McRae makes Mitsubishi points pledge

The younger brother of former World Champion Colin has completed 400kms of testing on the edge of the Arctic Circle in Finland in preparation for next month's Rally of Sweden. Alister spent three days in Rovanimi, Finland, in temperatures of minus 18 degrees.

"I think it should be possible to fight for points positions for the first four rallies of the year," said McRae. "If we're doing that, then anything can happen.

"I'm delighted with the progress so far. We've had three full days of running. The car has been reliable and that's allowed us to try lots of new things. Today (Wednesday) we've even played with disconnecting the diffs so I can get experience of what the car's like if that situation arises.

McRae has also received a boost as father Jimmy, a multiple British champion himself, has decided to switch camps from Ford to Mitsubishi in his role as gravel note maker. Fellow former Scottish rally ace Murray Grierson has made the opposite switch.

Mitsubishi's other new signing for 2002, Francois Delecour, has been in charge of pre-Monte Carlo testing in France.