Link An icon. Co-founder of DC shoes who became a legit rally driver. Apparently a good person. If you like motorsports and have not seen his Gymkhana series, well, you live in a cave. RIP.
Article with a little more meat:
Of the “Motor vehicle accidents” I would have guess would have killed block, “Snowmobile rolled over him” is not at the top of the list. I’m very curious if those are the full details.
Was he in the WRC?
Terrible news. I was well aware of the Gymkhana series but knew little about the guy personally. So I was surprised to find that he was not just sponsored by DC shoes, but that he was the founder. And that all his racing and stunting success came as a late-in-life thing after he cashed out of DC. Terrible news.
Yes, he was a competitor there, his daughter was part of the team as well. His Wiki entry has all his rally participation.
It’s not uncommon for high profile motorsport competitors to meet with misadventure in non-automotive vehicles. Colin McRae died in a helicopter crash, Formula 1 champion Graham Hill died in a plane crash, numerous NASCAR drivers have been killed in planes they were piloting, and Michael Schumacher, while not dead, suffered severe brain injury while skiing and God only knows if he’s ever going to regain even his ability to speak, let alone anything resembling motor functions. It’s a culture that rewards risk-takers, of course, so it’s far from a stretch that many of them would take risks off the track too.
I always mix him and Richard Burns up even though their deaths were 2 years apart. Burns died from a brain tumor.
I was really into Colin Mcrae 2.0 on PS1 at the time of his death and was watching the sport a lot when it was on Speed TV.