ooops...another McCrash!

[DavidStHubbins]

Here we go again...

Colin McRae out of the NZ Rally after "leaving the road" near the end of SS4 extensively damaging the radiator although Grist and Colin were ok.

Autosport told me this it did.

[SJ Spode]

Interesting how this news goes down at Citroen.

Are they starting to build some extra body shells now, because there's bound to be some mishaps as Colin finds the limits of the Xsara in testing.

[SJ Spode]

In Colin's own words (from www.wrc.com)

"I misheard a pacenote and went into a downhill right-hand bend in third gear instead of second," explained McRae. "By the time I realised this I was too late on the brakes and went straight on into a ditch.

"Unfortunately on the way into the ditch I hit a fence post that broke the radiator. When I tried to get the car out, it overheated and went into safe mode. I didn't want to damage the engine any further so I turned it off. I'm not sure we would have got back on the road anyway but, if we had, I don't think the car would have reached the service park."

[Liz]

Oh Colin! Oh Nicky! Oh !!!!

Good thing I didn't bet on him to win after all. Glad I stuck with Harri.

[429CJ]

Yes, better stay on the road with a Citroën, Colin has only a year long contract.

[Liz]

Maybe they want to see how many races he actually finishes.

[Crash Test]

Make sure you watch the TV of Dickie Burns up and over and over through the trees... a bit of a shocker...

[Liz]

I thought it was remarkable that Burns said merely "Oh No!" when he landed. Very clearly McRae said "Oh "

I felt so sorry for Burns and Reid as they were just heartbroken, even the others at Peugeot were sad for him. And Gronholm too. You wouldn't see that from a lot of teams. I was just relieved they were uninjured. Also Markko Martin and Michael Parks had a nasty shunt and they had a fire too -- and then somebody plowed into their car and hit a TV crew!

[Super Tourer]

Without wishing to be too downbeat, do you think the writing is on the wall for Colin. After all Ford didn't try too hard to keep him, and he only has 1 year deal with Citroen (maybe thats what he wanted).

WRC is becoming like F1, with manufacturer's learning that quick young kids can do a good job and they are cheap - part of the reason 'veteran' rally stars could remain in the WRC for so long , was that experience was/is considered important. Maybe Colin has chucked it off the road once too often this year.....particularly for someone of his experience.

[SJ Spode]

It's going to be very interesting to see how Colin does next year in a car that is arguably only 2nd to the 206s. It could well be his last major chance at the title, and if he doesn't make it, I could easily see him off doing something else motorsport-wise.

[Liz]

Talking of experience vs. Cheap Kids, I wonder what will happen to Sainz and Moya? Despite his advanced age he managed to drag the only Ford on the road home in fifth place, didn't he? And this despite hitting a tree right toward the end.

[SJ Spode]

I hope Sainz and Moya stay at Ford to help the team develop their new car. Kankkunen's assistance for Hyundai has been valuable

[Schummy]

If I am not wrong Citroen is somewhat stronger on tarmac than gravel, and Colin is more or less the reverse (not so remarkably as Kankkunen, though!). It will be interesting to see if all this is good or bad for McRae.

[Super Tourer]

I think he'll struggle in a foreign team. It's taken Burnsie a large part of the year to get used to the Pug, but Colin only has a 1 year deal, so has to be on the button from the first event.

Whilst on the subject - why did he sign a 1 year deal?

Did he want to test the water at Citroen before commiting to a longer deal. Or does he feel the Makkinen may retire after next year, leaving a gap at Subaru?

Or maybe he's eyeing up racing instead of rallying in the future.

[SJ Spode]

Originally posted by Super Tourer
Whilst on the subject - why did he sign a 1 year deal?

Did he want to test the water at Citroen before commiting to a longer deal. Or does he feel the Makkinen may retire after next year, leaving a gap at Subaru?

Or maybe he's eyeing up racing instead of rallying in the future.

I wouldn't be surprised to see him do something other than rallying in 2004 if things don't work out at Citroen next year / he doesn't see a real championship chance in '04.

As for Subaru, I think they'll have to seriously improve the Impreza before he'll consider that

[Guisbro Rod H]

Originally posted by DavidStHubbins
Here we go again...

