A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. The body sometimes has a different name, such as board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, board of visitors, or executive board. It is often simply referred to as "the board."

A board's activities are determined by the powers, duties, and responsibilities delegated to it or conferred on it by an authority outside itself. These matters are typically detailed in the organization's bylaws. The bylaws commonly also specify the number of members of the board, how they are to be chosen, and when they are to meet.

In an organization with voting members, e.g., a professional society, the board acts on behalf of, and is subordinate to, the organization's full assembly, which usually chooses the members of the board. In a stock corporation, the board is elected by the stockholders and is the highest authority in the management of the corporation. In a non-stock corporation with no general voting membership, e.g., a university, the board is the supreme governing body of the institution; its members are sometimes chosen by the board itself.

Typical duties of boards of directors include:

governing the organization by establishing broad policies and objectives;

selecting, appointing, supporting and reviewing the performance of the chief executive;

ensuring the availability of adequate financial resources;

approving annual budgets;

accounting to the stakeholders for the organization's performance.

setting their own salaries and compensation

The legal responsibilities of boards and board members vary with the nature of the organization, and with the jurisdiction within which it operates. For public corporations, these responsibilities are typically much more rigorous and complex than for those of other types.

Typically the board chooses one of its members to be the chairman, who holds whatever title is specified in the bylaws.

In some European Union and Asian countries, there are two separate boards, one executive board for the day-to-day business and one supervisory board for control purposes (elected by the shareholders). In these countries, the CEO (chief executive or managing director) presides over the executive board and the chairman presides over the supervisory board, and these two roles will always be held by different people. This ensures a distinction between management by the executive board and governance by the supervisory board. This allows for clear lines of authority. The aim is to prevent a conflict of interest and too much power being concentrated in the hands of one person. There is a strong parallel here with the structure of government, which tends to separate the political cabinet from the management civil service. In the United States, the board of directors (elected by the shareholders) is often equivalent to the supervisory board, while the executive board may often be known as the executive committee (operating committee or executive council), composed of the CEO and their direct reports (other C-level officers, division/subsidiary heads).

Directors

The directors of an organization are the persons who are members of its board. Several specific terms categorize directors by the presence or absence of their other relationships to the organization.

An inside director is a director who is also an employee, officer, major shareholder, or someone similarly connected to the organization. Inside directors represent the interests of the entity's stakeholders, and often have special knowledge of its inner workings, its financial or market position, and so on.

Typical inside directors are:

A Chief Executive Officer (CEO) who is may also be Chairman of the Board

Other executives of the organization, such as its Chief Financial Officer (CFO) or Executive Vice President

Large shareholders (who may or may not also be employees or officers)

Representatives of other stakeholders such as labor unions, major lenders, or members of the community in which the organization is located

An inside director who is employed as a manager or executive of the organization is sometimes referred to as an executive director (not to be confused with the title executive director sometimes used for the CEO position). Executive directors often have a specified area of responsibility in the organization, such as finance, marketing, human resources, or production.

An outside director is a member of the board who is not otherwise employed by or engaged with the organization, and does not represent any of its stakeholders. A typical example is a director who is president of a firm in a different industry.

Outside directors bring outside experience and perspective to the board. They keep a watchful eye on the inside directors and on the way the organization is run. Outside directors are often useful in handling disputes between inside directors, or between shareholders and the board. They are thought to be advantageous because they can be objective and present little risk of conflict of interest. On the other hand, they might lack familiarity with the specific issues connected to the organization's governance.

Recapping the terminology:

director - any member of the board of directors

inside director - a director who, in addition to serving on the board, has a meaningful connection to the organization

outside director - a director who, other than serving on the board, has no meaningful connections to the organization

executive director - an inside director who is also an executive with the organization. The term is also used, in a completely different sense, to refer to a CEO

non-executive director - a director who is not an executive with the organization

Individual directors often serve on more than one board. This practice results in an interlocking directorate, where a relatively small number of individuals have significant influence over a large number of important entities. This situation can have important corporate, social, economic, and legal consequences, and has been the subject of significant research.

Sarbanes-Oxley Act

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) has introduced new standards of accountability on boards of U.S. companies or companies listed on U.S. stock exchanges. Under the Act, directors risk large fines and prison sentences in the case of accounting crimes. Internal control is now the direct responsibility of directors. The vast majority of companies covered by the Act have hired internal auditors to ensure that the company adheres to the highest standards of internal control. The internal auditors are required by law to report directly to an audit board, consisting of directors more than half of whom are outside directors, one of whom is an accounting expert.

Corporations

Theoretically, the control of a company is divided between two bodies: the board of directors, and the shareholders in general meeting. In practice, the amount of power exercised by the board varies with the type of company. In small private companies, the directors and the shareholders are normally the same people, and thus there is no real division of power. In large public companies, the board tends to exercise more of a supervisory role, and individual responsibility and management tends to be delegated downward to individual professional executives (such as a finance director or a marketing director) who deal with particular areas of the company's affairs.

Another feature of boards of directors in large public companies is that the board tends to have more de facto power. The shareholders tend to grant proxies to the directors and accept all recommendations of the board rather than try to get involved in management, since each shareholder's power is so small. Also, the large number of shareholders makes it hard for them to organize. However, there have been moves recently to try to increase shareholder activism among both institutional investors and individuals with small shareholdings.

Conversely, though, boards of directors in large public companies tend to wield very little practical power, because they delegate nearly all of their power to the top executive employees, adopting their recommendations almost without fail. As a practical matter, executives even choose the directors, as shareholders normally follow management recommendations when electing them.

A board-only organization is one whose board is self-appointed, rather than being accountable to a base of members through elections; or in which the powers of the membership are extremely limited.

In most cases, serving on a board is not a career unto itself, but board members often receive remunerations amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars per year since they often sit on the boards of several companies. Inside directors are usually not paid for sitting on a board, but the duty is instead considered part of their larger job description. Outside directors are usually paid for their services. These remunerations vary between corporations, but usually consist of a yearly or monthly salary, additional compensation for each meeting attended, stock options, and various other benefits. Tiffany & Co., for example, pays directors an annual retainer of $46,500, an additional annual retainer of $2,500 if the director is also a chairperson of a committee, a per-meeting-attended fee of $2,000 for meetings attended in person, a $500 fee for each meeting attended via telephone, in addition to stock options and retirement benefits.

Classification

The role and responsibilities of a board of directors vary depending on the nature and type of business entity and the laws applying to the entity (see types of business entity). For example, the nature of the business entity may be one that is traded on a public market (public company), not traded on a public market (a private, limited or closely held company), owned by family members (a family business), or exempt from income taxes (a non-profit, not for profit, or tax-exempt entity). There are numerous types of business entities available throughout the world such as a corporation, limited liability company, cooperative, business trust, partnership, private limited company, and public limited company.

Much of what has been written about boards of directors relates to boards of directors of business entities actively traded on public markets. More recently, however, material is becoming available for boards of private and closely held businesses including family businesses.

History

The development of a separate board of directors to manage the company has occurred incrementally and indefinitely over legal history. Until the end of the 19th century, it seems to have been generally assumed that the general meeting (of all shareholders) was the supreme organ of the company, and the board of directors was merely an agent of the company subject to the control of the shareholders in general meeting.

However, by 1906, the English Court of Appeal had made it clear in the decision of Automatic Self-Cleansing Filter Syndicate Co v Cunningham [1906] 2 Ch 34 that the division of powers between the board and the shareholders in general meaning depended on the construction of the articles of association and that, where the powers of management were vested in the board, the general meeting could not interfere with their lawful exercise. The articles were held to constitute a contract by which the members had agreed that "the directors and the directors alone shall manage."

The new approach did not secure immediate approval, but it was endorsed by the House of Lords in Quin & Axtens v Salmon [1909] AC 442 and has since received general acceptance. Under English law, successive versions of Table A have reinforced the norm that, unless the directors are acting contrary to the law or the provisions of the Articles, the powers of conducting the management and affairs of the company are vested in them.

The modern doctrine was expressed in Shaw & Sons (Salford) Ltd v Shaw [1935] 2 KB 113 by Greer LJ as follows:

"A company is an entity distinct alike from its shareholders and its directors. Some of its powers may, according to its articles, be exercised by directors, certain other powers may be reserved for the shareholders in general meeting. If powers of management are vested in the directors, they and they alone can exercise these powers. The only way in which the general body of shareholders can control the exercise of powers by the articles in the directors is by altering the articles, or, if opportunity arises under the articles, by refusing to re-elect the directors of whose actions they disapprove. They cannot themselves usurp the powers which by the articles are vested in the directors any more than the directors can usurp the powers vested by the articles in the general body of shareholders."

It has been remarked that this development in the law was somewhat surprising at the time, as the relevant provisions in Table A (as it was then) seemed to contradict this approach rather than to endorse it.

Election and removal

In "most" legal systems, the appointment and removal of directors is voted upon by the shareholders in general meeting or through a proxy statement. For publicly-traded companies in the U.S., the directors which are available to vote on are largely selected by either the board as a whole or a nominating committee. Although in 2002 the NYSE and the NASDAQ required that nominating committees consist of independent directors as a condition of listing, nomination committees have historically received input from management in their selections even when the CEO does not have a position on the board. Shareholder nominations can only occur at the general meeting itself or through the prohibitively expensive process of mailing out ballots separately; in May 2009 the SEC proposed a new rule allowing shareholders meeting certain criteria to add nominees to the proxy statement. In practice for publicly-traded companies, the managers (inside directors) who are purportedly accountable to the board of directors have historically played a major role in selecting and nominating the directors who are voted on by the shareholders, in which case more "gray outsider directors" (independent directors with conflicts of interest) are nominated and elected.

Directors may also leave office by resignation or death. In some legal systems, directors may also be removed by a resolution of the remaining directors (in some countries they may only do so "with cause"; in others the power is unrestricted).

Some jurisdictions also permit the board of directors to appoint directors, either to fill a vacancy which arises on resignation or death, or as an addition to the existing directors.

In practice, it can be quite difficult to remove a director by a resolution in general meeting. In many legal systems, the director has a right to receive special notice of any resolution to remove him or her; the company must often supply a copy of the proposal to the director, who is usually entitled to be heard by the meeting. The director may require the company to circulate any representations that he wishes to make. Furthermore, the director's contract of service will usually entitle him to compensation if he is removed, and may often include a generous "golden parachute" which also acts as a deterrent to removal.

In a recent academic study that was published in the Journal of Finance, Drexel University’s LeBow College of Business professors Jie Cai, Jacqueline Garner, and Ralph Walkling examined how corporate shareholders voted in nearly 2,500 director elections in the United States. They found that directors received fewer votes from shareholders when their companies performed poorly, had excess CEO compensation, or had poor shareholder protection. They also found that directors received fewer votes when they did not regularly attend board meetings or received negative recommendations from RiskMetrics (a proxy advisory firm). This evidence suggests that some shareholders express their displeasure with a company by voting against its directors. The article also shows that companies often improve their corporate governance by removing poison pills or classified boards and by reducing excessive CEO pay after their directors receive low shareholder support.

Board accountability to shareholders is a recurring issue. In 2010, the New York Times noted that several directors who had overseen companies which had failed in the financial crisis of 2007–2010 had found new positions as directors.

Exercise of powers

The exercise by the board of directors of its powers usually occurs in board meetings. Most legal systems require sufficient notice to be given to all directors of these meetings, and that a quorum must be present before any business may be conducted. Usually, a meeting which is held without notice having been given is still valid if all of the directors attend, but it has been held that a failure to give notice may negate resolutions passed at a meeting, because the persuasive oratory of a minority of directors might have persuaded the majority to change their minds and vote otherwise.

In most common law countries, the powers of the board are vested in the board as a whole, and not in the individual directors. However, in instances an individual director may still bind the company by his acts by virtue of his ostensible authority (see also: the rule in Turquand's Case).

==Duties==

Because directors exercise control and management over the organization, but organizations are (in theory) run for the benefit of the shareholders, the law imposes strict duties on directors in relation to the exercise of their duties. The duties imposed on directors are fiduciary duties, similar to those that the law imposes on those in similar positions of trust: agents and trustees.

The duties apply to each director separately, while the powers apply to the board jointly. Also, the duties are owed to the company itself, and not to any other entity. This does not mean that directors can never stand in a fiduciary relationship to the individual shareholders; they may well have such a duty in certain circumstances.

Acting bona fide

Directors must act honestly and bona fide ("in good faith"). The test is a subjective one, and directors must act in what they consider is in the interests of the company, not what a court might consider to be those interests. However, the directors may still be held to have failed in this duty where they fail to direct their minds to the question of whether a transaction was in the best interests of the company.

Difficult questions can arise when treating the company too much in the abstract. For example, it may be for the benefit of a corporate group as a whole for a company to guarantee the debts of a "sister" company, even though there is no ostensible "benefit" to the company giving the guarantee. Similarly, conceptually at least, there is no benefit to a company in returning profits to shareholders by way of dividend. However, the more pragmatic approach illustrated in the Australian case of Mills v Mills (1938) 60 CLR 150 normally prevails:

:"[directors are] not required by the law to live in an unreal region of detached altruism and to act in the vague mood of ideal abstraction from obvious facts which must be present to the mind of any honest and intelligent man when he exercises his powers as a director."

"Proper purpose"

Directors must exercise their powers for a proper purpose. While in many instances an improper purpose is readily evident, such as a director looking to feather his or her own nest or divert an investment opportunity to a relative, such breaches usually involve a breach of the director's duty to act in good faith. Greater difficulties arise where the director, while acting in good faith, is serving a purpose that is not regarded by the law as proper.

