McRae to take sabbatical

Colin McRae’s 16-year world rally career could come to an end in the Welsh forests next week after he announced today that he is taking a sabbatical from the championship.

The 1995 world beater has decided to pursue other forms of motorsport after losing his drive at Citroen with the Paris-Dakar Rally in January a likely option.

McRae could struggle to return to the WRC in 2005 meaning next week’s Wales Rally GB will be his last outing.

“I’m not disappointed, and in fact very positive about the future,” insisted the 35-year-old, the sport’s most charismatic figure who has sold over seven million copies of his World Rally Championship computer game.

“I’m really looking forward to getting into other forms of motorsport; it’s something I’ve always said I wanted to do.

“Everyone knows there are talks about me competing on the Dakar. That’s an event I’ve always thought about doing. There’s potential for a deal there, and also lots of others that would take me into different forms of motorsport.

“2004 has the makings of a very interesting year, and hopefully I’ll be in a position to make an announcement about certain things very soon.”

McRae was left in limbo after rule changes meant teams could run only two cars next season instead of three. He lost out to Spain’s Carlos Sainz with whom he shares the WRC record of 25 career wins.

The Scot’s only option was to find around £5million to fund a drive with one of the bigger teams but that has proved impossible.

“It didn’t help that a definite decision wasn’t made early enough in the year to give anyone a chance of securing a drive,” said McRae of the rule change.

“Because of that, the only option left was to find the funds to pay for a drive and, given the short timescale, it’s just almost impossible to pull that kind of money together.

“At the time Citroen made its decision, Carlos was in a stronger position in the championship than me, and still is. It also has very strong links with the Spanish market so both of these factors obviously contributed.

“Had the driver regulations not changed, Citroen had always stated they would keep all three of us; now they can’t.

“All this, coupled with the fact that it’s not been my best year in the sport, have meant I’ve not really enjoyed it. And I’ve always said that when I don’t enjoy it, I would seriously consider stepping back.

“The results haven’t been there and these two things go together; if you’re enjoying it, you’re competitive. I’m not as competitive as I want to be and this is another reason for pulling out.”

McRae, who joined the French manufacturer this season from Ford, is currently seventh in the drivers’ standings.