McRae says Burns will struggle this year

McRae handed Burns his maiden World Rally Championship after spectacularly crashing out on the first day of Rally GB last November, leaving the Scot stranded just two points behind his arch-rival.

After much wrangling over contracts, Burns has turned his back on Subaru and opted to switch to Peugeot for 2002, but this could work to McRae's advantage as he believes the Englishman will struggle to adjust to a new car and team.

"For a driver to change into a new car is not really that different," said McRae at the AUTOSPORT International show. "But to change teams as well is a big thing. It's certainly going to be very difficult for Richard."

The driver market has undergone a thorough shake-up ahead of the new season, and McRae and co-driver Nicky Grist are one of the few top partnerships to have continuity with a third consecutive year at Ford.

"For the competition there have been lots of changes before this year with lots of new cars and new tyres to get used to," said Grist. "But for Richard he has a whole new culture to deal with, so certainly it's going to be different."

Despite the devastating blow of having to cede to arch rival Burns last year, McRae is still hungry to get back in the hunt this year and the 1995 world champion has tried to put the disappointment behind him.

"It's hard," said McRae. "To come so close after trying for so long since 1995 was a bitter disappointment, not just for me, but the whole team as well. But we've just got to pick ourselves up and start again this year."