The seminal authority in relation to what amounts to a proper purpose is the Privy Council decision of Howard Smith Ltd v Ampol Ltd [1974] AC 821. The case concerned the power of the directors to issue new shares. It was alleged that the directors had issued a large number of new shares purely to deprive a particular shareholder of his voting majority. An argument that the power to issue shares could only be properly exercised to raise new capital was rejected as too narrow, and it was held that it would be a proper exercise of the director's powers to issue shares to a larger company to ensure the financial stability of the company, or as part of an agreement to exploit mineral rights owned by the company. If so, the mere fact that an incidental result (even if it was a desired consequence) was that a shareholder lost his majority, or a takeover bid was defeated, this would not itself make the share issue improper. But if the sole purpose was to destroy a voting majority, or block a takeover bid, that would be an improper purpose.

Not all jurisdictions recognised the "proper purpose" duty as separate from the "good faith" duty however.

"Unfettered discretion"

Directors cannot, without the consent of the company, fetter their discretion in relation to the exercise of their powers, and cannot bind themselves to vote in a particular way at future board meetings. This is so even if there is no improper motive or purpose, and no personal advantage to the director .

This does not mean, however, that the board cannot agree to the company entering into a contract which binds the company to a certain course, even if certain actions in that course will require further board approval. The company remains bound, but the directors retain the discretion to vote against taking the future actions (although that may involve a breach by the company of the contract that the board previously approved).

"Conflict of duty and interest"

As fiduciaries, the directors may not put themselves in a position where their interests and duties conflict with the duties that they owe to the company. The law takes the view that good faith must not only be done, but must be manifestly seen to be done, and zealously patrols the conduct of directors in this regard; and will not allow directors to escape liability by asserting that his decision was in fact well founded. Traditionally, the law has divided conflicts of duty and interest into three sub-categories.

Transactions with the company

By definition, where a director enters into a transaction with a company, there is a conflict between the director's interest (to do well for himself out of the transaction) and his duty to the company (to ensure that the company gets as much as it can out of the transaction). This rule is so strictly enforced that, even where the conflict of interest or conflict of duty is purely hypothetical, the directors can be forced to disgorge all personal gains arising from it. In Aberdeen Ry v Blaikie (1854) 1 Macq HL 461 Lord Cranworth stated in his judgment that:

:"A corporate body can only act by agents, and it is, of course, the duty of those agents so to act as best to promote the interests of the corporation whose affairs they are conducting. Such agents have duties to discharge of a fiduciary nature towards their principal. And it is a rule of universal application that no one, having such duties to discharge, shall be allowed to enter into engagements in which he has, or can have, a personal interest conflicting or which possibly may conflict, with the interests of those whom he is bound to protect... So strictly is this principle adhered to that no question is allowed to be raised as to the fairness or unfairness of the contract entered into..." (emphasis added)

However, in many jurisdictions the members of the company are permitted to ratify transactions which would otherwise fall foul of this principle. It is also largely accepted in most jurisdictions that this principle can be overridden in the company's constitution.

In many countries, there is also a statutory duty to declare interests in relation to any transactions, and the director can be fined for failing to make disclosure.

Use of corporate property, opportunity, or information

Directors must not, without the informed consent of the company, use for their own profit the company's assets, opportunities, or information. This prohibition is much less flexible than the prohibition against the transactions with the company, and attempts to circumvent it using provisions in the articles have met with limited success.

In Regal (Hastings) Ltd v Gulliver [1942] All ER 378 the House of Lords, in upholding what was regarded as a wholly unmeritorious claim by the shareholders, held that:

:"(i) that what the directors did was so related to the affairs of the company that it can properly be said to have been done in the course of their management and in the utilisation of their opportunities and special knowledge as directors; and (ii) that what they did resulted in profit to themselves."

And accordingly, the directors were required to disgorge the profits that they made, and the shareholders received their windfall.

The decision has been followed in several subsequent cases, and is now regarded as settled law.

Competing with the company

Directors cannot compete directly with the company without a conflict of interest arising. Similarly, they should not act as directors of competing companies, as their duties to each company would then conflict with each other.

Common law duties of care and skill

Traditionally, the level of care and skill which has to be demonstrated by a director has been framed largely with reference to the non-executive director. In Re City Equitable Fire Insurance Co [1925] Ch 407, it was expressed in purely subjective terms, where the court held that:

:"a director need not exhibit in the performance of his duties a greater degree of skill than may reasonably be expected from a person of his knowledge and experience." (emphasis added)

However, this decision was based firmly in the older notions (see above) that prevailed at the time as to the mode of corporate decision making, and effective control residing in the shareholders; if they elected and put up with an incompetent decision maker, they should not have recourse to complain.

However, a more modern approach has since developed, and in Dorchester Finance Co Ltd v Stebbing [1989] BCLC 498 the court held that the rule in Equitable Fire related only to skill, and not to diligence. With respect to diligence, what was required was:

:"such care as an ordinary man might be expected to take on his own behalf."

This was a dual subjective and objective test, and one deliberately pitched at a higher level.

More recently, it has been suggested that both the tests of skill and diligence should be assessed objectively and subjectively; in the United Kingdom, the statutory provisions relating to directors' duties in the new Companies Act 2006 have been codified on this basis.

Remedies for breach of duty

In most jurisdictions, the law provides for a variety of remedies in the event of a breach by the directors of their duties: # injunction or declaration # damages or compensation # restoration of the company's property # rescission of the relevant contract # account of profits # summary dismissal

The future

Historically, directors' duties have been owed almost exclusively to the company and its members, and the board was expected to exercise its powers for the financial benefit of the company. However, more recently there have been attempts to "soften" the position, and provide for more scope for directors to act as good corporate citizens. For example, in the United Kingdom, the Companies Act 2006 requires directors of companies "to promote the success of the company for the benefit of its members as a whole", but sets out six factors to which a director must have regards in fulfilling the duty to promote success. These are:

the likely consequences of any decision in the long term

the interests of the company’s employees

the need to foster the company’s business relationships with suppliers, customers and others

the impact of the company’s operations on the community and the environment

the desirability of the company maintaining a reputation for high standards of business conduct, and

the need to act fairly as between members of a company

This represents a considerable departure from the traditional notion that directors' duties are owed only to the company. Previously in the United Kingdom, under the Companies Act 1985, protections for non-member stakeholders were considerably more limited (see for example, s.309 which permitted directors to take into account the interests of employees but which could only be enforced by the shareholders and not by the employees themselves). The changes have therefore been the subject of some criticism.

Failures

While the primary responsibility of boards is to ensure that the corporation's management is performing its job correctly, actually achieving this in practice can be difficult. In a number of corporate scandals of the 1990s, one notable feature revealed in subsequent investigations is that boards were not aware of the activities of the managers that they hired, nor the true financial state of the corporation. A number of factors may be involved in this tendency:

Most boards largely rely on management to report information to them, thus allowing management to place the desired 'spin' on information, or even conceal or lie about the true state of a company.

Boards of directors are part-time bodies, whose members meet only occasionally and may not know each other particularly well. This unfamiliarity can make it difficult for board members to question management.

CEOs tend to be rather forceful personalities. In some cases, CEOs are accused of exercising too much influence over the company's board.

Directors may not have the time or the skills required to understand the details of corporate business, allowing management to obscure problems.

The same directors who appointed the present CEO oversee his or her performance. This makes it difficult for some directors to dispassionately evaluate the CEO's performance.

Directors often feel that a judgment of a manager, particularly one who has performed well in the past, should be respected. This can be quite legitimate, but poses problems if the manager's judgment is indeed flawed.

All of the above may contribute to a culture of "not rocking the boat" at board meetings.

Because of this, the role of boards in corporate governance, and how to improve their oversight capability, has been examined carefully in recent years, and new legislation in a number of jurisdictions, and an increased focus on the topic by boards themselves, has seen changes implemented to try and improve their performance.

Process

The process for running a board, sometimes called the board process, includes the selection of board members, the setting of clear board objectives, the dissemination of documents or board package to the board members, the collaborative creation of an agenda for the meeting, the creation and follow-up of assigned action items, and the assessment of the board process through standardized assessments of board members, owners, and CEOs. The science of this process has been slow to develop due to the secretive nature of the way most companies run their boards, however some standardization is beginning to develop. Some who are pushing for this standardization are the National Association of Corporate Directors, McKinsey Consulting and The Board Group.

See also

Agency cost

Alternate director

Board of governors

Board of regents

Celebrity board director

Chairman

Chief executive officer

Company (law)

Corporation

Corporate governance

Corporate titles

Executive compensation

Finance director

Interlocking directorate

Managing director

Non-executive director

Parliamentary procedure in the corporate world

President

Sarbanes-Oxley Act

Say on pay

Supervisory board (in German: "Aufsichtsrat")

Vorstand, German for "management board"

Notes

References

P Blumberg, ‘Reflections on Proposals for Corporate Reform Through Change in the Composition of the Board of Directors: “Special Interest” or “Public” Directors’ (1973) 53 Boston University Law Review 547

KJ Hopt, 'The German Two-Tier Board: Experience, Theories, Reforms' in KJ Hopt and others. (eds), Comparative Corporate Governance: The State of the Art and Emerging Research (Clarendon 1998)

KJ Hopt and PC Leyens, 'Board Models in Europe – Recent Developments of Internal Corporate Governance Structures in Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and Italy' (2004) EGCI Working Paper

External links

Guidance on director's duties (Lemon & Co)

National Association of Corporate Directors

Corporate Governance Board Leadership Training, Global Corporate Governance Forum

BoardofDirectors.com.au - Australia's leading Online Directorship Listing

Category:Business law Category:Corporate governance Category:Corporations law Category:Management Category:Committees

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name	Colin McRae
birth date	August 05, 1968
death date	September 15, 2007
nationality	Scottish
years	1987–2003, 2005–2006
teams	Subaru, Citroën, Ford, Škoda
races	146
championships	1 (1995)
wins	25
podiums	42
stagewins	477
points	626
first race	1987 Swedish Rally
first win	1993 Rally New Zealand
last win	2002 Safari Rally
last race	2006 Rally of Turkey }}

Colin Steele McRae, MBE (5 August 1968 – 15 September 2007) was a Scottish rally driver born in Lanark.

The son of five-time British Rally Champion Jimmy McRae and brother of rally driver Alister McRae, Colin McRae was the 1991 and 1992 British Rally Champion and, in 1995, became the first Briton and the youngest to win the World Rally Championship Drivers' title. He still holds that record to this day.

McRae's outstanding performance on the Subaru World Rally Team enabled the team to win the World Rally Championship Constructors' title three times in succession in 1995, 1996 and 1997. After a four year spell with the Ford Motor Co. team, which saw McRae win nine events, he moved to Citroën World Rally Team in 2003 where, despite not winning an event, he helped them win the first of their three consecutive manufacturers' titles. He was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire for services to motorsport in 1996. McRae died in a helicopter accident in September 2007 which also claimed the lives of his son and two family friends.

In November 2008 he was posthumously inducted into the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame.

Personal and early life

McRae was married to Alison, and had two children, Hollie and Johnny. McRae moved to the principality of Monaco in 1995, partly through his friendship with David Coulthard. However, as his young family grew up, he spent more time back at his home in Lanarkshire — accepting the higher tax liability of living in Scotland. The couple bought the 17th century Jerviswood House.

Career

Early career

Colin McRae began his competitive career in motorsport riding trial bikes at an early age, despite being more interested in four wheeled machines rather than two wheel bikes. At the age of sixteen, through the Coltness Car Club, McRae discovered autotesting, he soon traded his bike for a Mini Cooper and started competing. A year later, he began to negotiate with another club member to use his Hillman Avenger for the Kames Stages, a single-staged rally venue not far from McRae's home. McRae finished the event fourteenth; first in his class although he had run most of the event in a higher position.

In 1986, driving a Talbot Sunbeam, McRae entered the Scottish Rally Championship and soon made a name for himself with his speed and exciting style of driving. His driving style drew many comparisons to Finnish ex-World Rally Champion Ari Vatanen, who McRae had always idolised. In 1988 he performed a giant killing act when he took the Scottish Rally Championship series crown in a humble Vauxhall Nova. Craving more power, his next car was a Ford Sierra XR 4x4.

His first WRC event was the 1987 Swedish Rally behind the wheel of his Nova, and again two years later, driving the Sierra and finishing 15th overall. Later that year, he finished 5th overall at Rally New Zealand in a rear wheel drive Sierra Cosworth. By 1990 McRae was driving a Sierra Cosworth 4x4 and achieved sixth place in that year's RAC Rally, despite several accidents. 1991 saw McRae turn professional as he was signed by Prodrive boss David Richards to his Subaru team in the British Rally Championship for an annual wage of approximately £10,000. McRae was British Rally Champion in both 1991 and 1992, soon graduating to the Subaru factory team at World Rally Championship level. 1992 also saw Colin McRae make his début in the British Touring Car Championship, with a one-off appearance for the Prodrive-run BMW factory team at the Knockhill round. In the second of the two races of the event, McRae collided with Matt Neal. Race officials found McRae to have caused an avoidable collision and subsequently disqualified him.

World Rally Championship

1993–1998: Subaru

On his promotion for 1993, McRae initially drove the Prodrive-built Group A Subaru Legacy alongside Finns Ari Vatanen, Hannu Mikkola and Markku Alén. McRae then won his first WRC rally in the car at that year's Rally New Zealand. It was also the first rally win for the newly formed Subaru World Rally Team, shortly before the Legacy was due to be pensioned off in favour of the new Subaru Impreza 555. Such were the rising fortunes of his young Subaru factory team as they competed against the frontrunning TTE ran Toyotas, aided by the latter team's exclusion from the championship after the 1995 Rally Catalunya where it was discovered that the Japanese team had been using illegal turbochargers, it took only until 1995 for McRae to win the drivers title, which he secured with victory in a straight contest with his double champion team-mate, Carlos Sainz, on the season-ending Rally of Great Britain. Although still a winner with the outfit in individual rallies in succeeding years, including, increasingly, more specialised events such as the Acropolis Rally, Safari Rally and the Tour de Corse, McRae could not better second place in the standings in either 1996 or 1997, on both occasions behind Finland and Mitsubishi Ralliart's Tommi Mäkinen. He did, however help Subaru complete their run of three consecutive manufacturers' titles during this time. In what would turn out to be his final season with the team, in 1998 he won three more rallies and placed third in the standings, as well as winning the Race of Champions in Gran Canaria, the Canary Islands.

