Competitor who figured in a rail crash? (5)

I believe the answer is:

rival

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'competitor' is the definition.
(synonyms)

'figured in a rail crash?' is the wordplay.
'figured' becomes 'v' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'crash?' is an anagram indicator (I've seen 'crash' mean this).
'rail' with letters rearranged gives 'rial'.
'v' placed inside 'rial' is 'RIVAL'.

'who' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for rival that I've seen before include "Be equal to in quality" , "Adversary or foe" , "Competing opponent" , "Person in direct competition" , "Emulate" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.

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