Q&A: Colin McRae.

World Rally star Colin McRae was in London yesterday promoting his new Video/DVD biography, Colin McRae - Pedal to the metal. Crash.net was lucky enough to chat with the 1995 WRC champion and here you can read that discussion in full.

The Scot was full of enthusiasm and here as well as talking about his latest Video/DVD, he also discusses the Ford Focus RS WRC, his hopes for 2003 and so much, much more. Read it now...

Q&A: Colin McRae.

World Rally star Colin McRae was in London yesterday promoting his new Video/DVD biography, Colin McRae - Pedal to the metal. Crash.net was lucky enough to chat with the 1995 WRC champion and here you can read that discussion in full.

The Scot was full of enthusiasm and here as well as talking about his latest Video/DVD, he also discusses the Ford Focus RS WRC, his hopes for 2003 and so much, much more. Read it now...

Q:
Colin, what does your new Video/DVD biography, Colin McRae - Pedal to the metal, deal with? Is it mainly your years in the World Rally Championship, or your career and life story as a whole?

Colin McRae:
It deals with my whole career right from the start, from the motor cycling right through to the world championship and then the last three years with Ford.

Q:
The DVD/Video talks about how you earned the nickname, 'Colin McCrash'. Was that an unfair label?

CM:
I don't think so, no. It was a fact that I did crash a few cars on the way through to the top, but you know, I think that is obviously one of the things that has made my career, a bit more exciting than most of the other guys. So it's, certainly not a negative point.

Q:
There is also a mention that motorbikes were your first love, not cars. Is that correct?

CM:
Yeah that's correct.

Q:
Why did you prefer bikes to cars?

CM:
Well it's just something that I always wanted to do. My father was involved in motor sport and I sort of grew up with it. I think there is quite a lot of young Scottish racers that would like to get their hands on a motor cycles when they are kids and that is what I managed to do. I just loved it, it was a sport and I was going to meetings and entering competitions at a very early age.

Q:
Looking back on your career as a whole, if you could pick out one high point and one low point, what would they be?

CM:
The high is certainly winning the World Rally Championship [in 1995]. There's no question about that. The lows, there is quite a lot of them and it is very difficult to pick one out in particular, but it [rallying] is that kind of sport, in that the highs are very high and the lows are very low. There never ever seems to be a happy medium. So definitely the high is the world championship.

Q:
What was the Ford Focus' main weaknesses this year that stopped you challenging for the title?

CM:
There wasn't really a weakness at all. If you take Marcus Gronholm out of the equation we had a very good year and a very good chance of winning the championship right up until the last event. The problem this year was, that he had such a good run. I don't think we, really had a particular weakness anywhere, it was just the fact that Gronholm and the Peugeot had the edge generally for the whole season and this made it very difficult to keep up with them.

Q:
Was there much difference on the Rally of Great Britain this year just seeing spectators at designated areas?

CM:
Yeah, it seemed to be. Obviously there was a lot more crowd control you didn't actual notice the spectators on the stages quite as much as you do when you have a few runs. But at the end of the day, it was definitely the way it had to go, as the last thing anybody wants is to see an accident involving spectators.

Q:
Could you drive closer to the limit in the sections where there weren't any spectators to worry about?

CM:
No, we drive as close to the limit as we can all the time anyway. So no, that didn't make any difference to the speed.

Q:
What did you make of Valentino Rossi's Rally GB disaster?

CM:
I think it was a shame that he went out so early, because I am sure he would have been very good. It was a real unfortunate accident that he had, but I think everybody, even the top guys on day one of the rally had problems, including myself and Richard [Burns] and Marcus later on. It's a very tough, tricky rally and it generally does catch a lot of people out. It was then a bit unfortunate for Valentino, but it would be nice to see him have another go.

Q:
How much of a challenge is it for a driver to switch teams in the WRC, going
into a car, which has been developed by other people?

