Hirvonen hopes for no tactics

The running order on the previous round of the World Rally Championship was consistently manipulated by the teams in an attempt to find drivers the optimum position on the road.

The stewards of the meeting have already stated in Turkey that they will investigate any act they consider "prejudicial to the interests of any competition or to the interests of motor sport generally," but Ford's team leader doesn't think such action will be necessary.

Hirvonen said: "I don't think it will be so bad this time. On some sections, you might lose some time being first on the road, but not like [Jordan]. The sections of the route which have been repaired [because of heavy rain in the lead up to the event] are so deep with gravel, they're not going to clean. Also, there could be some rain which would also help to take away the problem."

One of the sections which has been damaged most on the route is 27-kilometer Riva test, which is run twice on Saturday.

The organisers of the event are believed to be considering canceling the second run of the stage. The surface and nature of the stage was called into question by the drivers.

Hirvonen added: "In the recce that stage [Riva] looked bad. But then again, the shakedown stage looked rough on the recce and that was okay this morning. We'll have to see. There are some sections which are so fast there's no real point to them, it's just driving - there's not so much interest.

"And in these fast sections, the organisers have fixed the roads with some very abrasive gravel, so it will be tough on the car. The cars are pretty strong. I just hope it doesn't come down to luck, that somebody is lucky not to break something."