24 Facts About Richard Burns

Richard Alexander Burns was an English rally driver who won the 2001 World Rally Championship, having previously finished runner-up in the series in 1999 and 2000.

Richard Burns helped Mitsubishi to the world manufacturers' title in 1998, and Peugeot in 2002.

Richard Burns is the only Englishman to have won the World Rally Championship as a driver.

Richard Burns was born in Reading, Berkshire, and grew up in Checkendon, Oxfordshire.

At eleven Burns joined the Under 17 Car Club, where he became driver of the year in 1984.

Richard Burns won that year's Severn Valley Rally outright despite being in a slower car.

Richard Burns won four rounds that year at the Vauxhall Sport, Pirelli, Scottish, and Manx International to become BRC's youngest champion.

Richard Burns then competed in the Asia Pacific Rally Championship, which included rallies in New Zealand and Australia, but it allowed him chances at his home event.

Richard Burns's results continued to improve in 1997, from the 8 rallies he participated in, he finished in 4th place five separate times, and was 2nd at the Safari Rally, placing him seventh overall in the championship.

Richard Burns then added a second career victory on his swansong outing for Mitsubishi on that year's Rally GB, the event where Toyota's Carlos Sainz had a dramatic late retirement from fourth that secured the drivers' title for his team-mate, Tommi Makinen, as well as confirming the constructors' accolade for Mitsubishi.

Richard Burns worked his way to a career high of second place in the drivers' standings, adding to his win tally.

Richard Burns led Subaru to second in the constructors' series behind the Formula One departing Toyota Team Europe.

Richard Burns again finished second behind Kankkunen at the 1000 Lakes Rally, which was considered to be impressive given it was only his second start on a rally known for favouring experienced drivers.

Richard Burns was a long-time contender for the title in 2000, but crashed out on the Rally Finland in mid-season handing the momentum to eventual champion, and future team-mate, the Peugeot driver Marcus Gronholm who had been competing in his first year as a full-time factory driver.

Richard Burns then finished second on the Rally Australia to close within two points of new standalone series leader McRae, although the Scotsman and Makinen were to struggle to fifth and sixth respectively on this event amid controversy over McRae arriving to time control too late at the end of the first leg of the event to be able to choose a favourable running order on the ball-bearing gravel for day two.

When Richard Burns passed the finishing line at the final stage of the final rally in 2001, he uttered words thought to be paying tribute to his codriver Robert Reid: "You're the best in the world".

Richard Burns won the Rally Argentina, but soon he was disqualified as his 206 was found underweight, handing the victory to Sainz, and in Rally New Zealand he was leading until towards the end of day 2 when he rolled his car, forcing him to retire.

The gloomy prospect of a continued winning drought with the French team left Richard Burns poised to rejoin Subaru, having signed for them for the second time beginning with the 2004 season, the ploy being to couple him with the eventual 2003 title winner, Norway's Petter Solberg.

In November 2003 with the Englishman heading to the season-ending Wales Rally GB still with a chance of winning the title, Richard Burns suffered a blackout while driving with Ford driver Markko Martin to the rally.

Richard Burns was withdrawn from the event, and thus the title fight, and was later diagnosed with an astrocytoma, a type of malignant brain tumour.

In 2001, Richard Burns emigrated from Britain to Andorra, reportedly for tax purposes.

Late on Friday, 25 November 2005, four years to the day after winning the 2001 World Rally Championship, Richard Burns died at the Wellington Hospital in St John's Wood, London, aged 34, after having been in a coma for some days as a result of a brain tumour.

Richard Burns was buried at St Peter and St Paul, Checkendon.

Richard Burns had previously appeared on Top Gear twice, once touting rallying as more interesting and influential than Formula One, and then test-driving the Peugeot RC.