:shocked:

BBC News

Chris

Not really surprised, gardenmaster is a better (and cheaper) bet as number one...

Any news on number two - last I heard there would be several drivers rotating in the number two car?

McRae's available.

Could they find a better driver to help develop the car for 2005? I wouldn't think so

http://www.wrc.com/en_GB/News/2003/016/2003_R_skodascalesdowneffort.htm

http://www.skoda-auto.com/sport/news/notice.htm?PostingGUID={DB6B613C-C18B-4872-86A9-473DB8DE4410}

McRae's available.

Could they find a better driver to help develop the car for 2005? I wouldn't think so

Couldn't agree more, but his salary would likely leave Skoda with enough loose change to buy a portion of chips, if they were lucky.

Which is most unfortunate. Perhaps the canny Scot should consider lowering his ransom if he's so keen to return to the fray.

gee, two links that tell us no more info than the chris posted, thanks Jon!

Apart from

Janeba will continue to collaborate with

Perhaps the canny Scot should consider lowering his ransom if he's so keen to return to the fray.

My understanding from press articles on his discussions with Subaru was that he said that money was not the issue (he just wanted to drive in a competitive car) but they still rejected him. Don't think he will consider Skoda at all since he has been quoted as saying he does not want to take money to rally in a non-competitive car :(

Must admit I am very confused on this as Dave Richards (he with 2 hats of WRC commercial rights holder and Prodrive chief) was quoted in the last week as saying that this was bad for the WRC as McRae was a huge draw for fans and would impact on the financial side of the WRC ...... so why didn't Subaru sign him? :confused:

Anyway for real rallying take a look at this site on the Classic Safari which is going on at the moment. I grew up in Kenya watching these sort of cars & drivers - brilliant stuff for "proper" cars and drivers :drive:

Ladies, please ...

... he said that money was not the issue

hmmmmm. I hadn't seen him quoted as saying that.

Whatever the reasons, and I doubt that us mere mortals will ever get the whole story, it's a pity he's not coming back. I fully accept that the 'old guard' must make way for the newbies, but Squire McRae has been a hero of mine for longer than I care to remember, and I for one will miss him.

:cheers: to Colin, for all the entertainment you've given us over the years.

Now thats off my chest, I'd best go see if I can find something to mend ...

Chris

:drive:

Good riddance to him, the sport does not need him....

The attitude of his car has looked "nervous" for quite a while now, his constant errors have never been his fault, and he thinks he is worth a lot more than his talent clearly shows.

It's been great to see him with Citroen, as it's showed how both experienced (sainz) and "hot shot" (loeb) drivers are consistantly quicker and able to bring the car home.

IMO, naturally....

Good riddance to him' date=' the sport does not need him....

The attitude of his car has looked "nervous" for quite a while now, his constant errors have never been his fault, and he thinks he is worth a lot more than his talent clearly shows.

It's been great to see him with Citroen, as it's showed how both experienced (sainz) and "hot shot" (loeb) drivers are consistantly quicker and able to bring the car home.

IMO, naturally.... [/quote']

Ian

You forgot to mention his witty and charming personality.

The article I had seen on this is this one .

Ian - personally I think he is actually a great driver - I'll admit his performances for Citroen have been absolute crap and I think he has lost it a bit. However, would love to see him back at Subaru in a team that believes in him and a car and team that he believes in - the acid test on whether he has lost it. Re: the comment on his character, have met him a couple of times and IMHO seems down to earth and with good sense of humour (albeit plenty of sarcasm) - certainly a lot more fun than a certain English rally star.

I'm not going to enter the 'ginger' arguement (certain other English driver).

Why aren't there any BRISKODA.net stickers in the back windows of the WRC cars?

personally I think he is actually a great driver - I'll admit his performances for Citroen have been absolute crap and I think he has lost it a bit.

I think he *was* a great driver, so I'd agree totally with that statement.

I've got no problem with his witty n charming personality (step forward spinndrift ) but he does seem to blame everyone around him for his mistakes, especially co-drivers - I have a lot of sympathy for Mr Grist, and I believe after blaming Mr Ringer for long enough he will be given the boot also.

He just has an inflated opinion of his abilities, as no doubt we all do sometimes, but we don't put a price on it.

why didn't Subaru sign him? :confused:

Colin was too expensive and doesn't offer Subaru the long term prospects.

Also having been up against "Hooverman" he's got shed loads of talent and speed!!

Must admit I thought it would be about money which is why I was surprised at the quote / article which said:

"World Rally commercial boss David Richards, whose company runs the Subaru team, said he was disappointed not to have McRae in the series.

"Some sports have iconic figures and Colin is one of them," Richards said.

"It was Colin that helped put Subaru on the map. I don't think some people understand the impact of not having him in the car."

Does Richards not have a say in the Subaru choice any more?

Does Richards not have a say in the Subaru choice any more?

Nope, not really. He has handed the reigns over to David Lapworth. Lapworth is the man who makes the decisions for Subaru now that Richards is promoting the WRC.

What a mess this is now. What is the point of entering the wrc halfway through? personally i think skoda's biggest mistake was replacing the octavia with the fabia. It seems that just because peugot and citroen are winning alot of events with swb cars skoda would have a try???

Why replace a platform like the octavia when it worked excellently. If Skoda auto wouldnt have been such cheapskates im sure a bigger investment would have shown a more well developed octavia. Like the Lancer and Impreza platforms they have been around for years and with years of development there still champions.

Now the fabia has been introduced it's going to take a lot longer and going to cost much more in testing, or is it skoda's attempts to promote the fabia, rather than a cash cow like the octavia. Either way im not impressed with the fabia wrc, no offence to fabia owners its a great car but it aint no 6r4.

I dunno, I imagine introducing a new car costs a lot more than developing an existing one. The Octy is just too heavy for the WRC compared to it's lighter bretheren. It may be robust, but it's pretty much the largest car competing.

The Fabia is going to take a season or two to straighten out. I think the real difference will then be made by the driving talent.

Dont quote me on this but i thought all the wrc cars weighed the same, chedked out the weights of the cars on wrc 2 and they all seem to weigh 1200kg's, the impreza and the lancer are big cars too?

At the end of the day they have had a p**s poor performance this year and need to get it sorted whatever car they use.

All they need to do is dump that bored-out 1.8T - terrible engine, that, low on power, unreliable, no torque whatsoever... - and stick the latest 2.0T FSI in the boot.

And then have Dave W. do the quick manifold and throttle-body change in the service area...

Auriol ponders his future

Options limited for former champion

Rally GB may have been Auriol's last

Didier Auriol is concerned that his rallying career may be over after Skoda announced they won't keep him on for 2004. The Frenchman is surplus to the requirements of a team that will do less than half the season next year.

The full-time seats are now all tied up, but Auriol may yet be able to pick up occasional drives if manufacturers decide to take on specialists for certain events.