Richard Burns: A decade on from the death of the former world rally champion

Burns remains the only Englishman to win a World Rally Championship

(Getty Images)

November 25 is a date associated with immense sporting loss. No doubt, you will have read many a tribute today for Manchester United and Northern Ireland legend George Best – it’s already been a decade since the beautiful boy with a beautiful game left us.

However, another British sporting great departed on the very same day; 2001 World Rally champion, Richard Burns.

Unlike Best, who lived until the age of 59, Burns was cruelly taken while he was still very much at the top of his game, at the age of just 34, following diagnosis of a malignant brain tumour.

Burns suffered a black-out whilst driving to the final event of the year – the 2003 Wales Rally GB – and duly pulled out. Going in to the event, Burns, despite not winning a single rally all year, had a shot at the championship.

Petter Solberg, Carlos Sainz, and Markko Martin similarly had a chance to take the title, and it eventually went to Solberg, driving for Subaru.

Despite pulling out of the event, Burns still finished an impressive fourth in that year’s standings. With no wins at Peugeot in 2002 or 2003, the Briton looked to pastures old, and signed a new deal with his former team Subaru.

He was set to partner reigning champion Solberg for a formidable line-up in the 2004 season, but after consultation with doctors, he was advised not to compete in that year’s championship.

He had been diagnosed with a condition called Astrocytoma, an aggressive form of brain tumour. Radiotherapy began immediately to get him back on the grid for 2005, but the condition worsened. After spending several days in a coma, he finally died from his condition on November 25, 2005 – exactly four years since he won the title in Wales.

Richard Burns (Getty Images)

News coverage from the day had already been dominated by the death of the popular Best and thus, Burns’ death was barely covered at all, save for a tribute on the next edition of Top Gear by friend Jeremy Clarkson. “He was just such a nice guy. I'm going to miss him...badly," the presenter said.

His legacy in WRC remains. He is still the last British driver to win the championship and the only Englishman in history to do so. Until Kris Meeke earlier this month, he was the last Briton to stand on the podium at his home event, and is still the last to win the event.

In 2007, Subaru released a special edition of the road-going Impreza model, and dubbed it the RB320, relating to Burns' initials and the horsepower the car develops.

Money spent on these special edition vehicles has gone to the RB Foundation, a charity set up with the purpose of supporting and inspiring people with serious illnesses and injuries.