1999–2002: Ford

After several years of varying success, McRae switched to the M-Sport-run Ford factory team for 1999, driving the new Ford Focus rally car. The deal saw McRae earning six million pounds over two years, which at the time made him the highest earning rally driver in history. This move was immediately rewarded with two consecutive wins at the Safari Rally and Rally Portugal. A number of shunts and reliability issues for the new car for much of the rest of that season, however, resulted in only sixth place in the championship standings overall. Moreover, a rare personal pointless run had begun for McRae that year which was only to be halted with a podium on the following February's Swedish Rally, the beginning of a recovery which saw McRae victorious in on the asphalt turns of Catalunya and the gravel of Greece, and post 4th in the 2000 overall standings. Midway through the 2000 season, the lacking reliability of the Focus had led to McRae threatening to leave the team if the problems continued. The upturn towards the end of the season resulted in him deciding to renew his contract with Ford for a further two years. McRae's intermittent success with Ford continued into 2001, where after failing to score in any of the first four rounds, including having momentarily led defending winner Tommi Makinen on the stages of the season opening Monte Carlo Rally prior to being forced into retirement, he then went on to score three consecutive victories in Argentina, Cyprus and Greece to tie with Mäkinen at the top of the points table. However, having again led the championship outright entering the final round in Great Britain, McRae once more missed out on a possible second title, crashing out and finishing second in the drivers championship, two points behind Subaru's Richard Burns.

With victory in the Safari Rally in 2002, McRae made the record books as the driver with most event wins in the World Rally Championship. His record has since been broken by Carlos Sainz, Sébastien Loeb and Marcus Grönholm. McRae's contract with Ford came to an end following the 2002 season, and after reportedly asking for wages of five million pounds a year, Ford decided against renewing the contract, reluctant to commit such a high amount of their budget to a drivers salary. The two parties split on amicable terms, with Ford's European director of motorsport Martin Whitaker stating "On behalf of all of us at Ford Motor Company I would like to publicly thank Colin and Nicky for their efforts during the past four years with the Ford team… I wish them both well in the future." McRae said of his time with Ford "It's been a very successful four years, we've achieved a lot of very good results and I'm quite happy that myself and Ford have had a very successful partnership."

2003: Citroën

For 2003, McRae signed for Citroën, a team of winning pedigree due to its successes of the previous year with young Frenchman Sébastien Loeb but otherwise undertaking its first complete campaign at World Rally Championship level. McRae's second place finish on his début in Monte Carlo alongside Loeb and Carlos Sainz whom, aboard the Xsara WRC, helped complete a 1-2-3 finish, transpired to be the finest result he would achieve for the team, for the season was to end with seventh in the drivers' championship, with no victories. Rule changes that were to be brought in for the 2004 season changed the previous practice of having three nominated points-scorers within a team to two. With Loeb partway through a multiple year contract, this meant the Citroën factory team, under Guy Frequelin's leadership, were forced to choose between dropping McRae or Sainz. With Sainz being the more successful of the two during the 2003 season, it was McRae who had to look elsewhere for 2004. David Richards, McRae's former boss at Subaru, who had by now taken over WRC's commercial rights holders ISC and worried that the loss of a character like McRae would damage his ability to market the sport, set about trying to help McRae find a drive for 2004. McRae was unable to find a team, and for the first time in over ten years he would not be competing in the World Rally Championship.

Later career

As the only other potential alternative suitors, Subaru instead eventually chose Mikko Hirvonen to partner Petter Solberg, McRae found himself without a drive for the 2004 season. He instead pursued other interests, including competing in the Dakar Rally and the 24 Hours of Le Mans (see below).

In 2004 and 2005 McRae represented Great Britain in the Race of Champions alongside Formula One driver and fellow Scot, David Coulthard. For the 2006 event England and Scotland entered separate teams with McRae and Coulthard re-uniting to represent Scotland.

McRae then returned to the series for one off drives for Skoda on the 2005 Rally GB and Rally Australia, respectively finishing seventh and retiring due to a clutch problem on the final leg of the rally, the latter dashing hopes for what may otherwise have been only the team's second ever podium place after the 2001 Safari Rally.

On 5 August 2006, McRae competed for Subaru in the first live televised American rally in Los Angeles as part of the X-Games. McRae rolled the car on the penultimate corner after landing awkwardly from a jump, which damaged the front bumper and left front tyre. Despite this, McRae kept the car running and continued on to the finish, his time only 0.13 seconds slower than eventual winner Travis Pastrana. McRae was, though, to have one more opportunity at world championship level: he was unexpectedly entered for his final rally by semi-works Kronos Citroën at Rally Turkey in September, where he replaced Sébastien Loeb while the Frenchman recovered from an injury he sustained in a cycling accident immediately prior to the event. A final-stage alternator problem consigned him and returning co-driver Nicky Grist, to a final placing outside the top ten.

Years
Teams	Prodrive Racing
Best finish	9th overall, 3rd in class ()
Class wins	0 }}

McRae's competitive spirit also led him to compete in racing series other than the WRC. In September 2002 he tried his hand at oval racing when he took part in the Ascar (UK version of NASCAR) race at the Rockingham Motor Speedway, Northamptonshire; eventually finishing in sixth place.

McRae rejoined Prodrive for the 2004 24 Hours of Le Mans where he took third place in the GTS class, and ninth position overall in a Ferrari 550-GTS Maranello partnering Darren Turner and Rickard Rydell. Fellow countryman, and Le Mans winner Allan McNish commented that "Colin has adapted far better than people expected" to endurance sportscar racing.

McRae, made his debut on the gruelling Dakar Rally Raid with Nissan in January 2004, and impressed the team by scoring two stage wins on his way to a memorable finish on the gruelling trans-Sahara event. He returned to the Dakar in 2005 and was fastest on two of the first three stages in Morocco, before crashing out of the rally towards the end of stage six.

In August 2007, McRae claimed to still be working on finding a seat for the 2008 WRC season, stating that "if it doesn't happen next year, then I won't (return) because you can only be out of something at that level for so long."

Colin McRae Rally

Codemasters released the first Colin McRae Rally video game in 1998. Version 2, known as Colin McRae 2.0, was released in the year 2000, for Sony's PlayStation and for the PC; it was also ported to the Game Boy Advance in 2002. A third version found a wide audience on the PC and Xbox. Versions 04 and 2005 arrived in 2004 on all major platforms. 2005 was also remade for Sony's PSP and Nokia's N-Gage. Colin McRae: Dirt was the title for the next instalment of the series, which launched in 2007 for the PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The PlayStation 3 edition was released in the UK on 14 September, the day before McRae's death. A special edition for mobile phones will also be available from Codemasters Mobile. Colin McRae: Dirt 2 was released on the Xbox 360 and the PS3 on 11 September 2009, the PC version was released on 8 December 2009. Colin McRae: Dirt 3 was released in Europe and North America on the 24 May 2011, and two days later in Australia for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

Colin McRae R4

Colin McRae chose the 2006 Goodwood Festival of Speed to unveil the McRae R4, which had been conceived at the beginning of 2005. The intention was to make a cheaper alternative to WRCs (World Rally Cars) with significantly lower running costs. The McRae R4 was designed for use in rallying, rally cross, circuit racing and ice racing events, with the possibility of a one-make race series.

Designed by Colin McRae and Dave Plant and built by DJM Race Preparation, the McRae R4's chassis is based on a steel safety cage with carbon panelling front and rear, and a steel-covered cockpit area. Suspension consists of twin wishbones with Proflex dampers. The body styling has been done by Keith Burden and Tom Webster. It appears that some components of the vehicle have been taken from existing production cars, the doorline in particular appears very close to that of the Ford Ka.

The engine is a naturally-aspirated 4 cylinder, 2.5 litre Millington Diamond Engine producing 350 BHP. Transmission is via a six-speed gearbox, manual or semi-auto, and by mechanical front and rear differentials with the option of mechanical or active central differential. The car can be produced in either 2 or 4 wheel drive formats.

Alison McRae has said that she would like production of the car to continue following Colin's death.

The R4 appears in Codemasters titles Colin McRae: DiRT, Colin McRae: DiRT 2 and DiRT 3

Death

McRae died on 15 September 2007 when his helicopter, a Eurocopter AS350, crashed 1 mile north of Lanark, Scotland, close to the McRae family home. McRae was piloting the helicopter at the time of the crash. McRae's five year old son Johnny, and two family friends, Graeme Duncan and Johnny's six year old friend Ben Porcelli, also died in the crash. McRae's previously active website, ColinMcRae.com, was later replaced with a memorial screen stating a few details about the crash, and then with a short statement released on behalf of McRae's father, Jimmy, and later a book of condolences.

Funeral and celebration services

The funeral for Colin and Johnny took place on Wednesday 26 September at Daldowie Crematorium near Glasgow, conducted by the Rev Tom Houston, who had married the McRaes, and the Rev Steven Reid, chaplain at Johnny's school. An address was given by Robbie Head, a former rally driver and commentator who was a close friend of McRae's, with the Rev Houston giving the benediction. McRae's niece and nephews performed the tune Highland Cathedral, a popular funeral song. Also, the song "(Sittin' on) the Dock of the Bay" by Otis Redding, a favourite song of McRae's, was played when the family entered the chapel; and The Proclaimers' song "I'm on My Way" was played when they left. Colin and Johnny McRae were cremated in the same coffin. Among the attendees at the funeral were fellow Scottish racing drivers Jackie Stewart and Dario Franchitti.

A "Celebration of Life" service took place at St Nicholas Church in Lanark on Sunday 30 September at 4pm. Images from McRae's career and personal life were displayed on large video screens outside the church. Around 700 mourners filled the church, with crowds of up to 15,000 outside. Shortly before 4pm, a lone bagpiper played "Flower of Scotland" as the family arrived at the church. The service was conducted by the Rev Alison Meikle, who said "Two weeks ago Lanark was struck by silence. A terrible silence bought at an enormous price. However, in our tears love is stronger than death." Later, the Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton song "Islands in the Stream", a favourite of Johnny's, was played. Friends of the pair shared poems and anecdotes from the McRaes' lives. After the service, Colin McRae's widow, brother and father bowed and applauded the crowds who had gathered outside to pay tribute to the McRaes.

Reaction

McRae's death was met by much grief from former colleagues, rivals and fans alike. Formula One driver David Coulthard, a good friend of McRae, who was due to represent Scotland along with him in the Race of Champions at Wembley Stadium on 16 December, described him as "an understated yet fantastically talented individual", he also announced that he would race the 2007 Japanese Grand Prix with a helmet paint design similar to that of McRae's as a tribute. During the finale of the 2007 Scottish Rally Championship, the "Colin McRae Forest Stages" held in Perth in September 2007, there was no number 1 car as McRae had been due to drive the course car on the event. Instead, his car was parked at the starting point of the rally, where fans were able to sign a book of condolences.

Following his win at the Brands Hatch meeting of the 2007 World Touring Car Championship season, Andy Priaulx dedicated it to McRae, commenting that his death "shows how fragile life can be". McRae's former rival, four-time World Rally Champion Tommi Mäkinen commented the helicopter accident as terrifying news, and described McRae as "a pleasant fellow and a tough rival". Valentino Rossi, who was taught the basics of driving a rally car by McRae, said he was shocked and saddened by the sudden departure of the former World Rally Champion. Valentino dedicated his win at Estoril MotoGp in 2007 to Colin McRae saying to the media "I want to dedicate this to Colin McRae. He was one of my big idols when I was very young and it's because of him I have a big passion for rally".

As a mark of respect for McRae, the Swedish Rally organisers set up an award for the longest jump over a crest on the Vargåsen stage of the rally. The inaugural winner of the award, named Colin's Crest, was Ford's United Arab Emirates driver Khalid al-Qassimi who recorded a distance of 30 m.

On 27 September 2008 the Colin McRae Forest Stages Rally took place in Perth, Scotland. An enhanced entry list of several former big name rally drivers took part in memory of Colin. The impressive entry list included ex-World Championship drivers Hannu Mikkola, Ari Vatanen (partnered by his 1981 WRC winning co-driver David Richards), Björn Waldegård, Stig Blomqvist, Malcolm Wilson, Russell Brookes, Jimmy McRae, Andrew Cowan and Louise Aitken-Walker, many competing in their original cars. A handful of current WRC drivers also took part including Matthew Wilson, Kris Meeke and Travis Pastrana. The event was deemed a great success, attracting record spectator numbers to the Perthshire forests. Outright winner was Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team driver Matthew Wilson in a Ford Focus WRC. Fittingly, Colin's brother Alister McRae won the classic category.

In video game Colin McRae: Dirt 2 there is a race series named "Colin McRae Challenge" that is dedicated to him. Winning the race unlocks a video that is a tribute to him.

Investigation

After the crash, an investigative team from the UK Department for Transport Air Accidents Investigation Branch attended the scene in co-operation with Strathclyde Police. The wreckage of the helicopter was removed to Farnborough for further forensic investigation. Pilots operate under strict regulations, and are expected in the case of helicopters under CAA rules to undertake a competency test every year, and renew their licenses every five years — not to do so is illegal. It later emerged that McRae had not undertaken a competency check as required in March 2006, and that effectively his license had expired in February 2005. A CAA spokesman commented "The investigators must determine why he (McRae) hasn't kept up to date with his documentation. There is no suggestion that Mr McRae was not a competent pilot."

