McRae tips Solberg

The Scot believes that it will be very difficult for Loeb to follow the order and match a charging Solberg. Citroen boss Guy Frequelin issued the order after Carlos Sainz retired early in the event. Loeb was leading at that point, but subsequently dropped behind the Subaru star.

"The problem now for Citroen is that we've got to get these two cars to the finish," explained McRae. "For me that's not a problem, but Sebastien's very disappointed about it, obviously. He wants to fight for the title but he's been well warned that he's got to get the car to the finish, so it's very, very difficult for him to put up a good fight with Petter. We'll just have to wait and see what's going to happen, but I think that Petter should have it fairly well in the bag."

McRae is no stranger to team orders on a WRC event. In 1995 he was ordered to let Spanish team-mate Carlos Sainz through to victory on Rally Catalunya, despite the fact that both were in contention for the drivers' crown. However, McRae eventually sealed that year's title with victory on Rally GB.

"I've been in situations with team orders before," said the Scot. "It's never a nice thing. You can understand it from Citroen's point of view, but when there's a world title at stake, personally it's very difficult."