Former world rally champion Richard Burns is recovering in hospital on Tuesday after brain surgery.

Doctors have described the operation, which took place on Tuesday, as 'very successful'.

A statement issued on behalf of Burns said: "The 2001 World Rally Champion was diagnosed with an astrocytoma, a form of brain tumour, in November 2003 and has been undergoing chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatment.

"He had been recovering well since leaving hospital last summer, however his doctors decided to go ahead with today's operation after Burns experienced some health problems in recent weeks."

That sucks...I wish him luck and get better soon.

Best of luck Richard.

good luck to him, may he have a speedy recovery

I wonder if he'll ever be back behind the wheel of a Rally car.

He was just hitting his stride :(

Man, just when things were starting to look good for him. I wish him the best of luck with his recovery and hopefully this will be the last surgery he has to have.

Speedy recovery, Richard. :(

I hope the surgery went well and has taken care of the problem...wishing him a speedy recovery and a return to rally.

Good luck to him, I'm a cancer survivor myself and you can only wish a speedy recovery.

Good luck to burns, i hope he has a fast and safe recovery

Good luck Richard

I'm sure he will be back soon.

I was hoping that no news was good news since I hadn't heard anything in quite a while. Sad to hear that's not the case. :(

So sad. Get well soon Burnsie!!

I was hoping that no news was good news since I hadn't heard anything in quite a while. Sad to hear that's not the case. :(

What little news has been trickling out is not good

I seriously doubt that Richard will ever be competing again let alone in WRC

:(

I found this posted on a motorsports forum:

And in other sad rally news, word is trickling out on some rally forums that I visit that the health of 2001 WRC champion Richard Burns is not good. Burns blacked out during the recce of Rally GB in 2003 and was diagnosed with a brain tumor soon thereafter.

A Richard Burns Day took place a few weeks ago in which people from the rally community and fans came out to see a lot of the machinery that Burns had competed in during his career. Burns attended, but no photos of him appeared in mainstream media and rally Web sites and publications that I read frequently.

Now I know why. I saw a pic of Burns from that day on a rallying forum last night, and you can barely recognize him. It was a nice pic of Burns and his former WRC co-driver Robert Reid smiling behind the wheel of a car. But Burnsie appears to have aged 40 years and has gained a ton of weight due to his illness and treatment. It was really stunning and sad.

:( :(

Unfortunately no news about those kind of things usually means bad news. :(

Unfortunately no news about those kind of things usually means bad news. :(

My thoughts exactly unfortunatley. I wish him better days.

I wish him better days.
I think we all do...prayers are with you Richard

Good luck Burns. :(

Tom

I wish Burns luck. :(

I doubt he will ever rally again though.


~Mark

I wish Burns luck. :(

I doubt he will ever rally again though.


~Mark


You never know though. Never say never...look at Zanardi....

You never know though. Never say never...look at Zanardi....

Unfortunately from the couple of descriptions from people who have been around him lately, that is sadly not likely to be the case:(

:(

keep fighting burnsie!

yup, good luck to that guy

:(

keep fighting burnsie!


Ditto. Good luck!

You never know though. Never say never...look at Zanardi....

Look at Armstrong also. I know its almost a cliche now... but he also had it quite bad before rebounding and dominating.

Any new updates? If he has gained weight, isn't that a good thing for someone who has gone through chemo?

Any new updates? If he has gained weight, isn't that a good thing for someone who has gone through chemo?

I suspect that no news and no sightings at events is not a good thing........

I am sure that they don't really want to regularly post progress reports of his recovery.

Friends abroad state he made an appearance not too long ago
as his cars were on display at an event

he was driven around - waved at fans
but was not able to drive or walk about.

he's still fighting.

his web site no longer features a fan club, nor do they send us club members
press releases. it's frustrating.

But we know Richard is tough. He's a fighter. He can beat this :)

Thanks for the update Subie Gal