CM:
It's going to be a fairly big challenge, but it is one that I am looking forward to. It's hard enough to change over to a British based team, but to change over to a French based team adds a wee bit more to it. But I'm really looking forward to the challenge and it's going very well so far in testing. I think we are going to be very competitive next year.

Q:
Can you take the fight to Peugeot?

CM:
I think so yeah. Maybe not straight away, in terms of equipment they had this year and they've got such a strong driver line-up as well - there's absolutely no question they [Peugeot] are the strongest team at the moment. Citroen are still sort of building up on their experience. Sebastien Loeb, my team-mate is very, very quick, but still relatively inexperienced in relation to some of the other drivers around. However, it is going to be a good year, I think, maybe not straight away but certainly later on in the year we can take the fight to the Peugeots.

Q:
How well do you know Sebastien Loeb, your new team-mate at Citroen?

CM:
Not at all - apart from a 'hello, how are you doing' kind of thing that is it, but no doubt I will get to know him very well pretty soon.

Q:
How would you feel if Carlos Sainz follows you to Citroen, as he is currently rumoured to be in talks with the team?

CM:
I've worked with Carlos for many years now and we work very well together. It would certainly make the workload a bit easier on me if he were there [at Citroen]. At the moment though we don't really know what is happening, but I wouldn't have a problem with it.

Q:
How's your brother, Alister [McRae] now, after missing the final three events of the year?

CM:
Yeah very well, he's testing in Lapland soon and then we are in for a bit of skiing in the Swiss Alps. He's recovering very well.

Q:
How do you feel about the Safari rally being dropped from the calendar next year?

CM:
That's a big disappointment, as it was one of my favourite events. I would love it to have gone back the other way - to more of a real endurance. For an African event it was becoming very, very close to a European type event and it should have gone back the other way. It's a shame to lose it. I still think the championship needs to have one event - or two events - a year that have a slightly different character to the rest.

Q:
What do you think of the World Rally Championship adopting the new F1 points system, where by points are awarded down to eighth place, as opposed to sixth.

CM:
I think at the end of the day, the person that's going to win is going to win anyway. No matter what, how the points are. If you look back over the history books, and look at all the different permutations to it and the situations there was, then generally you find out you have the same result at the end of the day, it's just that the points gap is slightly different. So I think it's not going to make a big difference really.

Q:
What other forms of motorsport do you follow?

CM:
A bit of F1 and a bit of motorcycling - those really are the two main things.

Q:
What did you make of Formula 1 this year?

CM:
Well I think everybody sort of agreed that it became a bit monotonous at the end of the year. But at the end of the day, you've got to take your hat off to [Michael] Schumacher and Ferrari for doing a better job than everybody else. It was a bit like Peugeot in the World Rally Championship this year, they got it right and took the titles and deserved that. Obviously when it's all over before the end of the season, it takes a bit of the excitement out of it, but that's just the way it was.

Q:
Do you have any more plans to race in ASCAR following your stunning debut at the CART support race in September this year?

CM:
Yeah I would have another go for sure. The problem with doing things like this is the time and actually putting the right amount of preparation into it. The ASCAR thing was a total last minute rush and I still thought, even at the start of the race that, you know I had learned very little about the whole situation. It's nice to have a bit of preparation and really have a good idea about what you have to do, when you do these things. That is the main thing, the race is one afternoon, but the preparation can take days and that's really what stops a lot of these things.

Q:
Finally how long do you see yourself in the WRC, can you see yourself retiring and doing something else, or can you see yourself racing into your forties?

CM:
I wouldn't think I'd be rallying into my forties. I'd certainly like to continue driving in motorsport, there are so many other forms of motorsport that I would love to have a go at. As far as driving professionally in the World Rally Championship I can't even answer that, because it's a question, you know of being competitive, if you are still in the position to win and enjoy it then there is no reason to stop.

McRae's latest Video/DVD - Colin McRae - Pedal To The Metal is available from most high street stores now - priced at: ?14.99 (VHS) and ?17.99 (DVD) [UK prices].

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