McRae: 'I have a chance'

While Citroen Team boss Guy Frequelin and Frenchman Sebastien Loeb are aiming to play down their chances on this weekend's Sweden Rally, Scotland's Colin McRae is going there full of confidence following his Monte Carlo podium finish on his debut with the French team.

NEWS: Monte Carlo clean sweep for Citroen.

"We justifiably savoured our one-two-three finish in Monte Carlo and that heart-warming result was a big confidence booster, but it is vital we all keep a cool head," stressed team boss, Guy Frequelin. "This will only be our second visit to Sweden and we are doubtlessly going to discover much that is new to us. With this in mind, I will be pleased if we succeed in getting two cars inside the top-five, one of them on the podium."

Monte Carlo winner Sebastien Loeb gave the Xsara WRC a promising debut last season, setting some top six times on the way to an overall result of 17th. “People first have to realize that Monte-Carlo and Sweden are two totally different rallies. Nothing is the same: roads, tyres, studs, nothing," said the Frenchman.

"What I wish is to constantly be in the top five or six in every special stage, and mostly to keep the gap between me and the leaders to a minimum.”

Colin McRae, however, isn't one to mix his words and believes that he is in with a chance this weekend despite his limited testing in the Xsara. "I like this rally," McRae began. "It is not dangerous even though you're flying out there. You can't hurt yourself in this rally...

“We might have a chance!" he continued. "It's a bit early; I still haven't driven the Xsara enough. I need to spend some more time at the wheel; I need to be more comfortable with it. So yeah, maybe I have a chance. But just a small one!”

Meanwhile, Carlos 'The Matador' Sainz is simply looking forward to the rally but has no idea how the event will unfold. “We are well prepared, but we have no idea where we'll finish. I'll do my best to be as close to the top as possible. As far as predictions go, it's tough...”