Rally driver dies cancer

To me he was dad — and an incredible one at that. Always supportive, loving and genuine. Also a loving grandfather to my two boys. Mikkola was at the forefront of the four-wheel drive revolution in world rallying and claimed the title in an Audi Quattro, the first for an all-wheel drive car in FIA World Rally Championship history.

Burns then moved to Peugeot in but finished fifth in the title standings after five retirements and a controversial disqualification from the Rally Argentina with an underweight flywheel. Burns's final year of competition came in , again driving for Peugeot. Six podium finishes kept him in the title hunt until the final round in Britain, however he collapsed travelling to the event with Markko Martin. He was diagnosed with a brain tumour and never drove again. Burns's early recollections of driving was when his father Alex allowed him to get behind the wheel of a Triumph in a field.

At 11 he joined an under 17's car club which fuelled his interest, and at 15, Alex decided to take him to a Welsh rally driving school where was assessed. Two hours later he emerged stating that he wanted to be a rally driver. By , Richard had been successful in minor motorsport events and entered a Peugeot into the national GTI challenge. Burns won the championship and was asked to drive a well-financed Group N Subaru Legacy in the Mintex National series.

He finished second, and the car's current driver and his friend David Williams decided that Burns should drive the car instead for the remainder of the series, with which Burns won the championship. When Burns came second in the event the winner was not entered into the series championship , Williams chose to run him for the remainder of the series.

His faith in was rewarded as he went on to win the Championship. In he started co-driving with Robert Reid, who he would compete with for the rest of his long career to win the world title in The Subaru WRC team said this morning they "express our deepest sympathy to the family and friends of ex-team driver Richard Burns, who lost his long battle with cancer yesterday evening.

Burns's last public appearance came in August, when he made a surprise appearance at the RallyDay event, which took place at Castle Combe Circuit.

Andrea de Cesaris on his F1 career. Foyt replaces Franchitti for Chicago. Allmendinger to do two Truck races. Breen: Hybrid power brings "third dimension" to WRC driving. First rising to fame in national rallies in his native Finland, Mikkola scored his first World Rally win on home ground in with a Ford Escort RS at the Lakes Rally — an event he won seven times.

Switching to the works Audi team for the season, Mikkola went on achieve his greatest successes including a title-winning season in which he scored four wins and became the first driver to win the world title with an all-wheel-drive car.

Schmitz later gained acclaim for an appearance on Top Gear in in which she drove a van around the track, and subsequently became a presenter on the show alongside Chris Evans in This Sunday's episode of Top Gear will be dedicated to Schmitz, with Clare Pizey, executive producer, saying: "Sabine was a beloved member of the Top Gear family and presenting team since , having first appeared on the show in , and everyone who had the pleasure of working with her on the team is in shock at this news.

Our thoughts are with her partner Klaus, who was always by her side and who we welcomed to Dunsfold many times, and her family in Germany.