The final report into the accident was published on 12 February 2009. In it, the AAIB did not reach a definite conclusion as to the cause of the accident, stating instead that "the helicopter crashed in a wooded valley while manoeuvering at high speed and low height. It was intact prior to impact, and the available evidence indicated that the engine was delivering power. The cause of the accident was not positively determined. Although no technical reason was found to explain the accident, a technical fault could not be ruled out entirely. However, it is more likely that the pilot attempted a turning manoeuvre at low height, during which the helicopter deviated from his intended flight path; whether due to the pilot encountering handling difficulties, misjudgement, spatial disorientation, distraction or a combination of such events. There were indications that the pilot had started a recovery but, with insufficient height in which to complete it, the helicopter struck trees in the valley and crashed, killing all four occupants."

Complete WRC results

! Year

! Entrant

! Car

! 1

! 2

! 3

! 4

! 5

! 6

! 7

! 8

! 9

! 10

! 11

! 12

! 13

! 14

! 15

! 16

! WDC

! Points

rowspan="2"

! Colin McRae

! Vauxhall Nova

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

—

0

! British Junior Rally Team

! Vauxhall Nova

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

! Peugeot Talbot Sport

! Peugeot 205 GTI

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

! —

! 0

rowspan="3"

! Colin McRae

Ford Sierra>Ford Sierra XR 4x4

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

34th

8

! Gary Smith Motorsport

! Ford Sierra RS Cosworth

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

! R.E.D.

! Ford Sierra RS Cosworth

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

! Shell UK Oil

Ford Sierra RS Cosworth>Ford Sierra RS Cosworth 4x4

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

34th

6

! Subaru Rally Team Europe

! Subaru Legacy RS

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

—

0

! Subaru Rally Team Europe

! Subaru Legacy RS

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

8th

34

rowspan=2

Subaru World Rally Team>555 Subaru World Rally Team

! Subaru Legacy RS

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

5th

50

! Subaru M.S.G.

Subaru Vivio>Subaru Vivio Sedan 4WD

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

! 555 Subaru World Rally Team

! Subaru Impreza 555

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

! 4th

! 49

! 555 Subaru World Rally Team

! Subaru Impreza 555

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

! 555 Subaru World Rally Team

! Subaru Impreza 555

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

! 555 Subaru World Rally Team

Subaru Impreza WRC>Subaru Impreza WRC 97

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

! 555 Subaru World Rally Team

Subaru Impreza WRC>Subaru Impreza WRC 98

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

BP Ford World Rally Team>Ford Motor Co

! Ford Focus WRC

bgcolor="#000000" style="color: #ffffff"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

! 6th

! 23

! Ford Motor Co

Ford Focus WRC>Ford Focus RS WRC 00

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

! 4th

! 43

! Ford Motor Co

Ford Focus WRC>Ford Focus RS WRC 01

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

! Ford Motor Co

Ford Focus WRC>Ford Focus RS WRC 02

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#FFDF9F"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#FFFFBF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

! 4th

! 35

! Citroën Total

! Citroën Xsara WRC

bgcolor="#DFDFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#CFCFFF"

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

! 7th

! 45

! Škoda Motorsport

! Škoda Fabia WRC

bgcolor="#DFFFDF"

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

! 22nd

! 2

! Kronos Citroën World Rally Team

! Citroën Xsara WRC

bgcolor="#EFCFFF"

! —

! 0

{|class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |- !colspan="5"|World Rally Championship victories |- !  #  ! Event ! Season ! Co-driver ! Car |- | 1 | 23rd Rothmans Rally of New Zealand | 1993 | Derek Ringer | Subaru Legacy RS |- | 2 | 24th Rothmans Rally of New Zealand | 1994 | Derek Ringer | Subaru Impreza 555 |- | 3 | 50th Network Q Rally | 1994 | Derek Ringer | Subaru Impreza 555 |- | 4 | 25th Smokefree Rally New Zealand | 1995 | Derek Ringer | Subaru Impreza 555 |- | 5 | 51st Network Q Rally | 1995 | Derek Ringer | Subaru Impreza 555 |- | 6 | 43rd Acropolis Rally of Greece | 1996 | Derek Ringer | Subaru Impreza 555 |- | 7 | 38° Rallye Sanremo — Rallye d'Italia | 1996 | Derek Ringer | Subaru Impreza 555 |- | 8 | 32° Rallye Catalunya-Costa Brava (Rallye de España) | 1996 | Derek Ringer | Subaru Impreza 555 |- | 9 | 45th Safari Rally Kenya | 1997 | Nicky Grist | Subaru Impreza WRC |- | 10 | 41ème Tour de Corse — Rallye de France | 1997 | Nicky Grist | Subaru Impreza WRC |- | 11 | 39° Rallye Sanremo — Rallye d'Italia | 1997 | Nicky Grist | Subaru Impreza WRC |- | 12 | 10th API Rally Australia | 1997 | Nicky Grist | Subaru Impreza WRC |- | 13 | 53rd Network Q Rally | 1997 | Nicky Grist | Subaru Impreza WRC |- | 14 | 31° TAP Rallye de Portugal | 1998 | Nicky Grist | Subaru Impreza WRC |- | 15 | 42ème Tour de Corse — Rallye de France | 1998 | Nicky Grist | Subaru Impreza WRC |- | 16 | 45th Acropolis Rally of Greece | 1998 | Nicky Grist | Subaru Impreza WRC |- | 17 | 47th Safari Rally Kenya | 1999 | Nicky Grist | Ford Focus WRC |- | 18 | 32° TAP Rallye de Portugal | 1999 | Nicky Grist | Ford Focus WRC |- | 19 | 36° Rallye Catalunya-Costa Brava (Rallye de España) | 2000 | Nicky Grist | Ford Focus WRC |- | 20 | 47th Acropolis Rally | 2000 | Nicky Grist | Ford Focus WRC |- | 21 | 21° Rally Argentina | 2001 | Nicky Grist | Ford Focus WRC |- | 22 | 29th Cyprus Rally | 2001 | Nicky Grist | Ford Focus WRC |- | 23 | 48th Acropolis Rally | 2001 | Nicky Grist | Ford Focus WRC |- | 24 | 49th Acropolis Rally | 2002 | Nicky Grist | Ford Focus WRC |- | 25 | 50th Inmarsat Safari Rally | 2002 | Nicky Grist | Ford Focus WRC |}

References

Journals

Evans, David (20 September 2007) Autosport,"McRae Tribute", Vol. 189, No. 12, pp. 6–11, Haymarket Publications.

Notes

External links

Official site

Official sportswear brand

Rallybase stats page

WRC Archive stats page

Obituary in The Times

Obituary and Memorial

McRae R4

McRae Dakar Buggy

Category:1968 births Category:2007 deaths Category:24 Hours of Le Mans drivers Category:Accidental deaths in Scotland Category:Aviators killed in aircraft crashes in the United Kingdom Category:British Touring Car Championship drivers Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire Category:People from Lanark Category:Scottish aviators Category:Scottish rally drivers Category:Scottish racecar drivers Category:Scottish Sports Hall of Fame inductees Category:Segrave Trophy recipients Category:Victims of helicopter accidents or incidents Category:World Rally Champions Category:World Rally Championship drivers Category:World Rally Championship people Category:X-Games athletes

an:Colin McRae bg:Колин МакРей ca:Colin McRae cs:Colin McRae cy:Colin McRae da:Colin McRae de:Colin McRae et:Colin McRae el:Κόλιν Μακ Ρέι es:Colin McRae fr:Colin McRae gl:Colin McRae ko:콜린 맥레이 hr:Colin McRae id:Colin McRae it:Colin McRae lv:Kolins Makrejs lt:Colin McRae hu:Colin McRae nl:Colin McRae ja:コリン・マクレー no:Colin McRae nn:Colin McRae pl:Colin McRae pt:Colin McRae ru:Макрей, Колин simple:Colin McRae sk:Colin McRae fi:Colin McRae sv:Colin McRae tl:Colin McRae tr:Colin McRae zh:科林·麦克雷

name	Nicky Grist
birth date	November 01, 1961
nationality	Welsh
years	1985–1989, 1990 1997 1997 - 2006
races	134
championships	4 (1993)
wins	21
podiums	48
points	N/A
stagewins	N/A
first race	1985 Lombard RAC Rally
first win	1985 Rally Argentina
last win	1999 Inmarsat Safari Rally
last race	2006 Rally of Turkey }}

Nicky Grist (born 1 November 1961) is a Welsh former rally co-driver, born in Ebbw Vale. His factory team career in the World Rally Championship lasted from 1993 to 2002. He won 21 rallies and one World championship titles, with more than one driver.

Nicky’s first WRC win was in the Rally Argentina in 1993 with Juha Kankkunen, who at that time was a three times WRC champion. Nicky and Juha went on to win the 1993 WRC championship with Toyota. Nicky stayed as Juha’s co-driver until 1997 when he joined Colin McRae with the 555 Subaru World Rally Team.

Nicky remained Colin McRae’s co-driver until the Rally New Zealand 2002, during which time the pair two won 17 rallies, 27 podium finishes and gained overall 183 WRC points. Between 2002 and 2006, Nicky and Colin also competed together in a number of one off rallies. Nicky married Sharon in 1993, at Abergavenny, Wales, in the middle of the recce for Rally Portugal.

Career

Early years 1985–1989

Nicky started his career as a golf professional at the Monmouthshire Golf Club, and then joined a local car sales centre, where he was given Sundays off. This gave him the opportunity to enter into the relatively inexpensive motorsport of road rallying. His first rally was the George Ford Pips Rally, held in Caldicott in Wales, in a Ford Escort with Bryn Wiltshire driving.

1982 Competed in the Welsh 1300 Road Rally Championship with Steve Davies and won the 1300 class that year

1983 Competed in the Welsh Road Rally Championship in an Escort RS 2000 with Steve Davies and won the overall championship

1984 Competed in the Motoring News Road Rally Championship in the same Escort RS 2000 with Steve Davies. Won the Agbo, Eagle and Cilwendeg Rallies.

1985 Competed in the Vauxhall Nova Junior Cup, his first stage rally championship, with driver Steve Davies. He also competed in his first WRC rally, the Lombard RAC Rally, with Stuart Nicholls in a Vauxhall Astra GTE

1986 Competed in the British National Championship with Steve Davies for the Volkswagen Junior Rally Team in a VW Golf GTi. He also competed in British Open Championship in an early Group A Toyota with Graham Middleton as driver.

1987 Competed in the British Open Championship with driver, Graham Middleton, in a Group A Toyota Corolla, ending second in class.

1988 Joined Vauxhall driver, Harry Hockley, in a development programme of the Group A 1600 Vauxhall Nova. Competed in the British Open Championship, finishing with a win at the Lombard RAC Rally, in a Group A 1300 version of the Nova.

1989 Competed in the British Open Championship with driver Dave Metcalfe, in the Vauxhall 1600 Nova developed the previous year. In this year Nicky earnt his first wage as a co-driver.

World Rally Championship

1990–1993 Ford / Toyota

Nicky became a full-time professional co-driver with the Ford Motor Company and driver Malcolm Wilson. Competed in the British Open Championship in a Sierra Sapphire Cosworth. Also took part in a test and development programme with Ford’s new 4x4 Sapphire Cosworth, consisting of three WRC events, giving Nicky his first experience of a WRC event outside Britain. In 1991, he competed in six rounds of the WRC with Malcolm Wilson and the Ford Motor Company. In 1992, only competed in the Safari Rally of the WRC with Toyota Team Europe with driver Mikael Ericsson where the team came fourth. Also co-ordinated with the team for Rally Acropolis and Argentina giving him an insight into the inside working of Team 2.

1993–1997 Mitsubishi & Toyota

Nicky joined Mitsubishi with driver Armin Schwarz, in the WRC, but during the Rally Argentina joined Juha Kankkunen. With Juha Kankkunen he went onto to win the rally Argentina, Nicky’s first WRC win. Juha and Nicky went onto win two more rallies, Rally Australia and the Rally GB. This secured Juha’s forth WRC win. Half way through 1993 Toyota and Juha Kankkunen bought Nicky’s contract and Nicky moved to the Toyota team full time competing in the Celica GT4 ST185. The season began well with a second in Monte Carlo and a win in Portugal, but during the Safari Rally, crashed at 180 km/h after hitting a pothole that had formed due to the rain. By mid season Nicky and Juha were tied at the top of the points with Carlos Sainz, but after mechanical problems and the a crash in Finland put Nicky and Juha 20 minutes behind and they finished the WRC in 3rd position. In 1995, with only two rallies to go, Juha and Nicky start the Rally Catalunya in a comfortable lead, seven points ahead of Colin McRae and the 555 Subaru World Rally Team, when they crashed and had to retire. After the Rally Catalunya, Toyota were found guilty of the implementation of illegal turbo restrictor bypasses on their ST205 cars. The team was given a 12-month ban by the FIA. In 1996, Nicky competed with Kankkunen for private Toyota teams in three events and finished fourth in Sweden, third in Indonesia and second in Finland.

1997–2002 Subaru & Ford

Joined the 555 Subaru World Rally Team on a two year contract as Colin McRae’s co-driver. With 6 retirements and 5 wins, Nicky and Colin came 2nd overall with 62 points, giving the Subaru team the manufacturer’s title. In 1998, Colin and Nicky had 5 retirements and 3 wins together with the same team, with the win in Corsica, giving Nicky his first win on tarmac. The team finished 3rd with 45 points and gave Subaru their third consecutive manufacturer’s title. In 1999 Colin and Nicky moved from Subaru to the M-sport Ford team of Malcolm Wilson, Nicky’s driver during the 1990 to 1991 WRC seasons, where they had two consecutive wins at the Safari Rally and Rally Portugal. However, due to reliability issues with the new Ford Focus WRC they only managed to finish 6th in the WRC with 23 points. The 1999 season of retirements only finished in the February of 2000 when Colin and Nicky finished 3rd in the Swedish Rally. However, even with two wins and three seconds to support Sweden’s third place a further 6 retirements after the initial Monte Carlo Rally retirement meant that Nicky and Colin ended up 4th in the championship with 43 points overall. With the improvement in reliability of the Focus WRC 00 towards the later half of 2000 Nicky joined with Colin, signed a further two year contract with the M-Sport Ford Team, and started 2001 with three retirements and a 9th at the Swedish Rally. The middle of the 2001 season showed better with 3 consecutive wins, followed by a retirement on the Safari Rally, and then two podium finishes. The season ended with a 2nd place in the championship and 42 points. 2002 was Nicky’s last competitive season of WRC, and again saw him co-drive for Colin McRae and the M-Sport Ford Team. During this year, there were 4 retirements and 2 wins, one of these being the Acropolis Rally, making four consecutive wins in Greece, and the other being the last Safari Rally, on its 50th anniversary. However, at the Rally Australia after a disagreement between Nicky and Colin, Derek Ringer, Colin’s old co-driver took over and finished the championship with Colin.

