McRae keen to get back to action

Youngster Alister McRae must hope his Mitsubishi team recover from an armed robbery in time to help him score more points in this weekend’s Rally of Argentina.

The Scotsman, brother of former world champion Colin, lies 11th in the championship with two points and hopes to increase that haul in Argentina.

But Mitsubishi’s plans were disrupted earlier this week when team members were held up at gunpoint in a local restaurant.

McRae, who was not involved in the incident, preferred to focus on the threat posed to his chances by overenthusiastic fans.

He said: ‘‘It’s another rough gravel rally, but faster than it was in Cyprus.

‘‘It’s quite tight and twisty up in the hills and the weather changes the character of the road considerably if it’s wet - and there’s always rain at some point.

‘‘The watersplashes are quite a feature in Argentina as well, and the information we get from our gravel crew can be vital because spectators have a habit of damming up the streams to make it more spectacular.’’

Mitsubishi spokesman Jim Blackstock insisted the robbery would not affect the team’s performance.

He said: ‘‘There’s a much greater visible police presence in the town.

‘‘That’s reassuring people but people are still out a lot. The restaurant in question was packed last night.

‘‘The rally world is fairly resilient. You have to be. But everyone’s a lot more aware of what can happen. People are getting on with things.’’

World champion Richard Burns believes he has enjoyed his best-ever start to a title campaign

going into this weekend’s rally.

The Peugeot driver claims he is better placed than ever after five rounds this season.

The Englishman currently lies third in the title standings, behind team-mates Marcus Gronholm and

Gilles Panizzi, but is drawing confidence from his good Argentinian record.

Burns, just 12 points behind leader Gronholm, said: ‘‘This is probably the best position I have been in when coming to the Rally of Argentina.

‘‘It is a very nice rally for me. In the last three years I have had fantastic results here. Peugeot is very well suited and it can have a good performance.’’