Drivers say second run in ‘mudbath’ is stupid

Heavy rain before the event has turned normally dusty gravel stages into quagmires, with drivers fighting to stay on and conditions worsening with every car through. After the recce earlier this week, several drivers pressed for the organisers to scrap the second runs of the Vizo, Fafe and Vieira stages, but were over-ruled.

"This is no good to anybody," said Ford's Francois Delecour. "Maybe the organisers should think about stopping it now."

Delecour's team mate Colin McRae added: "It's not a competition at all. We're just trying to get through and not go off.

"Also, the spectators at the end of Fafe were really bad and in the road - just like the good old days... To make it worse, you're only 80 per cent in control of the car most of the time. It's like a sledge when the bottom of the car hits the muck, and then you've got the spectators just lining the road."

Richard Burns, a critic of the decision to run last night's superspecial, said: "There are quite a few bits where all you can do is wait for the speed to drop, then try and control it again. Should we do the second run through? Well, look at the times and judge for yourself what's fair and what's not."

"We're just trying to stay in the ruts of the cars ahead of us," said Mitsubishi's Freddy Loix, "but we're sliding wide on the exit of every corner. For the repeat stages, we need tacks [studs]."

World champion Marcus Gronholm said that drivers running in the first five or so positions on the road stood the best chance of staying on and setting reasonable times.

"There's a big advantage to running further up the order," he said. "Look at Colin and Richard - they've lost two minutes already, so that proves it. I can't go any faster and for sure, there will be a lot of damage when we go through for a second time."

Current leader Tommi Makinen says that fog and low cloud is adding to the problems, with visibility down to 20 metres in some places.

Reports from stage six, Fafe 2, say that many of the cars running lower down the order are stuck in the stage from its first running. Gravel note cars are also stopped in the stage, while tow trucks are unable to get to the worst-affected spots.