I did have contact with Kronos, says Gardemeister.

by Rob Wilkins

Toni Gardemeister has confirmed that there was some contact with Kronos Citroen about him filling the void for the Rally of Turkey, after the Belgian-based squad's number one driver, Sebastien Loeb broke his arm last week in a mountain bike accident.

Gardemeister has only been able to do a very limited programme this season with Astra in the FIA World Rally Championship. Furthermore despite some extremely impressive results, including a podium finish at the season opening, Rallye Monte Carlo, the Finn faces an uncertain future and after his fourth outing of the year in Cyprus, which again, for the record, yielded a solid points result, it is now unlikely he will compete in any further WRC events this season.

"I think there was some contact with them [Kronos]," he told Crash.net Radio, when asked if he was one of the five candidates Marc van Dalen was considering to stand-in for Seb, "but they have chosen [Colin] McRae now. For me it was a big surprise that they have gone for him, because I didn't really think about him. I thought maybe [Francois] Duval or somebody would be there. It could be a good choice, but for sure I would like to have driven there myself."

Asked if he might be in the frame for Australia or a drive with Kronos in 2007, Gardemeister replied that currently it is all up in the air: "I don't know, you should ask somebody from Kronos. I hope that we have a chance to still do some events with them, but we will see," he added.

As for next year more generally, while Gardemeister is eager to have a more comprehensive programme and would dearly love to do all the events like he did in 2005, when he was with BP Ford, he knows that nothing is guaranteed.

"I have some hopes but we are still working to get some kind of deal for next year. There are not so many places where you can drive, but hopefully we will get something," he continued. "We try and work hard to find a seat.

"I hope the events we have done this year will help, because we have only done a few and we have tried to do as well as we could on them. The results have not been perfect for me, but they have been OK. I hope those events help. It is difficult to say when you will hear something though, but I hope it is sorted before the start of next season."