McRae in bullish mood

The 1995 World Rally Champion was allocated much of the seat time when he tested for the first time with the Care Racing team at Le Mans in April in order to familiarize himself with the track, something he seemingly did with ease as he lowered his lap times each time he went out ending up just a few tenths behind his team-mates.

Since then the Scot has spent more time in Car 66 and he claims to be more excited than ever as the marathon race gets ever closer.

"After having now been to the Le Mans test and spent some more time in the car I'm really looking forward to the race," said McRae. "When you're building up to something new you don't really know what to expect but, going from what I've learnt and seen, I think it can either put you off a bit or build up the excitement.

"For me, it's definitely going in the right direction! I'm very happy with my performance at the official test in April," he added. "To be on the same second as Darren and Rickard was unexpected at that stage. I thought it would take up until the race to be on that sort of pace but the closer you get to the mark the harder it gets."

Ever the competitor, McRae now aims to go even faster while maintaining that speed throughout his stints. "Now I'm am at the frustrating stage when I'm on the same second but need to knock off 10ths and then it gets more difficult. Having said that, the good thing about Le Mans is that it's not really about tenths - its about endurance and consistency at a reasonable level."

While the team won last year's GTS category at Le Mans, team director George Howard-Chappell knows the squad will face tough competition to repeat that feat this year, particularly from the factory Corvette team.

"In a similar vein to last year, I'm confident we've got a good package with a race-winning, proven car, a strong engine, great tyres and consistent, solid drivers," he said: "Having said that, we know how much work our competitors have done since last year and that will keep us sharp.

"We did not go for the best single lap time at the test in April and we have made some small improvements since then so I'm very interested to see how qualifying and the race pace comes out. The team is really up for a 'battle royale' and I hope we see one of those like we did in some of the ALMS races last year."