Colin McRae comeback over

Former World Rally champion Colin McRae’s return to the series looks to have come to an end after just one event.

Scotsman McRae was drafted into the Kronos Total Citroen team in place of the injured series leader Sebastien Loeb, who was out with a broken arm suffered in a mountain biking accident.

But after failing to finish the Rally of Turkey when his car broke down in the final stage, McRae looks set to miss out in Australia this weekend.

McRae struggled with the muddy conditions in Turkey and team boss Marc van Dalen has decided Xavier Pons will team up with Dani Sordo for the the Australian event.

“We’ve tried a bit of a gamble in Turkey but things didn’t really go as Colin and ourselves wished,” said Van Dalen.

“The road conditions were the worst possible for a driver’s comeback. Those conditions required a perfect knowledge of the BFGoodrich tyre range.

“In Australia, Colin would have been a good choice with his experience of the terrain and the fact he would have encountered clean roads unlike in Turkey.”

But the team’s decision to take two cars to Australia instead of three has left McRae without a drive.

“We have chosen to enter only two cars though for this long and expensive trip and Xavi is a strong member of the Kronos team,” said Van Dalen.

“He found his confidence again in Turkey and performed really well. He has already competed twice in Australia and has achieved a great result in 2004 and set some good times last year. I think he deserves this nomination.”