Richard Burns

For the Canadian politician, seeRichard Ronald Burns.For the European poet and editor, seeRichard Berengarten.

Richard Alexander Burns(17 January 1971 – 25 November 2005) was an Englishrallydriver who won the2001World Rally Championship,having previously finished runner-up in the series in1999and2000.He also helpedMitsubishito the worldmanufacturers' titlein1998,andPeugeotin2002.His co-driver in his whole career wasRobert Reid.He is the only Englishman to have won the World Rally Championship as a driver.

Richard Burns

Richard Burns in 2003, withPeugeot Sport
Personal information
Nationality	British
Born	(1971-01-17)17 January 1971 Reading,Berkshire,England
Died	25 November 2005(2005-11-25)(aged 34) St John's Wood,London,England
World Rally Championshiprecord
Active years	1990–2003
Co-driver	Wayne Goble Robert Reid
Teams	Subaru,Mitsubishi,Peugeot
Rallies	104
Championships	1 (2001)
Rally wins	10
Podiums	34
Stage wins	277
Total points	351
First rally	1990RAC Rally
First win	1998Safari Rally
Last win	2001Rally New Zealand
Last rally	2003Rally Catalunya

Career

Pre-WRC

Richard Burns was born in Reading, Berkshire, and grew up inCheckendon,Oxfordshire. At the age of eight he first started driving his father's oldTriumph 2000in a field near their house. At eleven Burns joined theUnder 17 Car Club,where he became driver of the year in 1984. Just two years later his father arranged a trip to Jan Churchill'sWelshForest Rally School nearNewtown, Powys,where Burns drove aFord Escortfor the day, and from that moment on he knew what he wanted to do. Richard badgered his father into letting him join the Craven Motor Club, in his home town of Reading, where his talent was quickly spotted by David Williams, a rally enthusiast who would play a major role in Burns's early career. In 1988 he entered his first rallies in his ownTalbot Sunbeam,but the car was too basic and slow to make much of an impression, so in 1989 he borrowed other competitors' machines to progress. To this end he rallied the stages of Panaround, Bagshot, Mid-Wales, Millbrook, Severn Valley, Kayel Graphics, and the Cambrian Rallyas these were all rallies which included stages used on more prestigious events.

In 1990 he joined thePeugeotChallenge after David Williams bought Burns aPeugeot 205 GTI.Upon winning that series, Richard's prize was a chance to drive a World Rally Championship event in Great Britain that same year. Then in 1991 Burns met Robert Reid, the man who was to become his co-driver for the rest of his career, finishing 16th in their first WRC rally together. For 1992 Williams purchased a Group NSubaru Legacyfor Burns; with support fromProdrive,they won the National Championship. This year also saw Burns helpColin McRaewith his gravel notesas Prodrive viewed Richard as a promising talent for the future. Burns won that year's Severn Valley Rally outright despite being in a slower car.

In 1993 he joined theSubaruRally Team for theBritish Rally ChampionshipalongsideAlister McRaein anotherSubaru Legacy.He won four rounds that year at the Vauxhall Sport,Pirelli,Scottish, andManx Internationalto become BRC's youngest champion.In the wake of his domestic success, plus a commendable seventh-place finish at a very snowy British WRC round, Burns remained with Subaru for the 1994 and 1995 seasons. He then competed in theAsia Pacific Rally Championship,which included rallies in New Zealand and Australia, but it also allowed him chances at his home event.At the end of 1995, Burns scored an impressive third place in the RAC Rally behind his Subaru teammates fighting for the overall championship, withCarlos Sainz(already a double world champion) finishing second, andColin McRaewinning his first and only WRC title.

WRC

1996–1998: Mitsubishi

1996 saw an opening withMitsubishiRalliartat international level, seized upon with sufficient vigour to guide Burns to victory on that year'sRally New Zealand– albeit then, only a fixture within theAsia-Pacific Rally Championshipand theFIA 2-Litre World Rally Cup.Even so, the fending off of such calibre competition as works-backedSubaruheavyweightsKenneth ErikssonandPiero Liattionly added gloss to an increasingly favoured reputation.In 1997 he was driving a same car as his team-mateTommi Makinenhad,Group AMitsubishi Lancer EvolutionIII, IV, V; however it was re-badged asCarisma GT.His 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 theSafari Rally,placing him seventh overall in the championship.