Colin McRae out of the NZ Rally after "leaving the road" near the end of SS4 extensively damaging the radiator although Grist and Colin were ok.

Autosport told me this it did.

Was that radiator NZ Rally or Australia?
I have been watching the rear suspension behaviour of the Focus for some time. If McRae is going to travel faster, should Ford provide suspension that accomodates this speed?

[Liz]

Sounds to me as if they need to develop a stronger nose for his cars. And how many co-drivers will he run through before he finally runs out?

[Heebeegeetee]

Only just been able to see Rally Australia. This time McCrash blames the cattle grid. Apparently it had been made higher since the recce. Wonder how the others coped...

[Guisbro Rod H]

Originally posted by Heebeegeetee
..McCrash blames the cattle grid. Apparently it had been made higher since the recce. Wonder how the others coped...

Others had a rear suspension that does not hit bumpstops and kick tail in air, eg Subaru & 205. The Focus had been lowered to increase grip on smoother surfaces, hence contact with bumpstops.

If, I repeat IF, the cattlegrid profile has been changed for the television after the recce then the organisers raise uncomfortable questions. McRae says it has a different profile to last year. Have we any local knowledge of when the profile changed?

Also, McRae was doing that sinful thing of going quicker than others, how else do you compensate for the extra engine power of the 205? Also, Sainz was told to slow down for the jump after McRae's experiance.

[SJ Spode]

I must admit I don't go with the changed profile story. As Guisbro says the Focus was flying more tail high than the others.

From McRae's point of view it's a pity that Markko Martin didn't radio back his experiences before Colin arrived at the cattle grid jump.

And just like Burns in Finland; it's just a case of pushing too hard

[PBR]

I was spectating on the Muresk stage, the Fords were all landing heavily on thier nose, and McRae was visually quicker than the others over the grate.

Don't think the organisers would have changed it, anyway isn't that what the T car is supposed to do, check the coarse against the notes just prior to running the stage.

Muresk hasn't been run for a few years because of the distance between it and the other stages of the day.

So I say it was just him going that little bit quicker through there than his team mates.

Grant

[Dutton]

In essence it was a ****-up on the part of the co-driver/driver axis: this hardly surprising since they are getting used to each other again and all that, these things happen.

As a McRae fan of many years one gets used to dealing with Colin going off the road, but this year he has done it a little bit too much: but then it is his natural reaction to cars being faster than his, to just push like a ******* and hope it turns out okay. I wouldn't change Colin's style and manner for the world, let alone another championship.

Here's looking to Citroen, and here's looking to Colin: make it work, chaps, please!

[ss_collins]

McRae will get destroyed at citroen, Loeb will make him look like a old man who is clinging on by his finger nails. He should have quit.

[Heebeegeetee]

The fact is that it is known that the Focus comes down nose first. Therefore you cannot take it high off the ground. Mcrae knows this, so why carry on as if this fact does not exsist. There is absolutly no point in trying to do something that cannot be done, and when it is known that it cannot be done, it is stupid in the extreme to still try to do so.

It was the third time that Mcrae had left the road, each time being someone else's fault, no doubt.

[Guisbro Rod H]

Your arguement has some validity Heebeegeetee
The jump is said by the competitors to have been reshaped, when this occured I do not know.
So why not slow down, surely they have recced the route.

Unfortunately the Ford drivers did not know the effect of lowering the car nearer the bump stops at the back.
The bump stops gave the Focuses (Foci?) a kick on take off when they hit the bump. Yes better damping might help plus longer suspension travel.

So why did McCrash Crash.
Gaining confidence with Ringer he tried harder and drove faster. Therefore the problem was worse than Markko Martin on that stage.

Evidence? If anyone has access to Motoring, sorry Motorsport News, look at page 32 of the 6 November issue. Martin was virtually standing on its nose and almost sticking its nose in ground on landing. Presumably he assumed McRae would be travelling only as quickly as him and just get away with it - not a bad theory considering how quick he is these days.

So McRae was that bit quicker and became McCrash again. Sainz was ordered to back off by the Ford team on information from McRae, not I suspect Colin and Martin asking Sainz to slow.