A seventh place finish on home soil was overshadowed by the death of popular co-driver Michael Park in an accident on the final day, but in Australia, McRae showed that his absence from the WRC hadn't affected his speed as he looked set to take the un-fancied Fabia to the podium before a clutch issue forced him to retire just three stages from the finish.

There would be just one more WRC outing for McRae when he was called up by the Kronos Citroen team to replace the injured Sebastien Loeb in Turkey last year, while the Scot also made numerous outings with his MkII Escort on national events as he sought the chance to return to a full time drive.

Away from the special stages, McRae was busy developing his own car – the R4 – and had also picked up a whole new array of fans from the computer games that bore his name.

But it is his all-action driving on the stages for which McRae will be forever remembered as one of the top drivers ever to appear in the WRC.

All at Crash.net join the entire rallying community in extending our sympathies to Colin's family and friends and those of the other victims at this difficult time.