The Next Stage
All of us in the McRae family, and here at Colin McRae Motorsport in Lanark, are gradually trying to get back to 'normality', or as normal as life can ever become.
We've started to think again about Colin's website and the decision has been made that it should continue. It certainly can't be the same but we hope that in the coming months, fans and followers will find regular items of interest, and help us to keep Colin's memory to the fore.
One of the main reasons we have decided to continue with Colin's website is you, the motor sports fans and sporting fans in general. Your support and many thousands of messages and tributes have genuinely touched every member of the family and for that we are truly grateful. We also appreciate that there is a great desire amongst you all to perpetuate the memory of one of life's most inspiring sporting heroes.
Donations have been flowing into the The Jerviswood Trust account which was set up in the immediate aftermath of the accident and for that we are very appreciative. The decision has been taken to close this account shortly and distribute the funds raised to the 3 charities nominated by the Duncan, McRae and Porcelli families.
In the longer term, the first steps have now been taken to establish a charitable foundation in Colin's name, with the proposed joint aims of raising funds for up and coming young drivers and also for charitable causes nominated by the McRae family. More news on this as further progress is made.
Please keep an eye on Colin's website over coming weeks and months, as we'll have more news on upcoming events and initiatives.
Jerviswood Trust Account
The Jerviswood account was established fairly quickly after the accident in response to the many wishes that were expressed by the public to be able to make a donation. So many people wanted to express their sympathy for the families involved that we organised to set up this account to receive donations from all around the world.
The 3 charities which will benefit equally from the funds raised are:
Bravehearts Childrens Trust
Childrens Hospice Association Scotland (CHAS)
Make-a-Wish
We will bring you more news of the total amount raised once the account has been closed and the funds distributed during the course of January.
Charitable Foundation
Again, after lots of thought, and because of the great desire being expressed from fans to do something on a longer term basis, we have decided to create a Charitable Foundation.
We are now fairly certain of what we want to achieve and are currently working on the detail, but basically we hope to use the Foundation to identify, help and support the motor sporting champions of the future and to raise funds for charitable causes identified by the McRae family
As many of you will know Colin had been a long time supporter of young driving talent, as evidenced by his support of the young Kris Meeke and more recently of the Albar Junior programme within the County Saab Scottish Rally Championship.
It was therefore felt that it would be a fitting legacy to be able to continue this work under the auspices of the Foundation. As plans for the Foundation become crystallised we’ll keep you all informed.
Autosport International – The Racing Car Show
The Autosport Show is the major showcase in the calendar for the Motorsport Industry in the UK and beyond.
It takes place this year at the NEC in Birmingham from 10-13th January and one of the major attractions will undoubtedly be the ‘Colin McRae Tribute Feature’, which has been put together jointly by Colin McRae Motorsport Ltd and Haymarket Media Group who organise the show.
We certainly hope that the effort put into this feature will prove to be a fitting tribute to Colin’s life and achievements.
There will be a total of 7 of the cars that he drove during his illustrious career (Talbot Sunbeam, Vauxhall Nova, 1992 BRC winning - Subaru Legacy, 1995 WRC winning - GpA Subaru Impreza, Ford Focus , Citroen Xsara and his own designed Colin McRae R4) This will be a unique opportunity to see all of these cars close up in the same location.
A walk through tribute will be the centre piece of the feature which will follow Colin’s career from the early years through to the present with a display of never seen before photos and memorabilia.
If you would like to demonstrate your computer driving skills then there will be game pods where you can try out the new highly acclaimed Colin McRae - DIRT Codemasters playstation game and Duke Video will also be showing the newly released definitive DVD ‘Colin McRae – Rally Legend’
Cype will also be on the stand showcasing the latest shoes/clothing from the colinmcraesport range.
We certainly hope that the stand will contain enough diversity to hold an interest for all ages and allow all those who knew him to reflect on both Colin as a person and his numerous achievements.
County Saab Scottish Rally Championship
The County Saab Scottish Rally Championship has also introduced a new award this year.
The Colin McRae ‘If in doubt .. flat out’ award will be presented annually in memory of Colin in future years. The first recipient received his trophy at the recent SRC awards ceremony, 19 year old Stevie Brown, who would appear to be keeping ‘certain traditions’ alive. He rolled his Nova on the Merrick Rally then repaired it in time for the Tunnock’s Tour of Mull – where he rolled it again, but he’s a trier, nothing surer than that!
Lifetime Achievement Award
There was a nice tribute to Colin recently in the form of a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Daily Record/Sunday Mail Scottish Sports Awards 2007 in partnership with SportScotland.
The audience, at the star-studded gala event in Glasgow’s largest hotel, rose as one to give a standing ovation to Jim McRae as he stepped up to receive the award presented in memory of his son Colin.
Jim gave heartfelt thanks, on behalf of the family, to all those who had been of support over the last few difficult months including the 20,000 who turned out in Lanark for the Memorial Service.
TV sports presenter Suzi Perry handed over the award and there was also a video tribute from David Coulthard in an interview from Wembley stadium where the Race of Champions will take place this coming weekend. David also announced that he had arranged for the tribute helmet he had worn at the Japanese GP in memory of his good friend Colin McRae, to be signed by the entire F1 grid and forwarded to the Dinner. This unique tribute helmet was also presented to Jim McRae.
Colin McRae Statue
The other big news is that the Daily Record newspaper, has set up a fund to create a lasting memorial to one of Scotland’s sporting greats. In discussions with the local authorities in Lanarkshire and the Council in Lanark they will seek to create and site a statue in Colin’s home town as a lasting memorial to a true world champion.
The statue is to be commissioned with renowned sculptor Kenneth Mackay, whose works include those of politician Donald Dewar and footballer Davie Cooper.
Tributes
It started with surprise, turned into incredulity and became overwhelming. We refer of course to the thousands of tributes that poured into the Condolences Book set up after the accident.
The family has derived great comfort from the many thousands of messages of goodwill and support, and again, because you too derived comfort from this it has been agreed that a selection of these messages will be made available once again for public viewing on the website.
It wasn’t only the website which was inundated, the family received a huge number of floral tributes, cards, books compiled by clubs and posters signed by fans from all across the world and we have plans for those too.
So please bear with us as we attempt to get all of this under way, and keep an eye on the website over coming weeks.
Merchandise
After great deliberation, the merchandise side of McRae Motorsport will continue but obviously in a different format.
The latest version of the Colin McRae driving game, the highly popular and best selling ‘Colin McRae - Dirt’ was launched in June of this year and has received 5 star reviews and continues to exceed all sales forecasts. Codemasters are currently looking into issuing a commemorative edition of the game as a tribute to Colin, and this will hopefully be available early in the New Year.
Duke Marketing, based in the Isle of Man, one of the UK’s leading motor sports films and documentary makers, has produced the definitive tribute DVD ‘Colin McRae- Rally Legend’ Production of this film had actually been underway for some months with a planned release well before Christmas, but in the light of recent events, the content had obviously to be adapted. The official launch of this ‘must have’ DVD took place in the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff at Wales Rally GB and is now available in all the major UK outlets.
We have also thought long and hard about the clothing range. Naturally, things have changed, but Alison is keen to have it continue and is in discussion with the manufacturers about the future make up of the colinmcraesport clothing/shoe range.
We are also keen to take on board feedback from the fans and supporters as to the items and design that they would like to see included in the future.
As for the R4, the prototype is now being completely rebuilt in order that it can take its place on the Colin McRae Tribute Stand at the Autosport Show in January. More news on this special tribute once the design and detail have been finalised.