McRae plays down talk of replacing Burns

Colin McRae claimed today that his only concern was for Richard Burns to make a speedy recovery from his brain tumour, not on replacing him in the World Rally Championship.

The 35-year-old Scotsma, who is without a drive next year, has been earmarked as a likely replacement at Subaru for Burns, whose career is on hold while he undergoes radiotherapy.

But as McRae looks forward to competing for Nissan in January's Paris-Dakar Rally, the 1995 world champion said: "It is a very cruel world sometimes and this sort of thing is a big shock. I really hope Richard can make a full and speedy recovery."