Come 1998, he had won his maiden World Rally Championship event on the Safari, which was known as the most challenging and difficult rally. He then added a second career victory on his swansong outing for Mitsubishi on that year'sRally GB,the event whereToyota'sCarlos Sainzhad a dramatic late retirement from fourth that secured the drivers' title for his team-mate,Tommi Makinen(who retired early in the event), as well as confirming the constructors' accolade for Mitsubishi.

1999–2001: Return to Subaru

Burns driving a Subaru Impreza WRC at the 2001Rally Finland.

Burns returned to theProdrive-runSubaru World Rally TeamunderDavid Richardsfor the 1999 season, joiningJuha KankkunenandBruno Thiryas part of the factory team drivingSubaru Impreza WRCs,replacingFord-bound fellow Briton,Colin McRae.Burns worked his way to a career high of second place in the drivers' standings, adding to his win tally. He also led Subaru to second in the constructors' series behind theFormula OnedepartingToyota Team Europe.On that year'sRally Argentina,he was upstaged for victory by virtue of a team order mix-up by veteran team-mate Kankkunen. 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.He was a long-time contender for the title in 2000, but crashed out on theRally Finlandin mid-season handing the momentum to eventual champion, and future team-mate, the Peugeot driverMarcus Grönholmwho had been competing in his first year as a full-time factory driver. Even so, a stirling comeback from the lower reaches of the top thirty to win on the season-endingRally of Great Britainkept the Burns name well entrenched within public consciousness.

Burns at the 2001 Rally Finland.

The 2001 rally season began inauspiciously for Burns – neither of the season curtain raisers, theMonte Carlo Rallyor theSwedish Rally,yielded points scores, placing in peril before it had begun, the Englishman's title bid. Fourth place in a rain-drenched Portugal kicked his campaign into action prior to second-place finishes on the gravel rallies ofArgentinaandCyprus,on both occasions to Ford's Colin McRae. Nonetheless, both the Scotsman and Monte Carlo victor Tommi Mäkinen were later to hit upon snags of their own, while Burns's own consistent points scoring culminated in a first and only individual rally victory of the season in New Zealand, with McRae beaten into second. Burns then finished second on theRally Australiato close within two points of new standalone series leader McRae, although the Scotsman and Mäkinen were to struggle to fifth and sixth respectively on this event (and the last of the drivers' points-scoring positions) 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-bearinggravelfor day two. Meanwhile, the Finn, for his part, continued to struggle with a newly homologated version of theMitsubishi Lancer EvolutionWorld Rally Carhe had been entrusted with, which had only been introduced by his team a few rounds earlier inSan Remo.A four-way title decider, also including nine-point adrift outsider, Ford driver Carlos Sainz, thus beckoned on the final round of the series in Great Britain.

There, all three of Burns's rivals were to have suffered retirement from the event by the end of the second leg proceedings on Saturday. On Sunday, 25 November 2001, therefore, Burns's third-place finish behind Peugeot duo Gronholm andHarri Rovanperaenabled him to become the first Englishman to win the World Rally Championship, with 44 points, he was world champion with the lowest points total since the Formula 1-styled point system was introduced in 1997. When 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".To commemorate the title success, Subaru produced a special edition of the Subaru Impreza in the UK called theRB5.A messy legal battle ensued for the Englishman's services for the following 2002 season, from which fresh suitors, 2000 and 2001 manufacturers' champions Peugeot emerged victorious.

2002–2003: Return to Peugeot

Burns with aPeugeot 206 WRCat the 2002Rallye Deutschland

Burns returned to thePeugeotfor the 2002 season. AlthoughPeugeotwere the pacesetting team of the period, Burns had difficulty matching the pace of team-matesMarcus Grönholm(on gravel) andGilles Panizzi(on tarmac). Therefore, the existing tally of ten WRC triumphs were not to be added to, with the quest for a second world title proving equally fruitless for Burns. He won theRally Argentina,but soon he was disqualified as his 206 was found underweight, handing the victory to Sainz, and inRally New Zealandhe was leading until towards the end of day 2 when he rolled his car, forcing him to retire. He cobbled together a title challenge, albeit founded more on regular podium finishes than on victories, for much of the2003 season– a feat which did not convince him to remain at the wheel of the206 WRC.