Later career

2003–2005 Television

In 2003, Nicky began working for TV, on the programmes that produced the rally coverage for broadcasters around the world. He primarily worked for two different programmes, Speed TV in the USA and the other the review programme that went out worldwide for all the WRC rounds. Nicky worked as the presenter of the programme for Speed TV, explaining the rules and showing why a particular stage is a challenge. With the review programme, Nicky worked as much behind the scenes, helping recce the rallies for great TV positions, planning the overall programmes, identifying the splits so that journalists can ask why a particular competitor did well or not.

2005–2006 WRC

In 2005, Nicky again joined Colin as co-driver, in a Skoda Octavia WRC, for the Rally GB. It was in this rally that Markko Märtin’s co-driver Michael Park, from Newent, Gloucester, a long term friend of Nicky’s was killed when their Peugeot hit a tree. Colin and Nicky finished 7th just ahead of fellow Brit, Mark Higgins with Sébastien Loeb refusing the ten points from that stage win, in respect for the loss of his friend. Later that same year Nicky and Colin raced the Skoda in Rally Australia, and in some stages leading the way, however, team mechanics issues resulted in the two having to retire.

2006–2007

In 2006 Nicky joined Colin for X games 12 in Los Angeles, California, America, and throughout the televised event Colin and Nicky fought for the lead, however on the last jump they landed badly, popped a tyre and then rolled but still managed to right themselves, losing only 2 seconds in the roll, getting to the finish line only half a second behind Travis Pastrana and in front of Ken Block bringing them to the attention of many Americans who had never heard of them before. The last WRC rally together was at the Rally of Turkey, in 2006, the last competitive WRC event for both Colin and Nicky, but they were unable to finish and retired on the last stage, due to alternator problems with their Citroen Xsara WRC of the Kronos Citroen World Rally Team.

On 15 September 2007, Colin and his 5 year old son, Johnny, with Graeme Duncan and Johnny’s six year old friend Ben Porcelli were killed in a helicopter crash, piloted by Colin, near his home in Lanark, Scotland. The funeral for Colin and Johnny took place on Wednesday 26 September at Daldowie Crematorium near Glasgow where Colin and his son were cremated in the same coffin.

2007–today

Nicky regularly sits in the co-drivers seat for various drivers such as the Roger Albert Clark Rally and many more. In 2010 He will be attending the Rally Trinidad event in March with driver Mark Higgins 3-Time British Rally Champion will be driving a Grp N Mitsubishi Evo IX

Nicky Grist Motorsport

In 2006, Ludovico and Elena Fassitelli, the Italian owners and creators of Stilo helmets, approached Nicky to become the sole UK distributor of the Stilo range and through this Nicky set up Nicky Grist Motorsport, based near his home in Pontrilas, Herefordshire. Through this retail outlet, Nicky stocks quality racewear and accessories for all rally, road and track competitors, as well as providing all competitors with Stilo helmets, intercoms and HANS devices. With customers such as Petter Solberg, Ken Block, Kris Meekes and Sébastien Loeb, Nicky is still in touch with all that is happening in the WRC. In addition, Nicky is unofficially a consultant to the FIA WRC, concerned with matters of safety, helmet and HANS device regulations to the British sport. As a Welshman, Nicky gives talks to business through the Welsh Assembly, and is a regional judge for the F1 in Schools competition.

Co-Driver Academy

Added to his development of the Nicky Grist Motorsport business, Nicky is looking to start a co-driver’s academy for young co-drivers to develop their skills and become experienced and skilled co-drivers.

Colin McRae Rally Game

In 1998, while racing with Colin McRae, Codemasters produced a game for the PC and PlayStation console, called Colin McRae Rally, in which Nicky was the co-driver voice, guiding the gamers round the rally. Based around stages in eight countries it used real drivers and their cars from the 1998 WRC and featured Colin and Nicky Subaru from 1998 on the front cover. Through this Nicky’s voice has become familiar to many who played the game. In 1999 Codemasters brought out Colin McRae Rally 2.0, with version 3 following both using Nicky’s voice again used for the pacenotes, which was extended to become available to the Xbox. Nicky’s voice can be heard co-driving in all the games released up to Colin McRae Rally 2005(with the exception of Colin McRae Rally 4 where Derek Ringer's voice was used).

Rally events

! #	!Event	!Season	Rally Driver	!Car	!Team	!Y/E Position
	Lombard RAC Rally	1985	Stuart Nicholls		British Junior R.T. / GM Dealersport
	Lombard RAC Rally	1986	Simon Davison	Volkswagen Golf GTI	N/A
	Lombard RAC Rally	1987	Harry Hockly		GM Dealersport
	Lombard RAC Rally	1988	Harry Hockly		GM Dealersport
	Lombard RAC Rally	1989	Dave Metcalfe		Vauxhall Dealer Sport
		1990	!colspan="2"		Q8 Team Ford
		1990	!colspan="2"		Q8 Team Ford
	Lombard RAC Rally	1990	!colspan="2"		Q8 Team Ford
		1981	!colspan="2"		Q8 Team Ford
	Rallye de Portugal	1991	!colspan="2"		Q8 Team Ford
		1991	!colspan="2"		Q8 Team Ford
		1991	!colspan="2"		Q8 Team Ford
		1991	!colspan="2"		Q8 Team Ford
	Lombard RAC Rally	1991	!colspan="2"		Q8 Team Ford
		1992	Mikael Ericsson
		1993	Armin Schwarz
	Rallye de Portugal	1993	Armin Schwarz
		1993	Armin Schwarz
	Rally Argentina	1993	Juha Kankkunen
		1993	Juha Kankkunen
		1993	Armin Schwarz
		1993	Juha Kankkunen
		1993	Juha Kankkunen
		1993	Juha Kankkunen
		1994	Juha Kankkunen
		1994	Juha Kankkunen
		1994	Juha Kankkunen
		1994	Juha Kankkunen
		1994	Juha Kankkunen
	Rally Argentina	1994	Juha Kankkunen
		1994	Juha Kankkunen
		1994	Juha Kankkunen
		1994	Juha Kankkunen
		1994	Juha Kankkunen
		1994	Juha Kankkunen
		1995	Juha Kankkunen
		1995	Juha Kankkunen
		1995	Juha Kankkunen
		1995	Juha Kankkunen
		1995	Juha Kankkunen
		1995	Juha Kankkunen
		1995	Juha Kankkunen
		1995	Juha Kankkunen
		1996	Juha Kankkunen
		1996	Juha Kankkunen
		1996	Juha Kankkunen
		1997	Colin McRae
		1997	Colin McRae
		1997	Colin McRae
		1997	Colin McRae
		1997	Colin McRae
		1997	Colin McRae
		1997	Colin McRae
	Rally Argentina	1997	Colin McRae
		1997	Colin McRae
		1997	Colin McRae
		1997	Colin McRae
	Rally Indonesia	1997	Colin McRae
		1997	Colin McRae
		1997	Colin McRae
		1997	Colin McRae
		1998	Colin McRae
		1998	Colin McRae
		1998	Colin McRae
		1998	Colin McRae
		1998	Colin McRae
		1998	Colin McRae
	Rally Argentina	1998	Colin McRae
		1998	Colin McRae
	Rally New Zealand	1998	Colin McRae
		1998	Colin McRae
		1998	Colin McRae
	Rally Australia	1998	Colin McRae
		1998	Colin McRae
		1999	Colin McRae	Ford Focus WRC	Ford Motor Company
		1999	Colin McRae	Ford Focus WRC	Ford Motor Company
		1999	Colin McRae	Ford Focus WRC	Ford Motor Company
		1999	Colin McRae	Ford Focus WRC	Ford Motor Company
		1999	Colin McRae	Ford Focus WRC	Ford Motor Company
		1999	Colin McRae	Ford Focus WRC	Ford Motor Company
	Rally Argentina	1999	Colin McRae	Ford Focus WRC	Ford Motor Company
		1999	Colin McRae	Ford Focus WRC	Ford Motor Company
	Rally New Zealand	1999	Colin McRae	Ford Focus WRC	Ford Motor Company
		1999	Colin McRae	Ford Focus WRC	Ford Motor Company
	China Rally	1999	Colin McRae	Ford Focus WRC	Ford Motor Company
		1999	Colin McRae	Ford Focus WRC	Ford Motor Company
		1999	Colin McRae	Ford Focus WRC	Ford Motor Company
		1999	Colin McRae	Ford Focus WRC	Ford Motor Company
		2000	Colin McRae	Ford Focus WRC	Ford Motor Company
		2000	Colin McRae	Ford Focus WRC	Ford Motor Company
		2000	Colin McRae	Ford Focus WRC	Ford Motor Company
		2000	Colin McRae	Ford Focus WRC	Ford Motor Company
		2000	Colin McRae	Ford Focus WRC	Ford Motor Company
	Rally Argentina	2000	Colin McRae	Ford Focus WRC	Ford Motor Company
		2000	Colin McRae	Ford Focus WRC	Ford Motor Company
	Rally New Zealand	2000	Colin McRae	Ford Focus WRC	Ford Motor Company
		2000	Colin McRae	Ford Focus WRC	Ford Motor Company
	Cyprus Rally	2000	Colin McRae	Ford Focus WRC	Ford Motor Company
		2000	Colin McRae	Ford Focus WRC	Ford Motor Company
		2000	Colin McRae	Ford Focus WRC	Ford Motor Company
		2000	Colin McRae	Ford Focus WRC	Ford Motor Company
		2000	Colin McRae	Ford Focus WRC	Ford Motor Company
		2001	Colin McRae	Ford Focus WRC	Ford Motor Company
		2001	Colin McRae	Ford Focus WRC	Ford Motor Company
		2001	Colin McRae	Ford Focus WRC	Ford Motor Company
		2001	Colin McRae	Ford Focus WRC	Ford Motor Company
	Rally Argentina	2001	Colin McRae	Ford Focus WRC	Ford Motor Company
	Cyprus Rally	2001	Colin McRae	Ford Focus WRC	Ford Motor Company
		2001	Colin McRae	Ford Focus WRC	Ford Motor Company
		2001	Colin McRae	Ford Focus WRC	Ford Motor Company
		2001	Colin McRae	Ford Focus WRC	Ford Motor Company
		2001	Colin McRae	Ford Focus WRC	Ford Motor Company
		2001	Colin McRae	Ford Focus WRC	Ford Motor Company
		2001	Colin McRae	Ford Focus WRC	Ford Motor Company
		2001	Colin McRae	Ford Focus WRC	Ford Motor Company
		2001	Colin McRae	Ford Focus WRC	Ford Motor Company
		2002	Colin McRae	Ford Focus WRC	Ford Motor Company
		2002	Colin McRae	Ford Focus WRC	Ford Motor Company
		2002	Colin McRae	Ford Focus WRC	Ford Motor Company
		2002	Colin McRae	Ford Focus WRC	Ford Motor Company
	Cyprus Rally	2002	Colin McRae	Ford Focus WRC	Ford Motor Company
	Rally Argentina	2002	Colin McRae	Ford Focus WRC	Ford Motor Company
		2002	Colin McRae	Ford Focus WRC	Ford Motor Company
		2002	Colin McRae	Ford Focus WRC	Ford Motor Company
		2002	Colin McRae	Ford Focus WRC	Ford Motor Company
	ADAC Rallye Deutschland	2002	Colin McRae	Ford Focus WRC	Ford Motor Company
		2002	Colin McRae	Ford Focus WRC	Ford Motor Company
		2002	Colin McRae	Ford Focus WRC	Ford Motor Company
		2005	Colin McRae	Škoda Fabia WRC	Škoda Motorsport
		2002	Colin McRae	Škoda Fabia WRC	Škoda Motorsport
	Rally Of Turkey	2002	Colin McRae	Citroën Xsara WRC
		Other events

! #	!Event	!Season	Rally Driver	!Car	!Team	!Y/E Position
		1989	Dave Metcalfe
	24 Heures d'Ypres / ERC20	1995	Juha Kankkunen
	Rallye International du Valais/ ERC5	1995	Juha Kankkunen

External links

Grist bio website

Nicky Grist new website

Nicky Grist Co-Driver Academy

Nicky Grist Co-Driver Academy

Rally Base NL

BBC News

BBC Sport

BBC News 2

BBC News 3

Notes

References

Williams, David. Rallycourse 1993-1994, Hazleton publishing

McRae, Colin and Alsopp, Derek The Real McRae The Autobiography of Britain’s Most Exciting Rally Driver. Ebury Press.

Colin McRae Rally Legend – His Authorised Story. Duke Publishing

Holmes, Martin. Pirelli World Rallying no 17.

Holmes, Martin. Rally Navigation: Develop Winning Skills with Advice from the Experts.

