McRae appearance boosts Skoda

Skoda hope Colin McRae’s appearance in Wales Rally GB this weekend can help secure their future for next season, when they want the Scotsman to lead their challenge.

The Czech minnows regularly prop up the manufacturers’ standings and failed to even compete in all the rallies last season as financial problems hit hard.

But Skoda pulled off a major public relations coup for this weekend though, persuading McRae out of his self-imposed exile to return to the world scene for his home rally.

The Scotsman’s long-anticipated return to the Welsh forests saw flashes of his old brilliance, with the 1995 world champion rolling back the years in stage three to set the sixth fastest time.

In a car which has yet to finish in the top eight this season, that was no mean achievement and Skoda boss Martin Muehlmeier hopes more of the same will encourage his paymasters to stump up for next season.

He said: “There has been a lot of frustration this year but someone like Colin is essential to have success at this level and I’m sure we’d be in discussions if we got the green light to carry on competing next season.

“We don’t know our programme for next season yet, as we are awaiting board approval from Skoda and the Volkswagen Audi Group. I am optimistic but I just won’t know for a few more weeks what their decision will be.”

McRae battled gamely in his Skoda today, outpacing regular driver Armin Schwarz, a former winner of Rally GB, by over three minutes on his way to 13th.

McRae’s performance on day one of Wales Rally GB has impressed Muehlmeier, who claims his team are benefiting from the input of a former world champion.

He blames mistakes, including crucial ones from their drivers, for much of Skoda’s misery this season and revealed McRae’s impressive performances on and off the stages have lifted the gloom.

He said: “This year we have had technical and driver problems but 50% of them have been down to human error.

“Colin is settling in very well. We have had a lot of feedback from him and what is particularly nice is that feedback correlates with what the telemetry is telling us. That is a good indication.”

No matter how impressive McRae’s performance is, Muehlmeier concedes he is unlikely to coax many points out of his Skoda Fabia.

“Our best hope here is a top-eight result,” he added. “Anything in that area would be better than what we have achieved this year.

“But that is going to be very hard – there are 23 world rally cars here and all of them are good competition.”