

It is unbelievable that Colin and Johnny’s lives have been taken so prematurely and in such a tragic manner.

Colin was a great son, a loving husband to Alison and a fantastic father to Johnny and his big sister Hollie. Johnny was a great wee guy, spending every spare minute with his dad, and even at this early stage it looked like he had the potential to carry on the family dynasty.

Our thoughts are also very much with the families of Ben Porcelli and Graeme Duncan. Ben was a great buddy of Johnny’s and they had always spent a lot of time together both in and out of school. Graeme, who now resides in France, had been a close friend of Colin’s since their schooldays and was back in Lanark on holiday.

We are thankful for the overwhelming number of messages of support we have received from all around the world. Colin was very much an inspiration and role model to motorsport fans the world over.

As you can imagine this is a very difficult time for the family and we would ask that our privacy be respected and we be allowed to grieve in private.”