Category:1961 births Category:People from Ebbw Vale Category:Welsh rally drivers Category:Rally co-drivers Category:World Rally Championship people Category:Living people

fr:Nicky Grist hu:Nicky Grist ja:ニッキー・グリスト pl:Nicky Grist fi:Nicky Grist tr:Nicky Grist es:Nicky Grist

name	Boards of Canada
landscape	Yes
background	group_or_band
alias	Hell Interface
origin	Edinburgh, Scotland
genre	ElectronicAmbientIDMExperimentalPsychedelicDowntempoIllbient
years active	1986–present
label	Warp, Skam, Music70
website	boardsofcanada.com
current members	Mike SandisonMarcus Eoin }}

Boards of Canada (commonly abbreviated BoC) are a Scottish electronic music duo consisting of brothers Mike Sandison (born June 1, 1970) and Marcus Eoin (born July 21, 1971). They are signed with Warp Records and have released several works on that label with little advertising and few interviews, while also having an elusive and obscure back-catalogue of releases on their self-run Music70 label. They have also recorded four tracks under the alias Hell Interface.

Musical style

Boards of Canada's music is reminiscent of the warm, analogue sounds of 1970s media and contains themes of childhood, nostalgia and the natural world. Mike and Marcus have mentioned the documentary films of the National Film Board of Canada, from which the group's name is derived, as a source of inspiration.

History

Early years (1986–1995)

Growing up in a musical family, brothers Mike Sandison and Marcus Eoin began playing instruments at a young age. They experimented with recording techniques at around the age of 10, using tape machines to layer cut-up samples of found sounds over compositions of their own. In their teens they participated in a number of amateur bands; however, it was not until 1986 when Marcus was invited to Mike's band that Boards of Canada was born. By 1989, the band had been reduced to Sandison and Eoin. In the early 1990s, a number of collaborations took place and the band put on small shows among the "Hexagon Sun" collective.

In early 2000, the website for the band, Music70.com, removed the early discography of Boards of Canada, although some information has been preserved by fans. Early tape releases by Boards of Canada include Play By Numbers, Acid Memories, Hooper Bay, and the earliest known release by the band is titled Catalog 3. None of the material from those days is readily available, and since official Boards of Canada sources ignore the existence of this material, there seems to be little chance for this early material ever to resurface.

From Twoism onwards (1995–present)

In 1995, the band made their first Hexagon Sun studio release, the EP Twoism. Like earlier Music70 releases, it was produced in a self-financed limited run and was privately distributed, primarily to friends and labels. Unlike previous releases, however, a small number of copies were also released to the public through the IDM mailing list. Though not a widespread commercial release, it was considered of sufficient quality and worth to be subsequently re-pressed in 2002. The band made another release in 1996; titled Boc Maxima, it was a semi-private release that was notable for being a full-length album, and was the precursor to Music Has the Right to Children, with which it shares many tracks.

Boards of Canada's first commercial release occurred after attracting the attention of Autechre's Sean Booth, of the English label Skam Records, one of many people sent a demo EP. Skam issued what was considered Boards of Canada's first "findable" work, Hi Scores, in 1996. Music has the Right to Children was subsequently released in 1998. John Peel featured Boards of Canada on his BBC Radio 1 program in January of that year. The session featured two remixes from Music Has the Right to Children — "Aquarius (Version 3)" and "Olson (Version 3)" — along with the tracks "Happy Cycling" and "XYZ". Excluding "XYZ", the set was released on a Warp Records CD titled Peel Session TX 21 July 1998.

Though never an actively touring band, Boards of Canada did perform a handful of shows. Early shows saw them supporting Warp labelmates Seefeel and Autechre in a handful of UK dates. They also participated in a few festivals and multi-artist bills, including two Warp parties: Warp's 10th Anniversary Party in 1999, and The Incredible Warp Lighthouse Party almost one year later. They made their most prominent showing in 2001 as one of the headliners at the Tortoise-curated All Tomorrow's Parties festival. They have not performed a live show since.

The band released a four-track EP, In a Beautiful Place Out in the Country, in November 2000, their first original release in two years. The LP edition was pressed on sky blue vinyl. A full-length album, Geogaddi, was then released in 2002. It was described by Sandison as "a record for some sort of trial-by-fire, a claustrophobic, twisting journey that takes you into some pretty dark experiences before you reach the open air again."

Their third album for Warp Records, The Campfire Headphase, was released on 17 October 2005 (18 October in the United States). The album featured fifteen tracks, including "Peacock Tail", "Chromakey Dreamcoat," and "Dayvan Cowboy". Two versions of "Dayvan Cowboy" — the original and a remix by Odd Nosdam — are on the six-track EP, Trans Canada Highway, which was released on 26 May 2006.

In late 2009 the Warp20 (Recreated) compilation featured two BoC covers, one by Bibio of their song "Kaini Industries" and one by Mira Calix of "In a Beautiful Place Out in the Country". Warp20 (Recreated) is part of the larger Warp20 boxed set, which also includes two previously unreleased Boards of Canada tracks, "Seven Forty Seven" and a 1.8 second sample of "Spiro".

Sound and methods

BoC's sound is a product of their use of analog equipment, mix of electronic and conventional instrumentation, use of distorted samples as well as live and recorded lyrics, and their layering and blending of these elements. Because they avoid a purely synthetic sound, their music is often described as having a warm, emotive quality often meant to inspire nostalgia. This is helped by the use of samples from 1970s television shows and other media prevalent in the era of the brothers' shared childhood, especially the nature-inspired documentaries produced by the National Film Board of Canada.

Brief interludes or vignettes feature prominently in BoC's music. Such songs are often weaving melodies or speech accompanied by atmospherics to capture a specific moment or mood. They often last less than two minutes, but, as BoC state, "we write far more of [these] than the so-called 'full-on' tracks, and, in a way, they are our own favorites". BoC have written an enormous number of such fragments as well as full-length tracks, most of which have been held back from release. It does not appear that their music is made exclusively for commercial release; rather, albums seem to be the result of selecting complementary songs from current work. For instance, Geogaddi's development allegedly involved the creation of 400 song fragments and 64 complete songs, of which 22 were selected (possibly 23, if the final track of complete silence is included). Says Marcus: "The idea of the perfect album is this amorphous thing that we're always aiming at […] the whole point of making music is at least to aim at your own idea of perfection."

Interviews with the Sandison brothers provide some insight into their creative inspiration. They have cited several acts that have influenced their work, including Joni Mitchell, The Incredible String Band ("we have all the String Band records […] our rural sensibilities are similar"), The Beatles ("[they] really became enthralling to us through their psychedelism") and My Bloody Valentine ("even if we don't sound like them, there's a connection in terms of the approach to music").

They have also expressed a strong interest in the power of subliminal messaging and their work is full of cryptic messages, including references to numerology and cult figures such as David Koresh of the Branch Davidians, amongst other vague hints. When questioned about their aims in making such references, BoC express themselves in neutral terms ("We're not religious at all [...] and if we're spiritual at all it's purely in the sense of caring about art and inspiring people with ideas.") while remaining fascinated with the ability of music to influence the minds of others ("[We] do actually believe that there are powers in music that are almost supernatural. I think you actually manipulate people with music...").

Discography

Major releases

1995: "Twoism" - (Music70)

1996: "Hi Scores" - (Skam)

1998: "Aquarius" - (Skam)

1998: Music Has the Right to Children – (Warp/Skam) #193 UK

1999: Peel Session TX 21/07/1998 (Warp)

2000: In a Beautiful Place Out in the Country – (Warp/Music70)

2002: Geogaddi – (Warp/Music70) #21 UK

2005: The Campfire Headphase – (Warp) #41 UK

2006: Trans Canada Highway (Warp)

Old Tunes and other oddities

Supposed early Boards of Canada recordings have been found online, claiming to be original tracks from Catalog 3, Acid Memories, Hooper Bay and other pre-Twoism albums. All unreleased albums are presumed to be inauthentic BoC recordings, with the exceptions of Boc Maxima and the Old Tunes tapes. While the Old Tunes tapes are believed to be authentic, mostly due to the inclusion of very similar tracks found elsewhere on official releases, there has never been any official recognition of their authenticity.

Media usage

Many Boards of Canada tracks are used in the BBC's motoring show, Top Gear, such as 1969 from the album Geogaddi, and Pete Standing Alone from the predecessor album Music Has the Right to Children.

The song "Dayvan Cowboy" from The Campfire Headphase was used in an episode of CSI: Miami.

The song "Rue The Whirl" was used in an episode of Spaced.

The song "Amo Bishop Roden" is used in Season 3, episode 5 of Skins.

The songs "Turquoise Hexagon Sun", "Aquarius", and "Sixtyniner" were used in the dark humour animated series Monkey Dust, which aired on BBC Three from 2003-2005.

The songs "Gyroscope" and "You Could Feel the Sky" were used in the Norwegian Black Metal documentary Until The Light Takes Us.

David Firth often uses Boards of Canada songs in his animations, notably "Beware the Friendly Stranger," a track from Geogaddi which was the backing to Firth's cartoon series Salad Fingers.

Adult Swim on Cartoon Network sometimes uses samples from Campfire Headphase for its Bumps or messages to its audience.

See also

Warp Records

Music70

Hexagon Sun Collective

References

External links

Official sites

Boards of Canada official website

Boards of Canada at MySpace

at Warp Records

Music70

Hexagon Sun

Boards of Canada official YouTube channel

Discographies

Boards of Canada at xltronic

Unofficial/fan sites

Boards of Canada wiki

Boards of Canada forum at Twoism.org

Boards of Canada forum at We Are The Music Makers

Pre-2004 boardsofcanada.com Mirror

* Category:Scottish musical groups Category:Scottish electronic musicians Category:Ambient music groups Category:British electronic music groups Category:Intelligent dance music musicians Category:Electronic music duos Category:Sibling musical duos Category:Warp Records artists Category:1970 births Category:Living people Category:Trip hop musicians

af:Boards of Canada bg:Boards of Canada cs:Boards of Canada da:Boards of Canada de:Boards of Canada es:Boards of Canada fr:Boards of Canada it:Boards of Canada he:בורדס אוב קנדה lt:Boards of Canada hu:Boards of Canada nl:Boards of Canada ja:ボーズ・オブ・カナダ no:Boards of Canada pl:Boards of Canada pt:Boards of Canada ru:Boards of Canada simple:Boards of Canada fi:Boards of Canada sv:Boards of Canada uk:Boards of Canada

name	Alain Prost
nationality	French
birth date	February 24, 1955
nickname	"The Professor"
years	1980–1991, 1993 | Team(s) McLaren, Renault, Ferrari, Williams
races	202 (199 starts)
championships	4 (1985, 1986, 1989, 1993)
wins	51
podiums	106
points	768.5 (798.5)
poles	33
fastest laps	41
first race	1980 Argentine Grand Prix
first win	1981 French Grand Prix
last win	1993 German Grand Prix
last race	1993 Australian Grand Prix }}

Alain Marie Pascal Prost, OBE, Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur (born 24 February 1955 in Lorette, Loire) is a French racing driver. A four-time Formula One Drivers' Champion, Prost has won more titles than any driver except for Juan Manuel Fangio (five championships), and Michael Schumacher (seven championships). From 1987 until 2001 Prost held the record for most Grand Prix victories. Schumacher surpassed Prost's total of 51 victories at the 2001 Belgian Grand Prix. In 1999, Prost received the World Sports Awards of the Century in the motor sport category alongside all-time greats like Pelé, Muhammed Ali, Carl Lewis and Steffi Graf.

Prost discovered karting at the age of 14 during a family holiday. He progressed through motor sport's junior ranks, winning the French and European Formula Three championships, before joining the McLaren Formula One team in 1980 at the age of 25. He finished in the points on his Formula One debut and took his first race victory at his home Grand Prix in France a year later, while he was driving for Renault's factory team.

During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Prost formed a fierce rivalry with mainly Ayrton Senna, but also Nelson Piquet and Nigel Mansell. In 1986, at the last race of the season, he managed to pip Mansell and Piquet of Williams to the title after Mansell retired late on in the race, and Piquet was pulled in for a late precautionary pit stop. Senna joined Prost at McLaren in 1988 and the two had a series of controversial clashes, including a collision at the 1989 Japanese Grand Prix that gave Prost his third Drivers' Championship. A year later at the same venue they collided again, but this time Prost, driving for Ferrari, lost out. Before the end of a winless 1991 season Prost was fired by Ferrari for his public criticism of the team. After a sabbatical in 1992, Prost joined the Williams team, prompting reigning drivers' champion Mansell to leave for CART. With a competitive car, Prost won the 1993 championship but he retired at the end of the year rather than be teammates with Senna who signed for 1994 and face the animosities of 1989 and 1990 again.

In 1997, Prost took over the French Ligier team, running it as Prost Grand Prix until it went bankrupt in 2002. He currently competes in the Andros Trophy, which is an ice racing championship.

Prost employed a smooth, relaxed style behind the wheel, deliberately modeling himself on personal heroes like Jackie Stewart and Jim Clark. He was nicknamed "The Professor" for his intellectual approach to competition. Skilled at setting up his car for race conditions, Prost would often conserve his brakes and tyres early on in a race, leaving them fresher for a challenge at the end.

Personal and early life

Alain Prost was born near the town of Saint-Chamond, close to the city of Saint-Etienne in the département of Loire, France, to André Prost and Marie-Rose Karatchian, born in France of Armenian descent. Prost had one younger brother called Daniel, who died of cancer in September 1986. Although short, Prost was an active, athletic child, who enthusiastically took part in diverse sports, including wrestling, roller skating and football. In doing so he broke his nose several times. He considered careers as a gym instructor or a professional footballer before he discovered kart racing at the age of 14 while on a family holiday. This new sport quickly became his career of choice.

Prost is married to Anne-Marie (born 14 February 1955). They have two sons, Nicolas (born 18 October 1981) and Sacha Prost (born 30 May 1990). Prost also has a daughter, Victoria. As of 2008, Nicolas races in the Euroseries 3000 championship for the Elk Motorsport team. Prost lived in his hometown, Saint-Chamond, until he and his Renault team fell out in the early 1980s. In April 1983 the Prost family moved to Sainte-Croix, Switzerland and shortly after to Yens, Switzerland. They moved to Switzerland after Renault workers went to Prost's house in France and burned his Mercedes-Benz. They lived there until November 1999, when they moved to Nyon in the same country.

