McRae to sub for injured Loeb (wrc)

[Shiba-Kun]

McRae to sub for injured Loeb

Date 2006-10-03

By Nancy Knapp Schilke

In the days following the mountain bike training accident that has side-lined the two-time defending World Rally Championship driver, Kronos Racing has been searching for a top-notch replacement for Sebastien Loeb's Citroen Xsara WRC in the Rally of Turkey, October 13-15.

Today, the team based in Belgian has named the Scottish racer Colin McRae to sub for the Frenchman who is home recuperating following surgery when he fractured his arm on September 27th.

"The Scottish driver has accepted the difficult challenge which represents this temporary mission," per the Kronos Racing announcement. "Highly motivated, Colin is determined to do his maximum to serve Seb and Kronos Total Citroen's interests in the fight with the competition."

The decision was made by both Kronos team principal Marc van Dalen and Guy Frequelin, Citroen Sport director. While Loeb races for the independent team this season while the factory team sits out the 2006 season to prepare for 2007, Frequelin remained with Citroen heading their new effort for 2007 and as the liaison between the manufacturer and Kronos.

Rally Australia will follow by two weeks the Turkish event, Loeb hopes to be back in his seat by then even though the usual recovery time is at least six weeks. Rally New Zealand, the penultimate event on the 2006 calendar, appears to be the event Loeb will return as he seeks to notch his third consecutive championship.

Kronos and Citroen are in the title chase with Ford which is why it was important to name an experience rally driver to campaign the No. 1 Xsara while Loeb recovers.

McRae and his co-driver Nicky Grist have yet to be named for the Australian rally but would be the most likely candidate if Loeb and Daniel Elena are not able to compete.

McRae has 25 WRC victories and one title (1995) before semi-retiring. The Scotsman did campaign a Skoda in last year's Rally Australia. He has kept himself active in local events, mainly in the UK. In 2003, McRae was one of the three factory drivers for Citroen -- teammate to Loeb and Carlos Sainz.