Richards: Burns a sport icon

By a sad coincidence, the death of Burns on Friday came on the fourth anniversary of his championship win with Subaru in 2001.

The Briton died on Friday after he was diagnosed with the astrocytoma, a form of brain tumour, two years ago, after blacking out at the wheel on his way to the British Rally in Wales in 2003.

He had been due to return to Subaru in 2004 but the illness forced him to withdraw from that season.

"You don't become a world champion without being a great, great driver," Richards, whose Prodrive company also runs the Subaru team, told Reuters.

"He will stand out amongst them as one of the icons of the sport.

"We were very confident (in 2003) of him coming back to us and winning another title."

The only other Briton to have won the championship was Scottish driver Colin McRae, also with Subaru, in 1995. The two drivers were great rivals, contrasting personalities who frequently clashed but also respected one another.

Since news broke of Burns's passing, Richards said he had received emails from all over the world, including several from Kenya where Burns won his first world championship rally with Mitsubishi in 1998, paying tribute to the driver.

"It's easy to think of him just as an English star but remember that he won events all around the world and he had an extraordinary following," he said.

"He stood out, tall, looked slightly different with his gingery hair from the rest of the crowd and I suppose was very recognisable.

"He was the first English world champion and he did it in great style as well, he was very professional in the way he went about it," Richards added.

"He and Colin were great pals but nonetheless two completely opposite ends of the spectrum with Colin's flamboyance and Richard's sheer determination and professionalism. He (Burns) had a very methodical, determined style."