ModernMuscleCars.net - Modern Muscle Cars Archive - Colin McRae going to Citroen??!?!?!?!?!

Pages: 1

Colin McRae going to Citroen??!?!?!?!?!
(Click here to view the original thread with full colors/images)

Posted by: John

seems that Colin McRae is being entertained by Citroen who is finally going to return to competing for teh ENTIRE season next year.

i certainly hope that Ford can turn things around keep Colin wooed enough to stay. i think it would ba a shot in the foot to let Colin leave. Martin and Sainz are both good drivers but McRae has been thier only consistient points finisher. i think if McRae leaves, Ford is going to drop to a Skoda status. young and promising yet inexprienced driver with a previously successful driver passing his prime.

i didn't get to see much of teh San Remo rally at all. apparently the Speed Channel's scheduling is all fucked up. i don't have much to say because i didn't see much of it at all.

Posted by: Penske

McRae is pretty much a wheel whore, he goes to whoever give him the most coin.

Posted by: John

[quote:02968d9860="Penske"]McRae is pretty much a wheel whore, he goes to whoever give him the most coin.[/quote:02968d9860]

thats quite unfair or you to say because EVERY driver is a wheel whore. if you are driving for one team and another team comes along and offers you X million more a year to you to do for them the exact same thing you are doing for the current team but with better equipment, would you not take the job yourself? i would.

you let this youngin' impart some wisdom on all of you:

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS TOO MUCH MONEY!

Posted by: Penske

I thought the main thrust for a race driver is to win races. McRae was always top 3 with Subaru, winning it all in '95, jumped to Ford and had a crap season, finally got the team up and running right. Hell, he's sitting in third with two wins, he should either stay put or jump to Peugeot. Citroen may not be ready for a full season, and there's also talk of him going back to Subaru, who haven't performed real well this season.

No, it's like A-Rod saying he wanted to go with a winner, but ended up with the Ranger because they threw a buttload of money at him. I'd rather run with a team capable of winning for $2 million rather than a loser team for $4 million.

Posted by: John

[quote:1487760a30="Penske"]I thought the main thrust for a race driver is to win races. McRae was always top 3 with Subaru, winning it all in '95, jumped to Ford and had a crap season, finally got the team up and running right. Hell, he's sitting in third with two wins, he should either stay put or jump to Peugeot. Citroen may not be ready for a full season, and there's also talk of him going back to Subaru, who haven't performed real well this season.

No, it's like A-Rod saying he wanted to go with a winner, but ended up with the Ranger because they threw a buttload of money at him. I'd rather run with a team capable of winning for $2 million rather than a loser team for $4 million.[/quote:1487760a30]

maybe in the amatuer ranks its still to win races. but think about this. if you want big bucks, you have to win races. so winning races is still about money.

anyway, i doubt McRae will go back to Subaru. apparently there is bad blood there still over his departure for Subaru's biggest rival at the time. Subaru may want him but he doesn't seem too enthusiatic and i have seen interviews where choice words were said from both sides. if he does goto Subaru, i would be very surprised.

Citroen is not so bad though. i have been watching them run and the stuff they have planned for next year is pretty impressive and i'm told that there is much more stuff being kept under cover. i don't think you are giving Citroen the credit tehy deserve. they have been rallying for years and only recently dropped out of running a full team cause of teh companies financial woes (falling into recievership and almost bankruptcy). i think Colin would be a shot in the arm to put Citroen back on a competative footing.

but as for being with a team that can win, sorry to say it but right now, thats not Ford. Colin won 2 rallys this year and he was the ONLY Ford to win this year. stage wins are neat but they count for exactly squat. Ford has had reliability and durability issues that they have taken very positive steps to resolve but the cars are still to fragile and just not as fast as the Peugeots. but then again, the Puegeots are out running everything on the circuit this year and they literally have an all-star lineup of drivers with 2 world champs, one of them defending. on top of that, all teh rallys this year were on a single surface so Peugeot has been able to rack up wins by stacking thier deck with 5 cars that hold 2 asphalt specialists, 2 gravel specialists and one all around good driver. they have dominated teh points all season long and if it wasn't for Panizzi busting up his arm, they would have had a hat trick in wins for the past 3 rallys.

there is plenty of time to go and 4 or 5 more rallys. anything can happen but right now, Gronholm is looking at another championship and unless Ford can keep things together, Peugeot is going to run away with the constructors championship this year too. and whats even worse is, Ford is the ONLY manufacturer close enough to steal the constructors championship and probably the only one capable for that matter.

Posted by: Penske

OK, I guess I was too hard to McRae - seems Ford is "rebuilding" to launch a new car in 2005, and wanted to cut one of the big salaries, either McRae or Sainz was going to leave in favor of a younger (read cheaper) driver. They'll use the savings to assist car devlopment.

Subaru also had budget issues, so I guess since Peugeot is pretty well set, Citroen was the only place for him to go. Either that or Skoda....

Posted by: John

he's not the one being determined to leave yet. Sainz has expressed displeasure with team management and eventhough i have seen no substantiation on this, the rumors are that Sainz has been entertaining a new contract with another team. but there was no mention of what team and nothing has been said in any press conference.

if McRae does leave though Ford is not up shits creek. i will be sad to see him go, i think if Ford could get more power and wax thier reliability problem, they are solid championship team for at least a few years running. but Markko Martin is a very talented driver and he looks t be able to fill McRae's shoes when he gets some experience. McRae has already said that Martin has impressed him and from what i have seen of McRae, thats saying something.

Posted by: Penske

Citroen just announced McRae has signed a 1 year contract with them.

Posted by: John

[quote:be646e5d85="Penske"]Citroen just announced McRae has signed a 1 year contract with them.[/quote:be646e5d85]

well that shut me up then huh?

do you have a link to it?

Posted by: Penske

http://espn.go.com/rpm/others/2002/0926/1436980.html

Posted by: John

i went to WRC.com and it was on the front page.

its a shame to see him go. they seemed to have a good relationship with Ford. but, on to bigger and better things.

it will be interesting to see how Colin interacts with the other Citroen drivers. especially Sebastian Loeb. Loeb is pretty cocksure of himself and he gets himself into trouble. he's hot headed too. he defintly has the talent but lacks experience.

Sainz has made it clear that he would not want to leave Ford and is willing to take a pay cut to do so. he is getting the equivalent of 7.5 million bucks a year to drive for Ford. but apparently his willingness to take a pay cut has made him much more attractive to other teams. Hyundai is the team that the rumor was based on apparently too. but Hyundai has not talked with Carlos at all but have expressed interest. however, i don't see Carlos leaving Ford any time soon. at least not for Hyundai. his career doesn't have too much left in it but a move to Hyundai would be almost career suicide.

Back to the Forums