Errors leave McRae and Burns at career crossroads

The consolation for both is that a season of frustration and under-achievement can be laid to rest. Now they can look forward to a fresh start and new horizons.

Colin McRae's muted fifth place in the Network Q Rally of Great Britain was enough to lift him above Richard Burns in the final championship standings, his domestic rival sliding ignominiously out of the event on the penultimate stage.

But fourth best in the world is not what Britain's two former champions aspire to and they are under intense pressure to rebuild their badly fractured reputations next season.

Burns, without a win this year, will expect to mount a genuine challenge for the title won almost nonchalantly this time by his Peugeot team-mate, Marcus Gronholm. And McRae, joining Citroen on a 12-month deal after four years with Ford, knows he has to prove his worth instantly.

McRae and Burns have reached critical, perhaps pivotal, periods in their careers. Their failure to excel on home ground this past weekend was symptomatic of their common plight. The Scot and the Englishman have three victories apiece in the event, yet both were left scrambling to recover places after costly errors on the first morning.

When Gronholm, seemingly on course for a record-equalling sixth win of the season, crashed out for the first time in 16 months, McRae and Burns were in no position to take advantage. Instead, opportunity beckoned for the new kids on the block and eventually it was Norway's Petter Solberg, driving a Subaru, who edged out Ford's next team leader, Markko Martin, of Estonia, to register his maiden world rally championship victory.

Solberg was long ago identified by Malcolm Wilson, team principal of Ford, as a star in the making. Wilson lost him to Subaru in contentious circumstances but believes he has, in Martin, a driver with similar potential. Financial constraints forced Wilson to unload McRae and his other former champion, Spain's Carlos Sainz, yet he is confident that 27-year-old Martin will be good enough to cope with the elevation in status.

Wilson said: "Markko has done tremendously well for us and he's certainly surprised Colin with his pace. What you've got to remember is that Markko was driving to orders to finish on half of the events because he needed to learn the stages.

"But when he was allowed to push he showed his speed and on a number of rallies he was quicker than Colin. I would have liked to keep Colin. Same with Carlos. But that simply wasn't possible for us in our present situation. You can more or less say now that Peugeot will win the championship again next year so we have to concentrate on building for the future and that future is in developing youth."

McRae could never be accused of consistency. Perish the thought. An instinct to unleash his natural speed has brought him grief as well as a record 25 WRC wins, two of them from this otherwise disappointing year, but that knife-edge style has earned him a phenomenal, devoted following. Now, like Burns, McRae decamps to France. He has been warned by Burns that he will need to be patient, and by Gronholm that he must work harder in testing. McRae, unimpressed with the Finn's advice, maintains he is fully aware of what he is required to do.

Citroen are embarking on their first full world rally championship. They have a car that is proven on asphalt and improving on gravel. They also have a gifted, emerging driver in the Frenchman Sebastien Loeb. McRae will be expected to provide leadership and proof that he still has another championship in him. But then Burns has his own problems to address. As Wilson indicates, Peugeot are again likely to be the team to beat next year and Burns will demand of himself nothing less than the title.

WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP final standings: Drivers: 1 M Gronholm (Fin) Peugeot 77pts; 2 P Solberg (Nor) Subaru 37; 3 C Sainz (Sp) Ford 36; 4 C McRae (GB) Ford 35; 5 R Burns (GB) Peugeot 34; 6 G Panizzi (Fr) Peugeot 31. Manufacturers: 1 Peugeot 165pts; 2 Ford 104; 3 Subaru 67; 4 Hyundai 10; 5= Mitsubishi 9; 5= Skoda 9.