In the2003 seasonhe was still winless, although seven podiums means he led the championship at most of the season. The gloomy prospect of a continued winning drought with the French team left Burns poised to rejoin Subaru, having signed for them for the second time beginning with the2004 season,the ploy being to couple him with the eventual 2003 title winner, Norway'sPetter Solberg.In November 2003, however, with the Englishman heading to the season-endingWales Rally GBstill with a chance of winning the title, Burns suffered ablackoutwhile driving with Ford driverMarkko Märtinto the rally. He was withdrawn from the event, and thus the title fight, and was later diagnosed with anastrocytoma,a type of malignant brain tumour.Treatment during 2004 was followed by surgery in April 2005 that was described as "very successful".But the diagnosis, that this type of brain tumor was malignant, was only soon realised. In August 2005 a fan day was made in which Burns's supporters were invited to see his private car collection, but he was unable to drive so his co-driverRobert Reidtook the seat on his private cars.

WRC victories

#	Event	Season	Co-driver	Car
1	Safari Rally	1998	Robert Reid	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV
2	Rally of Great Britain			Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution V
3	Acropolis Rally	1999		Subaru Impreza WRC 99
4	Rally Australia
5	Rally of Great Britain
6	Safari Rally	2000
7	Rallye de Portugal			Subaru Impreza WRC 00
8	Rally Argentina
9	Rally of Great Britain
10	Rally New Zealand	2001		Subaru Impreza WRC 2001

Complete WRC results

Year	Entrant	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	WDC	Points
1990	Peugeot Talbot Sport	Peugeot 309 GTI	MON	POR	KEN	FRA	GRE	NZL	ARG	FIN	AUS	ITA	IVO	GBR 28			–	0
1991	Peugeot Talbot Sport	Peugeot 309 GTI	MON	SWE	POR	KEN	FRA	GRE	NZL	ARG	FIN	AUS	ITA	IVO	ESP	GBR 16	–	0
1992	Richard Burns	Peugeot 309 GTI	MON	SWE	POR	KEN	FRA	GRE	NZL	ARG	FIN	AUS	ITA	IVO	ESP	GBR Ret	–	0
1993	555 Subaru World Rally Team	Subaru Legacy RS	MON	SWE	POR	KEN	FRA	GRE	ARG	NZL	FIN	AUS	ITA	ESP	GBR 7		43rd	4
1994	SMSG / N. Koseki	Subaru Impreza WRX	MON	POR	KEN 5	FRA	GRE	ARG									20th	8
	555 Subaru World Rally Team	Subaru Impreza 555							NZL Ret	FIN	ITA	GBR Ret
1995	555 Subaru World Rally Team	Subaru Impreza 555	MON	SWE	POR 7	FRA	NZL Ret	AUS	ESP	GBR 3							9th	16
1996	Mitsubishi Ralliart	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo III	SWE	KEN	INA Ret	GRE	ARG 4	FIN	AUS 5	ITA	ESP Ret						9th	18
1997	Mitsubishi Ralliart	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IV	MON	SWE	KEN 2	POR Ret	ESP	FRA	ARG Ret	GRE 4	NZL 4	FIN	INA 4	ITA	AUS 4	GBR 4	7th	21
1998	Mitsubishi Ralliart	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IV	MON 5	SWE 15	KEN 1	POR 4											6th	33
		Mitsubishi Lancer Evo V					ESP 4	FRA Ret	ARG 4	GRE Ret	NZL 9	FIN 5	ITA 7	AUS Ret	GBR 1
1999	Subaru World Rally Team	Subaru Impreza WRC99	MON 8	SWE 5	KEN Ret	POR 4	ESP 5	FRA 7	ARG 2	GRE 1	NZL Ret	FIN 2	CHN 2	ITA Ret	AUS 1	GBR 1	2nd	55
2000	Subaru World Rally Team	Subaru Impreza WRC99	MON Ret	SWE 5	KEN 1												2nd	60
		Subaru Impreza WRC2000				POR 1	ESP 2	ARG 1	GRE Ret	NZL Ret	FIN Ret	CYP 4	FRA 4	ITA Ret	AUS 2	GBR 1
2001	Subaru World Rally Team	Subaru Impreza WRC2001	MON Ret	SWE 16	POR 4	ESP 7	ARG 2	CYP 2	GRE Ret	KEN Ret	FIN 2	NZL 1	ITA Ret	FRA 4	AUS 2	GBR 3	1st	44
2002	Peugeot Total	Peugeot 206 WRC	MON 8	SWE 4	FRA 3	ESP 2	CYP 2	ARG DSQ	GRE Ret	KEN Ret	FIN 2	GER 2	ITA 4	NZL Ret	AUS Ret	GBR Ret	5th	34
2003	Marlboro Peugeot Total	Peugeot 206 WRC	MON 5	SWE 3	TUR 2	NZL 2	ARG 3	GRE 4	CYP Ret	GER 3	FIN 3	AUS 3	ITA 7	FRA 8	ESP Ret	GBR	4th	58

