World Rally standings

Citroen pair Carlos Sainz and Sebastien Loeb are tied on 63 points, just one ahead of Subaru's Petter Solberg as the championship enters the final leg at the Rally GB.

But Solberg, who won the rally last year, will have one crucial advantage over his rivals on the notoriously tricky gravel roads in the depths of the south Wales forests - his co-driver Phil Mills.

Mills has spent 15 years nurturing his skills on the narrow and winding roads of Wales, and the 40-year-old from Powys knows his unique knowledge could prove to be the deciding factor over the 18 stages.

"A little local knowledge will come into play," Mills told BBC Sport. "In saying that, it's all in the pace notes - the other drivers are exceptionally good at making pace notes.

"But there are the odd places that can catch a few people out. For instance, Marcus Gronholm rolled last year in quite a famous place that I knew from my national rallying days when I was competing 15 years ago.

"So there are little snippets of information that you get from being a local."

Mills and Solberg have been together since 1999

Three stage wins over the past 11 months of tense competition have brought Mills and Solberg within touching distance of a maiden world rally title.

Victory would also make Mills the first Welshman to be crowned a world rally champion.

But with so much resting on the final stage, Mills has a surprising calm and assured aura as the opening 'Super Special' stage in Cardiff Bay on Thursday night comes ever closer.

"Confidence level is riding sky high," he said. "Obviously winning last year gives you confidence anyway.

"But we've been very fast on gravel this year. The last gravel event was Australia and we won that as well. But in saying that, Peugeot, Citroen and Ford are all very strong."

He added: "There's a lot at stake here. Obviously, we'd like to win the rally as well as the championship.

"To win your home rally is a very special thing. But the World Rally Championship is what it's all about.

"If we find ourselves in a position where we're not leading the rally, but we can still win the championship, then I'll be more than happy with that."