McRae: I just need to beat them

With McRae leading the standings by a single point from Makinen, and Burns a further point behind, the pressure is on for an all-out victory, but McRae sounded a more cautious note.

"I don't have to win the rally, it just depends on who else wants to win it," he said. "At the end of the day, I just have to be in front of Richard and Tommi."

Despite the hype surrounding the McRae/Burns battle,Subaru driver Burns also shied away from any fighting talk.

"The main thing is that I am very happy to be a part of fight for the championship," said Burns. "A few rallies ago, I didn't think we had a chance at all, so to catch up to this point where we are now is very good. That's made me feel very happy and quite confident."

Asked if tactics were discussed in the Subaru team meeting on Thursday morning, Burns laughed... "Yeah, big team meeting... Two minutes. It doesn't take too much work to think of the strategy for this rally."

Makinen was bullish, opting to go for attack right from the off.

"It's the first time for a long time that we don't have to think about it," said the four-time world champ. "We have just one way to go - flat out. I'm going to push hard to make it happen."