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Richard Burns made his final public appearance at Rallyday in August 2005. A little more than three months later, he lost his brave battle with cancer and passed away aged 34.

One of the many highlights during that day in Wiltshire was a parade of some of Richard’s favourite rally cars, including the Subaru Impreza WRC he and co-driver Robert Reid used to clinch the World Rally Championship title in 2001.

Burns was driven by Reid through the event’s Feature Rally Stage in his BMW X5 followed by close friends Mark Higgins, Martin Rowe and the McRae brothers Alister and Colin, who took to the wheel of some of Richard’s most cherished cars. It was an emotionally-charged occasion and prompted a standing ovation by the Castle Combe crowd.

“I’ve still got a picture on my office wall of me driving Richard with Richard’s cars driving around behind us,” says Reid. “You have some fantastic cars in that collection. A lot of people think the world championship-winning car was the best but in actual fact it was the 1993 Group A Legacy which we won the British championship with. It’s such an awesome car and sitting watching Alister McRae driving it – we were team-mates with Alister – and spitting flames going off the line at Castle Combe really brought a very big smile to Richard’s face and a bit of a tear to his eye.”

Reid recalls the background to Richard’s attendance at Rallyday. “Richard had periods during his illness when he was a bit better and then not so good. He’d been having a reasonably good period and it was an opportunity to take the whole car collection out and for Richard to come along as well and have a weekend out.”

Zoe Scott, a constant source of love and devotion to Richard during his illness, also remembers that day with great fondness after being driven through the stage in Burns’ Impreza WRC by the late Colin McRae.

“It was a day I will never forget,” says Scott. “Richard was very nervous to face his fans because he knew he had changed somewhat due to his devastating illness. To have the response he got was so rewarding for him. There were few smiles during his illness, but this brought a smile to his face and a glimpse of normality. Richard was very, very proud.”

Burns had visited Rallyday on a number of occasions and was also a regular at Castle Combe when, as a 14-year-old, he drove his father Alex’s company car during training events organised by the Under 17 Car Club. The full version of this feature will appear in the official Rallyday souvenir programme, on sale at the Castle Combe event on September 18.