Contractual tug-of-war over Burns

Last month, Peugeot announced that Burns would be joining its ranks for 2002 and '03, a matter of days after Subaru had announced that Tommi Makinen was joining its line up next year.

But Burns is believed to have a clause in his contract with Subaru that allows the squad first option on his services for the following season.

Subaru's team principal, David Lapworth, said: "Richard's contract is a private matter between him and Subaru. We'll be discussing the future with Richard this week.

"There is a contractual relationship in place between ourselves and Richard next year, and we would love him to stay. But he has to want to. You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink. Our objective is to persuade Richard to stay. You would have thought winning the title would have been enough," he added.

Peugeot has denied there is anything stopping Burns joining current drivers Marcus Gronholm and Harri Rovanpera in 2002.

"No matter what Subaru say, you can be sure Richard Burns will be driving for us next season," said Peugeot Sport's director Corrado Provera.