In 1986 or 1987 Prost was awarded the Legion d'Honneur by President François Mitterrand.

Driving career

Pre-Formula One

Prost won several karting championships in his teens. In 1974 he left school to become a full-time racer, supporting himself by tuning engines and becoming a kart distributor. His prize for winning the 1975 French senior karting championship was a season in French Formula Renault, a category in which he won the title and all but one race in 1976.

Prost went on to win the 1977 Formula Renault European championship before moving up to Formula Three (F3) in 1978. In 1979 he won both the French and European F3 championships, by which time he was on the shopping lists of several Formula One teams. After carefully considering his options, he chose to sign with McLaren for 1980. He surprised the British team by declining their offer of a race drive in a third car at the final race of the 1979 season at Watkins Glen — reasoning that the token effort would benefit neither him or the team.

Formula One

1980: McLaren

Related article: McLaren

Prost began his career with McLaren (being run by Teddy Mayer) in 1980 alongside Ulsterman John Watson. On his debut in Buenos Aires he finished in sixth place earning one point, something achieved by only a handful of drivers. Prost added four more points to his tally during the season, scoring points at Interlagos, Brands Hatch and Zandvoort. Prost finished the year 15th in the drivers' championship, equalling points with former world champion Emerson Fittipaldi. Despite the encouraging debut season, Prost had several accidents, breaking his wrist during practice at Kyalami and suffering a concussion during practice at Watkins Glen. At the end of the season, despite having two years remaining on his contract, he left McLaren and signed with Renault. Prost has said that he left because of the large number of breakages on the car and because he felt the team blamed him for some of the accidents.

1981–1983: Renault

Related article: Renault F1

;1981 Prost was partnered with fellow Frenchman René Arnoux for 1981. Motor sports author Nigel Roebuck reports that there were problems between Prost and Arnoux from the start of the season, Prost being immediately quicker than his more experienced teammate. He did not finish the first two Grands Prix, due to collisions with Andrea de Cesaris in Long Beach and Siegfried Stohr in Jacarepaguá, but scored his first podium finish in Argentina. He retired in the next four races before winning his first Formula One race at his home Grand Prix in France, finishing two seconds ahead of his old teammate John Watson. For Prost, his debut victory was memorable mostly for the change it made in his mindset. "Before, you thought you could do it," he said. "Now you know you can." Prost won two more races during the season, took his first pole position in Germany and finished on the podium every time he completed a race distance. He finished fifth in the drivers' championship, seven points behind champion Nelson Piquet.

;1982 Prost won the first two Grands Prix of the 1982 season in South Africa, where Prost recovered from losing a wheel, and Brazil. He finished in the points on four other occasions, but did not win again. Despite retiring from seven races, Prost improved on his drivers' championship position, finishing in fourth, but with nine fewer points than the previous year. His relationship with Arnoux deteriorated further after the French Grand Prix. Prost believes that Arnoux, who won the race, went back on a pre-race agreement to support Prost during the race. His relationship with the French media was also poor. He has since commented that "When I went to Renault the journalists wrote good things about me, but by 1982 I had become the bad guy. I think, to be honest, I had made the mistake of winning! The French don't really like winners."

;1983 Arnoux left Renault in 1983, and American Eddie Cheever replaced him as Prost's partner. Prost earned a further four victories for Renault during the season and finished second in the drivers' championship, two points behind Nelson Piquet. Piquet and the Brabham team overhauled Prost and Renault in the last few races of the season. Prost, who felt the team had been too conservative in developing the car, found himself increasingly at odds with Renault's management, who made him the scapegoat for failing to win a championship. In addition to that, the French fans recalled the bitter fight that had caused their favourite, Arnoux, to leave the team. Renault fired Prost only two days after the last race of the season. He re-signed for McLaren for the 1984 season within days and moved his family home to Switzerland.

1984–1989: McLaren

;1984 The Frenchman joined double world champion Niki Lauda at McLaren (now being run by Ron Dennis) in 1984, driving the McLaren MP4/2 using TAG-Porsche engines. He lost the world championship to Lauda in the final race by half a point, despite winning seven races to Lauda's five. The half point came from the Monaco Grand Prix, where Prost had been leading, albeit with Ayrton Senna and Stefan Bellof closing on him rapidly, when officials stopped the race at half distance due to heavy rain, which was controversial as the red flag was produced as Senna overtook Prost. Under Formula One regulations, Prost received only half of the nine points normally awarded for a victory.

;1985 In 1985 Prost became the first French Formula One World Champion. He won five of the sixteen Grands Prix during the season. He had also won the San Marino Grand Prix, but was disqualified after his car was found to be 2 kg underweight in post-race scrutineering. Prost finished 20 points ahead of his closest rival, Michele Alboreto. Prost's performance in 1985 earned him the Légion d'honneur distinction in France.

;1986 Niki Lauda retired for good at the end of 1985, and was replaced at McLaren by 1982 Champion Keke Rosberg for 1986. Prost successfully defended his title, despite his car struggling against the Honda-powered Williams cars driven by Nelson Piquet and Nigel Mansell, possibly due to the in-fighting at Williams. Until the latter stages of the final race of the 1986 season, the Australian Grand Prix, Prost appeared set to finish second in the Championship, behind Mansell. Prost had the same amount of wins as Piquet, but he had four second places to Piquet's three, thus placing him second before the final race. While running third behind Piquet and Prost (all he needed to win the title), Mansell suffered a tyre failure at high speed, and crashed out. The Williams team called his teammate Piquet in to change tyres as a safety precaution, handing the race victory — and Championship — to Prost, who had already pitted. Another memorable race that year for Prost was at the San Marino Grand Prix. He was cruising to victory when his car began to run out of fuel three corners from the chequered flag. Frantically weaving the car back and forth to slosh the last drops of fuel into the pickup, he managed to keep it running just long enough to creep over the line and win the race. It happened again at the German Grand Prix: while running in fourth position, Prost's car ran out of fuel on the finishing straight of the last lap. Instead of retiring, Prost got out of his car and tried to push it to the finish, to great applause from the crowd. The finish line was too far, though, and he never reached it. He was classified sixth in the race, as the seventh-placed car was a lap behind.

;1987 With Rosberg retiring from Formula One at the end of 1986 season, Stefan Johansson filled the McLaren seat alongside Prost for the 1987 season. Even though Prost was driving a by now outclassed McLaren, he challenged Piquet and Mansell almost until the end, winning three races and breaking Jackie Stewart's record for race victories by winning for the 28th time. Prost considers the Brazilian Grand Prix as his best and most rewarding race ever. The Williams-Hondas had been dominant during qualifying, and Prost started fifth on the grid. He had worked on his race set-up, and with everyone else going for a high-downforce set-up, the Frenchman went the other way. The set-up meant less tyre wear, thanks to slower speeds in the corners while going fast down the straights. Only one stop was necessary, and Prost won the race by 40 seconds.

Prost finished the 1987 season in fourth place, 30 points behind champion Nelson Piquet.

;1988

Despite Nelson Piquet winning the Drivers' Championship and Williams winning the Constructors' Championship, Honda decided not to supply the team with their engines due to their refusal to hire a Japanese driver, and instead supplied the McLaren team for 1988. Prost had convinced Ron Dennis to sign Senna to a three-year contract, which played a role in luring Honda. However, this began the rivalry that pushed two of the sport's greatest drivers to unprecedented heights of success and controversy. McLaren-Honda dominated the season, winning 15 out of 16 races. Prost finished first or second in every race other than his two retirements at Silverstone and Monza. He won seven and outscored his new teammate Ayrton Senna by 11 points, despite Senna winning one more race than Prost. However, only the 11 best results from the season counted toward the championship total, and this gave Senna the title by three points. Prost went on to be a proponent of essentially the 90's scoring system – all results counting to the final results with the winner scoring 10, not 9, points.

;1989 McLaren's domination continued throughout 1989, and the Prost-Senna struggle for supremacy put them on a collision course. Mutual admiration turned to all-out hatred, with the Frenchman accusing his Brazilian teammate of "dangerous driving" and of receiving more than a fair share of attention from both McLaren and Honda. Prost was accused of being in the pocket of FISA's French president Jean-Marie Balestre. Their embittered season ended as many pundits had feared. In the Japanese Grand Prix at the end of lap 46, Senna made his move at the chicane. Prost turned into his teammate's path. The two interlocked McLarens slid up the chicane escape road. Prost, thinking the World Championship was over, climbed out of his car. To separate the cars, the marshals pushed Senna's McLaren backwards onto the track. This left it in a dangerous position, so they pushed it forwards again. As they did so, Senna bump-started the engine. He drove through the chicane and rejoined. The nose of his car was damaged and he had to pit, but he rejoined only five seconds behind Alessandro Nannini. On lap 50, Ayrton sliced past Nannini at the chicane to take the lead and won the race. But it was Nannini who appeared on the top step of the podium. Race officials had excluded Senna for missing the chicane. McLaren appealed the decision, but the FIA Court of Appeal not only upheld the decision but fined Senna US$100,000 and gave him a suspended six-month ban. Thus Prost clinched his third driving title in controversial circumstances.

However, Prost had the firm belief that Honda and Ron Dennis viewed Senna as the future of the team. Prost recalled that by Monza he had one car with maybe four or five mechanics, while his teammate had two cars and 20 people around him. As a result, Prost announced in July 1989 that he would depart from McLaren and the Frenchman quickly joined his new employers: Ferrari.

1990–1991: Ferrari

Related article: Scuderia Ferrari

;1990 The Frenchman replaced Gerhard Berger at Ferrari and was partnered with Britain's Nigel Mansell for 1990. As reigning world champion, Prost took over as the team's lead driver and was said to have played on Mansell's inferiority complex. Mansell recalls one incident where at the 1990 British Grand Prix, the car he drove didn't handle the same as in the previous race where had taken pole position, and later found out from team mechanics that Prost saw Mansell as having a superior car and had them swapped without Mansell knowing. Prost won five races for Ferrari that year, in Brazil, Mexico, France, Britain and Spain. Notable among these was the Mexican Grand Prix, where he won after starting in 13th position. In both the Mexican and Spanish races, he led Mansell to Ferrari 1–2 finishes. The championship once again came to the penultimate round of the season in Japan with Prost trailing his McLaren adversary, Ayrton Senna, by nine points. As in 1989, a controversial collision between the two settled the race. At the first corner Senna, as he later admitted, intentionally drove his race car into Prost's, taking them both out of the race and sealing the title in his favour. "What he did was disgusting," Prost said. "He is a man without value." Prost finished the season seven points behind Senna, and his Ferrari team were runners-up to McLaren.

;1991 In 1991, Mansell left the Scuderia, due to his unstable relationship with Prost, to join his previous employers, Williams for 1991. Mansell's replacement was Frenchman Jean Alesi, who had been impressive during the previous two years at Tyrrell. Ferrari had entered a downturn, partially as their famous V12 engine was no longer competitive against the smaller, lighter and more fuel efficient V10s of their competitors. The Ferrari chassis, despite a major revision by the French Grand Prix (F-643) was also not up to the level of the McLaren and the Williams models. Prost won no races, only getting onto the podium five times. He took it out on the Italian team, publicly criticising them (at the 1991 Japanese Grand Prix he famously described his car's handling worse than "a truck"), and was fired prior to the end of the season, right before the Australian Grand Prix. Prost was replaced by Italian driver Gianni Morbidelli for the final race of the 1991 season, and by another one, Ivan Capelli for the next season.

1993: Williams

Related article: WilliamsF1

Prost went onto a sabbatical year in 1992, which was dominated by Nigel Mansell in a Williams-Renault. After hearing that Prost would be his teammate again in 1993, Mansell left Williams to race in the CART series. The Frenchman had a clause in his contract which prevented rival Ayrton Senna from joining the team that year. Prost was part of a new-look driver line-up at Williams, with test driver Damon Hill coming in to replace Riccardo Patrese, who had left to join Benetton.

Prost won his fourth, and final, title, but in a year where he was regularly challenged by teammate Hill, and Ayrton Senna driving an inferior McLaren. Shortly before the Portuguese Grand Prix in October 1993, Prost announced he would not defend his world title, as the clause in the Frenchman's contract did not extend to 1994 and Senna would be able to join Williams for the upcoming season, and instead opted to retire as the driver with the record for most grand prix victories — a record which stood for almost a decade. On the podium in Adelaide in 1993, Prost's last race, he and Senna embraced, and it was as if — now that Prost was no longer a rival — Senna saw no reason for any more hostility. Prost was surprised by the gesture. Prost's performances earned him an OBE.

German Michael Schumacher broke Prost's record of 51 Grand Prix wins during the 2001 season. However, the Frenchman still holds the records for the most Grand Prix starts in turbo powered cars (126), and most wins at home Grand Prix (six at the French Grand Prix). He is also thus far the most recent Frenchman to win his home Grand Prix.

Rivalry with Ayrton Senna

Prost's battles with Ayrton Senna were particularly notable. The rivalry originated in 1988, when Senna joined Prost at the McLaren team. The most notable event during the season between the two occurred during the Portuguese Grand Prix, where Senna tried to block Prost from taking the lead by forcing the Frenchman to run close to the pitwall; Prost managed to edge Senna outwards, taking the lead as they went into the first corner but he remained angered by the Brazilian's dangerous manoeuvre.

The rivalry intensified after the 1989 San Marino Grand Prix, where the two drivers had an agreement that neither would get in each other's way to the first corner (cf. 1982 San Marino Grand Prix). At the start, Senna got away in the lead and Prost followed him through the first corner without getting in Senna's way. Gerhard Berger's crash on lap four stopped the race. At the restart, it was Prost this time that got away the better of the two; but Senna forced his way past Prost in the first corner, breaking the pair's agreement at the start of the race, leaving the Frenchman furious with Senna. Prost himself was angered by McLaren apparently favouring Senna because of Senna's better relationship with Honda, so he announced his signing with Ferrari during midseason.

