Hirvonen banks on damp conditions

Mikko Hirvonen reckons running first on the road on Friday’s stages could be the key to success on Brother Rally New Zealand, providing damp conditions prevail at the start of day one.

Citroen’s flying Finn has opted to run at the head of the field on round seven of the FIA World Rally Championship following Thursday morning’s Qualifying Stage near Auckland.

In contrast, rival Ford driver Jari-Matti Latvala has opted to start in 13th position after he reasoned that he will benefit from all the loose-surface gravel being swept away by the cars running higher up the order.

However, Hirvonen believes he could be in a more favourable position out front: “I had the chance to chose first and we will see tomorrow which one is the right way. I believe it will be damp and slippery in the morning and that will be more difficult for the drivers running behind because there has been lots of rain in the last couple of days. Maybe it will be getting better for Saturday when there will be drier conditions.”

Sebastien Loeb will start two places his Citroen team-mate in third position. His co-driver Daniel Elena said: “The position is not bad, but it’s very slippery here in winter.”

Friday’s opening stage, Te Hutewai 1, gets underway at 08:28hrs local time.