APRC results

Year	Entrant	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	APRC	Points
1993	Richard Burns	Subaru Legacy 4WD Turbo	IDN	NZL	MYS	AUS	THA 2		?	?
1994	555 Subaru World Rally Team	Subaru Impreza 555	IDN Ret	NZL Ret	MYS 2	AUS 5	HKG 2	THA 2	3rd	45
1995	555 Subaru World Rally Team	Subaru Impreza 555	IDN	NZL Ret	MYS	AUS	HKG 3	THA 3	?	?
1996	Petronas Mitsubishi Ralliart	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo III	THA Ret	IDN Ret	MYS 2	NZL 1	AUS 5	HKG 2	2nd	58
1997	Mitsubishi Ralliart	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo III	THA	CHN	NZL 4	MYS	IDN 4	AUS 4	6th	30

Personal life

In 2001, Burns emigrated from Britain toAndorra,reportedly for tax purposes.

Death

Late on Friday, 25 November 2005, four years to the day after winning the2001 World Rally Championship,Burns died at theWellington HospitalinSt John’s Wood,London,aged 34, after having been in acomafor some days as a result of abrain tumour.A memorial service was held atSt Luke's Church, Chelseaon Thursday 22 December 2005,with readings from BBC TV'sJeremy ClarksonandSteve Rider,and a tribute paid by one of his closest friends, photographer Colin McMaster.He was buried atSt Peter and St Paul, Checkendon.

British television showTop Gearaired a tribute to Burns. The host,Jeremy Clarkson,said that "the news has been completely dominated, as far as we're concerned, by the sad death of Richard Burns." No other motoring news was announced in that episode. Burns had previously appeared onTop Geartwice, once touting rallying as more interesting and influential thanFormula One,and then test-driving thePeugeot RC.

Subaru paid tribute to Burns atCastle Combein 2006, when over fifty Subaru Impreza RB5s took to the track, including the RB5 No. 001 driven by Alex Burns, Richard's father. They also released aspecial editionImpreza WRX STIin 2007 – theRB320– in memory of Burns. It features a 320bhp(240kW) Prodrive Performance Pack,Prodrivedeveloped suspension, sports spring kit and is available only inobsidian blackcolour. Proceeds went to the RB Foundation.

During the 2006Goodwood Festival of Speed,the RB foundation, named for Burns's initials, was inaugurated, with its stated aim being to "inspire and support people with serious injury and illness."The foundation also raises money for theMichael ParkFund, which deals with improving safety in motorsport events. British bandTravisdedicated their albumThe Boy with No Name(2007) to Burns's memory.

Richard Burns Trophy

In 2006, the young driver's award in theWales Rally GBwas renamed the Richard Burns Trophy in his honour.It is awarded to the highest placed, non-priority driver who is 25 years old or younger.

See also

• Richard Burns Rally,the video game starring Richard Burns.
• List of notable brain tumor patients
• The Under 17 Car Club

External links

• Richard Burns FoundationArchived5 March 2010 at theWayback Machineofficial website.
• Richard Burns's short biography@ BBC.co.uk