The rivalry then reached its peak at the end of 1989, when the title was to be decided between Senna and Prost at Suzuka. The two McLarens collided at the Casio Triangle chicane when Prost blocked an attempted pass by Senna. Prost walked away while Senna returned to the track by illegally cutting the chicane. Though he went on to win the race, the manœuvre resulted in his disqualification. After an unsuccessful appeal by McLaren, the Brazilian received a further US$100,000 fine and a six month suspension, leading Senna to accuse FIA president Jean-Marie Balestre of favoring the Frenchman. Senna's disqualification meant that it was mathematically impossible for him to overhaul Prost's points total, and so the 1989 Championship went to the Frenchman. There has been much debate as to whether Prost intentionally ran into Senna, whether Senna was overambitious in his overtaking manoeuver, or whether the collision was simply a racing incident between two team-mates who were embittered with each other.

1990 saw the two drivers collide again. Senna led Prost, now in a Ferrari, in the world drivers' championship. Prost had qualified second for the penultimate race of the season in Suzuka, Japan, and Senna was on pole. Prior to the race Senna had complained that his side of the grid was dirty, meaning he would get less grip and therefore a slower start compared to Prost who was on the clean side of the grid. The Brazilian's appeal was rejected. At the start of the race, Prost got the better start of the two; but whilst braking for the first corner, Senna refused to back off and collided with Prost at , clinching the title for the Brazilian. Prost almost retired from the sport, saying "What he did was disgusting. He is a man without value." A year later, Senna admitted that the move was premeditated, in retaliation for Prost taking the two out of the race at the chicane on the same course the previous year when in a similar position.

There was one controversial incident in 1991, Prost's inferior Ferrari was unable to put up a challenge regularly to Senna's frontrunning McLaren. At the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim, Prost battled Senna for 4th place, however he felt Senna defended too aggressively and at the first chicane forced Prost to take avoiding action by using the escape road. Prost stalled his car rejoining the race. Ironically, Senna ran out of fuel on the last lap at the very same point.

The Frenchman took a sabbatical in 1992 while the Brazilian struggled as McLaren was no longer competitive with Williams. Prost announced his signing with Williams for the upcoming 1993 season. Senna had wanted to join Williams too, as they were the most competitive, but Prost had a clause in his contract forbidding the Brazilian as a teammate and an infuriated Senna called the Frenchman a coward during a press conference at Estoril.

During the 1993 season, Prost and Senna continued their on-track rivalry. Prost was escorted by police to the Interlagos circuit for the 1993 Brazilian Grand Prix due to the hostility of Brazilians towards him. The two continued their on-track battles at Silverstone where Senna aggressively defended his position against Prost. At Prost's last Grand Prix, the 1993 Australian Grand Prix, he was pulled up by Senna onto the top step of the podium for an embrace.

On 1 May 1994, Ayrton Senna was killed during the San Marino Grand Prix. Prost was a pallbearer at the Brazilian's funeral. Speaking four years after the Brazilian's death, Prost told Nigel Roebuck that he had "always refused to speak about him." When Senna died, Prost stated that "a part of himself had died also", because their careers had been so bound together. Senna had also felt the same when Prost had retired at the end of 1993, when he admitted to a close friend that he had realised how much of his motivation had come from fighting with Prost. Only a couple of days before his death, when filming an in-car lap of Imola for French television channel TF1, he greeted Prost, by then a pundit on the channel: "A special hello to my,.. to our dear friend Alain. We all miss you Alain." Prost said that he was amazed and very touched by that comment.

Comparison with team-mates

During the course of his career, season-by-season Prost beat nearly all his team-mates on total points, including five World Champions. The only exceptions were in 1984 when Niki Lauda won by half a point, and in Prost's first F1 season, when he was beaten by John Watson. In 1988, although Prost scored more points in total than his team-mate Ayrton Senna, only the best eleven of sixteen results counted towards the championship, which Senna won.

!Year	!Prost's points	!Team-mates' points	!Team-mate
	5	6
	43	11	René Arnoux
	34	28	René Arnoux
	57	22	Eddie Cheever
	71.5	72	Niki Lauda
	73 (76)	14	Niki Lauda
	72 (74)	22	Keke Rosberg
	46	30	Stefan Johansson
	87 (105)	90 (94)	Ayrton Senna
	76 (81)	60	Ayrton Senna
	71 (73)	37	Nigel Mansell
	34	21	Jean Alesi
	99	69	Damon Hill

Helmet

Prost uses a helmet design based on the three colours of the French flag, those being blue, white and red, along with his name along the side. During his early career however, Prost used a basic design of white all over with some blue detail around the visor. Prost's original inspiration for the shape of the blue around his visor was a take on the Ecole de Pilotage Elf-Winfield logo. During Prost's time at Renault, he used more blue details, most notably around the rear of his helmet. Prost's helmet changed in 1985, as his helmet now had the blue detail around the front, surrounding the visor. Prost kept a similar design for his entry at Ferrari and Williams.

Later life

During 1994 and 1995, Prost worked as TV pundit for the French TV channel TF1. He also worked for Renault as a PR man. Prost went back to his old team McLaren, working as a technical advisor; he also completed L'Etape du Tour, an annual mass-participation bike ride that takes place on a stage of the Tour de France. Although not an official race, riders fight hard for places; Prost finished 12th in his category, 42nd overall out of over 5000 riders.

Prost Grand Prix

During 1989 Prost began to contemplate starting his own team, as his relationship with his McLaren teammate, Ayrton Senna, had turned sour. Prost and John Barnard, formerly chief designer at McLaren, came close to founding a team in 1990; but a lack of sponsorship meant that this was not possible, so Prost moved to Ferrari. After falling out with the Italian team at the end of 1991, Prost found himself without a drive for 1992; after the failure of extensive negotiations with Guy Ligier about buying his Ligier team, Prost decided to join Williams for 1993. In 1995, when Prost was working for Renault, people began to assume that a Prost-Renault team would be formed in the near future. Renault refused Prost's request to supply engines for his team, ending the speculation. On 13 February 1997, Prost bought the Ligier team from Flavio Briatore and renamed it "Prost Grand Prix". The day after he bought the team, Prost signed a three-year deal with French car manufacturer Peugeot, who would supply the team with engines for the 1998 season through the 2000 season. For the team's first season, Prost kept one of Ligier's 1996 drivers, Olivier Panis, who had won the Monaco Grand Prix the previous year; Japanese driver Shinji Nakano was signed to partner Panis. The team raced with the Mugen-Honda engines used by Ligier the previous season. Things looked promising at the start of the season, as the team picked up two points on its Grand Prix debut in Australia when Olivier Panis finished fifth. The team scored a further 13 points before Panis broke his leg in an accident during the Canadian Grand Prix. He was replaced by Minardi's Jarno Trulli. From there, things started to go downhill slightly, the team scored only five points during Panis' recovery. The Frenchman came back at the end of the season to race the final three Grand Prix. Prost GP finished sixth in the constructors' championship in its first season, with 21 points.

Prost became the president of Prost Grand Prix at the start of 1998. With Peugeot supplying the engines for Prost GP, Mugen-Honda decided to supply the Jordan team. Prost GP scored a single point during the season, Jarno Trulli finishing sixth in Belgium.

1999 was a crucial year for Prost GP. Prost hired John Barnard as a technical consultant, Barnard's B3 Technologies company helping Loic Bigois and the design of the AP02. Panis and Trulli agreed to stay on with the team for the season. While the car did not prove to be a major concern, the Peugeot engine proved to be heavy and unreliable.

Peugeot's final year as Prost's engine supplier in 2000 saw some optimism, Prost hiring his 1991 Ferrari team mate Jean Alesi to drive the lead car and German Nick Heidfeld, who had won the 1999 Formula 3000 championship, to partner him. The season proved to be yet another disastrous one, with the AP03 proving to be unreliable and ill handling. Things weren't helped when both drivers collided with each other in the Austrian Grand Prix. Newly hired technical director Alan Jenkins fired midway through the year. Prost restructured the team, hiring Joan Villadelprat as the managing director and replacing Jenkins with Henri Durand as the team's new technical director.

2001 saw some much needed optimism for the team as Ferrari agreed to be the team's engine supplier for the season, the team now moving in the right direction. But the money ran out at the start of the 2002 season and Prost was out of business, leaving debts of around $30 million.

After Prost Grand Prix

During 2002, Prost spent time with his family and competed in eight bicycle races, finishing third in the Granite – Mont Lozère. The Frenchman raced in the Andros ice race series in 2003, finishing second in the championship behind Yvan Muller; he also became an Ambassador for Uniroyal, a position he would keep until May 2006.

Prost continued to compete in the Andros Trophy, winning the title with Toyota in 2006/07 and 2007/08.

For the 2010 Formula One season, the Sporting Regulations were changed so that a former driver sits on the stewards' panel. Prost was the first such driver to take on this role, at the 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix.

Complete Formula One results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap) !rowspan="2" !rowspan="2"

! Year

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List of Formula One World Championship points scoring systems>Points

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Marlboro (cigarette)

McLaren M29>M29B

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5

McLaren McLaren M29>M29C

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McLaren McLaren M30>M30

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Renault V6 (t/c)

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! [[Renault F1

! [[Renault F1

Renault">Renault F1

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! [[Renault F1

! [[Renault F1

Renault [[V6 engine

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! 34

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Renault V6 (t/c)

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style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#cfcfff;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

Marlboro">Renault F1

style="background:#cfcfff;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#cfcfff;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

Marlboro McLaren International

McLaren McLaren MP4/2>MP4/2

Techniques d'Avant Garde>TAG

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#cfcfff;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

Marlboro">V6 engine

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#cfcfff;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

Marlboro McLaren International

McLaren McLaren MP4/2>MP4/2B

Techniques d'Avant Garde>TAG

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#000; color:#fff;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

Marlboro">V6 engine

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#000; color:#fff;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

Marlboro McLaren International

McLaren McLaren MP4/2>MP4/2C

Techniques d'Avant Garde>TAG

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#000; color:#fff;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

Marlboro">V6 engine

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#000; color:#fff;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

Marlboro McLaren International

McLaren McLaren MP4/3>MP4/3

Techniques d'Avant Garde>TAG

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#cfcfff;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#cfcfff;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#cfcfff;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#cfcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

! 4th

! 46

! [[Honda Racing F1

V6 engine

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#cfcfff;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#cfcfff;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#cfcfff;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#cfcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

! 4th

! 46

! [[Honda Racing F1

McLaren MP4/4>MP4/4

Honda Racing F1>Honda

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

! [[Honda Racing F1

V6 engine

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

! [[Honda Racing F1

McLaren MP4/5>MP4/5

!

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

rowspan="2"

[[Scuderia Ferrari">Honda Racing F1

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

rowspan="2"

[[Scuderia Ferrari

! [[Scuderia Ferrari

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

! [[Scuderia Ferrari

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

rowspan="2"

[[Scuderia Ferrari">Scuderia Ferrari

[[Scuderia Ferrari

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

! [[Scuderia Ferrari

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

rowspan="2"

[[Scuderia Ferrari

! [[Scuderia Ferrari

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#fff;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

5th

34

! [[Scuderia Ferrari

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

Canon">Scuderia Ferrari

[[Scuderia Ferrari

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#fff;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

5th

34

! [[Scuderia Ferrari

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

Canon

style="background:#efcfff;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#dfffdf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#ffffbf;"

style="background:#cfcfff;"

style="background:#ffdf9f;"

style="background:#cfcfff;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

style="background:#dfdfdf;"

‡ Race was stopped with less than 75% of laps completed, half points awarded.

Further reading

Alan Henry, Alain Prost (Champion Series) ISBN 0-946132-30-5

Pierre Ménard and Jacques Vassal, Alain Prost: The Science of Racing (Formula 1 Legends S.) ISBN 2-84707-062-1

Footnotes

References

External links

Alain Prost – fan page: interviews, photos, statistics, regularly updated

Grand Prix History – Hall of Fame

Alain Prost statistics

}} }} }}

[[Category:1955 births">WilliamsF1 ! [[WilliamsF1 ! [[Renault F1 style="background:#ffffbf;" style="background:#efcfff;" style="background:#ffdf9f;" style="background:#ffffbf;" style="background:#ffffbf;" style="background:#dfffdf;" style="background:#ffffbf;" style="background:#ffffbf;" style="background:#ffffbf;" style="background:#ffffbf;" style="background:#cfcfff;" style="background:#ffdf9f;" style="background:#cfcfff;" style="background:#dfdfdf;" style="background:#dfdfdf;" style="background:#dfdfdf;"

‡ Race was stopped with less than 75% of laps completed, half points awarded.

Further reading

Alan Henry, Alain Prost (Champion Series) ISBN 0-946132-30-5

Pierre Ménard and Jacques Vassal, Alain Prost: The Science of Racing (Formula 1 Legends S.) ISBN 2-84707-062-1

Footnotes

References

External links

Alain Prost – fan page: interviews, photos, statistics, regularly updated

Grand Prix History – Hall of Fame

Alain Prost statistics

}} }} }}

[[Category:1955 births Category:Living people Category:People from Loire Category:French Armenians Category:European Formula Three Championship drivers Category:Ferrari Formula One drivers Category:McLaren Formula One drivers Category:Williams Formula One drivers Category:Formula One drivers and team owners Category:French Formula One drivers Category:Formula One World Drivers' Champions Category:French Formula Renault 2.0 drivers Category:French Formula Three Championship drivers Category:French racecar drivers Category:Grand Prix Masters drivers Category:International Motorsports Hall of Fame inductees Category:Monaco Grand Prix winners Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire Category:Renault Formula One drivers Category:Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur

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