The climax of a year-long battle for supremacy in the FIA World Rally Championship comes to a head in just over a week’s time, when no fewer than four of the greatest drivers in the world go head-to-head. In a quite unprecedented situation, Colin McRae, Tommi Makinen and Richard Burns are in a three-way fight where winner-takes-all, while Carlos Sainz needs his trio of rivals to hit problems to be in with a chance of the title. The stakes are high, and Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart is leaving no stone unturned in its bid to ensure Tommi Makinen can fight not only for the record-breaking 24th World Championship rally win, but more importantly, his fifth world title with the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution.

The Rally of Great Britain is one of four events Makinen has yet to win, but the record books point more towards mechanical failures in the early years of his career, and most latterly finishes to seal the Championship. In 1997 the Finn needed just one point to clinch the title, and he did just that after fighting bad flu during the event. His one and only accident in Great Britain (1998) was historic, being that it was the year he took the title after Carlos Sainz was sidelined with engine failure just metres from the finish. In 1999 the title was wrapped up in Australia, and while an engine problem put paid to a finish, the fourth world title was already in the bag. And, in 2000, the Finn finished strongly, on the podium, in third position.

For a man who has won four World titles, knowing what a record-breaking fifth would mean is difficult to put into words, but the Finn is equally driven by personal professionalism and, notably, conquering events he has yet to win. At the start of the season, this was one of his own objectives, and his goal of winning the Rally of Great Britain has now proved to be more important than ever.

After its debut outing on loose surface in Australia, the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution WRC is showing more and more promise, and the team has based itself down in mid-Wales for the last few days, giving Makinen the chance to finalise the settings for what will undoubtedly be a cold, wet and muddy winter event. Also worth highlighting is the team’s strong reliability record this season, Mitsubishi machinery proving to be the most dependable with only a 10% mechanical retirement ratio against Ford and Peugeot’s 20%, and Subaru’s 21% (based on all manufacturer entries).

"I always just try to do my best all the time and try to win, that is all the motivation I need", said an upbeat Tommi. "We had a really good test and I think a lot of this is do with the extra time we’ve had between events. We tried some different parts on the car, found a really good balance and great handling. Michelin has also come up with two new tyres and we’ve spent time doing tyre and suspension back-to-back comparisons, which has been very useful. I think we’ve done as much as we can, we just have to get out there and make a big fight".

Makinen and new co-driver Kaj Lindstrom have also spent the time getting to know one another, although Lindstrom needs little familiarisation with Britain’s forests having won the British Championship in 1999.

"The notes are quite descriptive, a bit different to what I’m used to", added Kaj, "but I don’t see that being a problem. There’s a lot of pressure on me, but Tommi as well, and we just have to treat it like any other rally and try our hardest".

The Rally of Great Britain starts in Cardiff on Thursday 22 November and concludes back in the Welsh capital city on Sunday 25 November.