Exclusive Q&A with Colin McRae

Q: When did Kronos first contact you?

Colin McRae: "I spoke to Guy [Frequelin] late last week, and we agreed everything on the telephone on Sunday night."

Q: What's the deal for?

McRae: "Just for Turkey."

Q: How do you feel?

McRae: "Very excited. It's not very often that you get the chance to jump straight into the world champion's car, is it? Having said that, it's really unfortunate for Seb [Loeb]."

Q: Do you get much of a test?

McRae: "No, not really. I'll do half a day tomorrow [Wednesday] and then a day on Thursday. The test is in Kielder, just over the border in England."

Q: What has Guy asked you to do?

McRae: "Just to score as many points as possible, but remember that I have to finish - so there's no pressure at all! Actually, I enjoy a challenge, and throwing myself right into the middle of a big battle for the manufacturers' championship is going to be a big challenge."

Q: Did you have to think about it much?

McRae: "Not really, no. Given that I retired early on Saturday [from the Colin McRae Stages in Scotland] I had most of Saturday to think about it!"

Q: What do you expect from the car?

McRae: "I would think it will be completely different from the last time I drove the Xsara in 2003. All of the World Rally Cars are running at a different specification now."

Q: When the regulations changed from active to mechanical transmission at the start of this season, you were talked about as one of the drivers it would suit. What do you think?

McRae: "Sure, I think it will be slightly easier to get the car set-up without having to map all of the differentials; it should be quicker to get comfortable with the car. It should be better to get in it from cold."

Q: What do you think is possible?

McRae: "Well, [Marcus] Gronholm is going very well and [Mikko] Hirvonen as well. But after that, it's all quite erratic. Petter [Solberg] is usually there or thereabouts until he has a problem, but there's nobody really consistently on the pace. I would like to think I could aim for a podium - but I know I'm putting pressure on myself by saying that."

Q: Do you dare think about a win?

McRae: "You never know what can happen, do you. You wouldn't have said a win was possible before I started in Australia in the Skoda last year. But then once the event got going, we were in with a fighting chance of victory - you never know. It would be nice to be around the pace and able to pick up the big points on day two and three."

Q: What about Australia, would you like to do that as well?

McRae: "That's not for me to say. I hope for Seb's sake that he's fit again, but if the team were to ask me to stay for Australia, it could be good. I think I showed last year what a difference experience can make in Australia and I'd like to go back there."

Q: This will be your first event back after 10 months away from WRC. How difficult will it be?

McRae: "It's not going to be as difficult as it was when I came back for Rally GB. Rally GB is a much faster event, which makes it tricky. Turkey is quite slow, really. Having said that, I've only done it once before, but I don't think it's going to be that difficult to jump in to it."