Published>Sat, Apr 17 10 01:30 AM
David Richards, the man whose cars helped the late Colin McRae and Richard Burns to conquer the rally world, has big plans to put Britain back in the driving seat after years of French domination.
While Citroen's Sebastien Loeb has won the last six titles, and looks a good bet for a seventh, Richards believes his Prodrive company could give the Frenchman a run for his money next season.
"I have no doubt whatsoever, we will be competitive from day one," the 57-year-old Briton told Reuters in an interview on Friday, a day after Prodrive ruled out seeking an entry to Formula One for next year and set their sights firmly on a return to the rally world championship.
The company used to run Subaru's world rally team and won drivers' championships in 1995 with McRae and 2001 with Burns as well as in 2003 with Norway's Petter Solberg.
Both Britons died tragically young, McRae in a helicopter accident at his Scottish home in 2007 and Englishman Burns of a brain tumour in 2005.
Since their departure, and despite a healthy number of fans still prepared to brave the winter cold to stand on exposed Welsh hillsides and in forest clearings for a glimpse of a mud-spattered car, media coverage in Britain has evaporated.
Matthew Wilson, son of Ford team boss Malcolm, is Britain's sole full-time driver at the top level at present but has yet to become a winner.
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"We've been through a bit of a lull if you like and gone through the doldrums for a couple of years, as all sports do and all championships do over periods of time, you lose the individuals and personalities," said Richards, a championship winning co-driver with Finland's Ari Vatanen in 1981.
"In this country it's been worse than ever...but on the other hand countries like France have seen enormous resurgence and interest in the world rally championship, ahead of Formula One," he added.
"I am now on the look-out for a top British driver and the hope is that we will bring the awareness of the world rally championship back to the British public again over the next three years."
Northern Ireland's Kris Meeke, a 30-year-old former protege of McRae's and reigning champion in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC) series, is likely to be a frontrunner.
Richards said he had spoken to Meeke and had a lot of time for him, describing him as "an intelligent young guy who has served his apprenticeship."
"Colin made me aware of Kris many years ago," he added.
Richards would not say who his manufacturer partner would be, with Subaru quitting at the end of 2008 due to the global financial crisis, and suggested an announcement was still some months away.
"It's still an open issue, we have been in discussion with three major manufacturers about this project but we do have our favoured partner," he said.
There has however been strong speculation in the rally world that Prodrive will team up with BMW to bring back the iconic Mini brand -- rolling back the years to when Northern Irishman Paddy Hopkirk won the 1964 Monte Carlo Rally in a Mini Cooper.
Richards, a former BAR and Benetton team boss in Formula One, made clear that rallying was now a far more attractive proposition.
He said Jean Todt, the new president of the governing International Automobile Federation (FIA) and a former rally co-driver, was committed to the success of the series while new regulations would also help.
"The whole chassis and body of the car is far more relevant to the latest road cars and the economics of it make more sense," said Richards, whose company started work on the rally project early last year.
"We have done the most comprehensive analysis and design study that we have ever done in any project we've ever been involved with," he said. "When it came to July, we then started to throw all the resource behind it and this has ramped up over recent months."
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