McRae is fighting fit for San Remo.

Colin McRae has declared himself fit to race in this weekend's twelfth round of the 2000 World Rally Championship less than three weeks after plummeting 30 feet off a hillside in the Tour of Corsica.

The Ford Focus driver suffered a fractured left cheekbone and a bruised lung in the accident, which occurred on the ninth stage, and the Scottish driver spent a night in a French hospital after briefly losing consciousness. However despite having to undergo an operation on his badly swollen face, McRae says that his injuries will not affect him on the October 20-22 event.

After climbing back aboard his Ford Focus WRC for the first time on Tuesday, McRae declared that his only slight problem was with his shoulder, which took a major knock on the roll-cage in the crash. The bruised limb gave the gritty Scot a little discomfort as he shook down his car but McRae has stated that he will be going out to win when the rally starts on Friday.

McRae's retirement in Corsica dropped him to third in the 2000 WRC points table four points behind Peugeot's Marcus Gronholm (5th in Corsica.) McRae's team-mate Carlos Sainz moved into fourth overall after a solid third place last time out and the consistency of the two has seen Ford open up a nine point gap at the top of the all-important Manufacturer's Championship.

The 1995 World Champion has reacted well to what was possibly the worst accident of his career and has been positive about his return ever since his fractured cheekbone was operated on. The Scot suffered another high-speed accident in Australia last year and was lucky to escape serious injury but his confidence seems high and with the chance of a second World Title very much a reality it is going to take more than a fractured cheek and a few bumps and bruises to hold McRae back.