Finland preview: one for the locals?

Of the two it is series leader Burns who starts with the better record, having finished second here last year. But he believes that the inclusion of some new stages might tip the balance back in favour of the Finns, even though the new stages haven't been used for so many years that even the locals consider them to be new.

McRae's record in Finland is not too impressive and includes more battered machinery than hand-crafted silverware. Nevertheless the Ford ace is on a high, having dragged himself back into the title hunt and clutching a new two-year £8 million contract to stay with the Martini-backed squad.

But the man on a mission is Marcus Gronholm. The Finn has burst onto the scene this year with a run of top results for Peugeot, including wins in Sweden and last time out in New Zealand. His performance on this event last year brought five major offers of a drive for 2000 within hours of the finish and now he undoubtedly starts the event as favourite.

Should he live up to that status, then the balance of power in the world series will swing towards Peugeot, even if the next few events are new to Gronholm and may allow his rivals to strike back. Peugeot has abandoned its usual crews for this event, although Francois Delecour will compete for drivers' points only.

Gronholm's cousin, Sebastian Lindholm, has been drafted into the squad for his home event and it is to be hoped that his form on the rally is better than in recent years.

SEAT's season has been a pretty heart-searching affair, but the Spanish team comes to Finland to launch the third evolution of the Cordoba WRC. It might not be a quantum leap forward, but it will have to deliver far greater performance than the old version if questions about the team's future involvement in the sport are to be avoided.

Tommi Makinen's performance will be closely monitored on this event. Winner for a record five years in a row before Juha Kankkunen stopped him last year, Makinen has had a lacklustre season to date. The Mitsubishi Lancer is getting long in the tooth and the team desperately needs a new version to get back in touch with its rivals. New parts have been incorporated for this event and will be crucial if Makinen is to have any chance of getting back into contention for a fifth successive title.

With Skoda again absent, testing for next month's newly-added Cyprus Rally, Hyundai is the sixth manufacturer in the pack. The Accent WRC is improving with every event and a fastest stage time in New Zealand for the Autosport-supported car of Alister McRae showed just how good it has become. Reliability is now the key element that needs to be addressed, although this event might be considered a test rally more than a bid for outright glory.

The championship is perfectly poised going into this 50th anniversary Finnish event. Ford is just one point behind Subaru in the makes series and the Banbury team has let a fairly convincing gravel advantage slip away in recent rallies. Of the two, however, Subaru would appear to have the edge this week.

The battle between Burns, Gronholm and McRae (with just a four point gap between each of the trio) will be equally as tense, thereby ensuring that the event is as cut and thrust as ever.