McRae parted company with navigator Nicky Grist at the end of 2002 and also left Ford to join Citroën for their first full WRC season. There he was reunited with former co-driver Derek Ringer and a familiar team-mate, Carlos Sainz. However, Citroën and their protégés Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena had already competed in some events during the previous year and had looked impressive. In the season opening Monte Carlo Rally, Loeb, something of a specialist in this event, outpaced his two much more experienced team mates leaving McRae second, in the car modelled here, and Sainz third to complete an all Citroën podium.