Juha Kankkunen by then lost the title to Mäkinen. Kankkunen stayed with Ford for the 1998 season with Belgian driver Bruno Thiry as his new teammate, after Sainz had opted to re-join Toyota. Ford was already moving resources into developing the new Ford Focus WRC and the team's last year with the Escort WRC was winless. Kankkunen drove the car on the podium on seven occasions, and both Ford and Kankkunen finished fourth in their respective championships. For the 1999 season, Ford signed the Subaru World Rally Team star Colin McRae and Kankkunen moved to replace him at Subaru. Kankkunen's first year
Colin McRae Rally (video game) of "Colin McRae Rally" had reached 4 million copies. The game was a bestseller in the UK. Colin McRae Rally received "favorable" reviews on both platforms according to the review aggregation website GameRankings. "Edge" praised the PS version's authentic simulation, but commented that graphical glitches sometimes occurred. Game Revolution criticized the same console version's graphics, lack of music and co-driver voicing, but praised its track variation and gameplay. GameSpot were far less positive, praising the PC version's driving experience, but criticizing the car setup procedure, the length of the stages, and the damage model. They were even less positive about