Burns was born in Reading, Berkshire, and grew up in Checkendon, Oxfordshire. At the age of eight he first drove his father's old Triumph 2000 in a field near their house. At eleven he joined the Under 17 Car Club, where he became driver of the year in 1984. Two years later his father arranged a day at Jan Churchill's Welsh Forest Rally School near Newtown, Powys, where Burns drove a Ford Escort. Burns then joined the Craven Motor Club in Reading, where his talent was spotted by David Williams, a rally enthusiast who would play a major role in his early career.
In 1988, Burns entered his first rallies in his own Talbot Sunbeam. In 1989 he borrowed other competitors' machines to progress, rallying the stages of Panaround, Bagshot, Mid-Wales, Millbrook, Severn Valley, Kayel Graphics, and the Cambrian Rally. In 1990 Burns joined the Peugeot Challenge after Williams bought him a Peugeot 205 GTI; winning that series earned him a drive at a World Rally Championship event in Great Britain that same year.
In 1991 Burns met Robert Reid, who became his co-driver for the rest of his career. They finished 16th overall in their first WRC rally together, winning the A7 car category. In 1992 Williams purchased a Group N Subaru Legacy for Burns; supported by Prodrive, they won the National Championship. Burns also helped Colin McRae with his gravel notes that year. He won that year's Severn Valley Rally outright despite being in a slower car.
In 1993, Burns joined the Subaru Rally Team for the British Rally Championship alongside Alister McRae in another Subaru Legacy. He won four rounds — the Vauxhall Sport, Pirelli, Scottish, and Manx International — to become the BRC's youngest champion. Burns remained with Subaru for 1994 and 1995, also competing in the Asia Pacific Rally Championship in New Zealand and Australia. At the end of 1995 he finished third in the RAC Rally, behind Carlos Sainz in second and McRae, who won his first and only WRC title.
In 1996 Burns moved to Mitsubishi Ralliart and won Rally New Zealand, at that time a fixture within the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship and the FIA 2-Litre World Rally Cup, beating works-backed Subaru drivers Kenneth Eriksson and Piero Liatti. In 1997 he drove a Group A Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution III, IV, and V, re-badged as the Carisma GT, the same car as teammate Tommi Mäkinen. From eight rallies he scored five fourth-place finishes and one second place at the Safari Rally, placing seventh overall.
In 1998 Burns won his maiden World Rally Championship event at the Safari Rally, considered the most challenging rally on the calendar. He added a second victory on that year's Rally GB. The Rally GB result also secured the drivers' title for Tommi Mäkinen and the constructors' title for Mitsubishi.
Burns returned to the Prodrive-run Subaru World Rally Team under David Richards for 1999, joining Juha Kankkunen and Bruno Thiry. He achieved a career-high second place in the drivers' standings and led Subaru to second in the constructors' series. On the Rally Argentina, a team order mix-up gifted victory to Kankkunen. Burns again finished second to Kankkunen at the 1000 Lakes Rally.
In 2000, Burns was a long-time title contender but crashed out on the Rally Finland, handing momentum to eventual champion Marcus Grönholm, who was competing in his first year as a full-time factory driver for Peugeot. A win on the season-ending Rally of Great Britain kept Burns in public consciousness.
The 2001 season began poorly, with no points from the Monte Carlo Rally or the Swedish Rally. Fourth place in Portugal and second-place finishes on the gravel rallies of Argentina and Cyprus revived his campaign. Both times he was beaten by Ford's Colin McRae. Burns scored his sole victory of the season in New Zealand, beating McRae into second. He then finished second on the Rally Australia, closing to within two points of McRae, though McRae and Mäkinen finished fifth and sixth respectively amid controversy over McRae's running order.
A four-way title decider on the final round in Great Britain, with Sainz nine points adrift, saw all three of Burns's rivals retire by the end of the second leg on Saturday. On Sunday 25 November 2001, Burns's third-place finish behind Peugeot's Grönholm and Harri Rovanperä was enough. With 44 points, the lowest total since the Formula 1-styled points system was introduced in 1997, Burns became the first Englishman to win the World Rally Championship. As he crossed the finishing line, he was heard to say: "You're the best in the world", thought to be directed at co-driver Reid. To commemorate the title, Subaru produced a special edition Impreza in the UK called the RB5.
A legal battle over Burns's services was won by Peugeot, who were the 2000 and 2001 manufacturers' champions. Burns returned to Peugeot for 2002 but struggled to match the pace of teammates Grönholm on gravel and Gilles Panizzi on tarmac. He won the Rally Argentina but was disqualified when his Peugeot 206 was found to be underweight, handing victory to Sainz. He was leading in New Zealand towards the end of day two when he rolled his car. He finished the 2002 season without a victory.
In 2003 Burns led the championship for most of the season despite seven podiums and no wins. He had signed to rejoin Subaru for 2004, where he would partner the 2003 title winner Petter Solberg. In November 2003, heading to the Wales Rally GB still with a chance of the title, Burns suffered a blackout while driving with Ford's Markko Märtin to the rally. He was withdrawn from the event and subsequently diagnosed with an astrocytoma, a type of malignant brain tumour.
Treatment during 2004 was followed by surgery in April 2005, described as very successful. In August 2005 a fan day was held at which Burns's supporters were invited to see his private car collection; unable to drive himself, co-driver Reid took the seat in his private cars.
On 25 November 2005 — four years to the day after winning the 2001 World Rally Championship — Burns died at the Wellington Hospital in St John's Wood, London, aged 34, after having been in a coma as a result of the brain tumour. A memorial service was held at St Luke's Church, Chelsea, with readings from Jeremy Clarkson and Steve Rider of BBC television, and a tribute from photographer Colin McMaster. Burns was buried at St Peter and St Paul, Checkendon.
Top Gear aired a tribute in which host Jeremy Clarkson said: "the news has been completely dominated, as far as we're concerned, by the sad death of Richard Burns." Burns had previously appeared on the programme twice — once arguing that rallying was more interesting and influential than Formula One, and once test-driving the Peugeot RC.
Subaru paid tribute at Castle Combe in 2006 when over fifty Subaru Impreza RB5s took to the track, including RB5 No. 001 driven by Alex Burns, Richard's father. In 2007 Subaru released a special edition Impreza WRX STI — the RB320 — featuring a 320 bhp Prodrive Performance Pack, Prodrive-developed suspension, a sports spring kit, and availability only in obsidian black. Proceeds went to the RB Foundation.
During the 2006 Goodwood Festival of Speed, the RB Foundation — named for Burns's initials — was inaugurated with the stated aim of inspiring and supporting people with serious injury and illness. The foundation also raises money for the Michael Park Fund, which aims to improve safety in motorsport events. British band Travis dedicated their album The Boy with No Name (2007) to Burns's memory.
In 2006 the young driver's award at the Wales Rally GB was 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.
This article is based solely on the supplied corpus. No external sources were consulted; claims that could not be substantiated against the corpus were omitted under the drop-the-claim rule.
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