300w ago - Racing legend Colin McRae, his son, and two family friends died in a helicopter crash on Saturday, September 15, when it went down near McRae's family home.

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

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

A statement from Colin McRae's father, Jim McRae has been released on behalf of the family: "It is with much sadness and regret that we have to make this statement.

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

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

Our thoughts are also very much with the families of Ben Porcelli and Graeme Duncan. Ben was a great...

300w ago - Former world rally champion Colin McRae is believed to have been killed along with three others in a helicopter crash near his home in Lanarkshire.

The helicopter, which police believe was owned by Mr McRae, 39, came down on Saturday afternoon in Jerviswood, about a mile from Lanark, and caught fire.

Colin McRae won the World Rally Championship drivers' title in 1995 driving a Subaru, becoming the first Briton to win the title.

He was also runner-up in 1996, 1997 and 2001.

He also spawned a number of successful video games the latest being Colin McRae: DiRT in 2007.

He is married to Alison and has two children, Hollie and Johnny.