The Finn and the Frenchman go into the final shootout with only a point between them in the duel for the World Rally Championship. Their private battle could be disrupted by a Spaniard or even a Norwegian — but take binoculars to the Welsh forests this weekend if you are looking for a British challenger.

The difference between rallying and Formula One could hardly be more stark in the wake of Jenson Button’s triumph last weekend.

Britain has produced back-to-back Formula One world champions in Lewis Hamilton and Button, the cream of a rich crop of talent flooding from the nation’s kart tracks and forming a queue to break into the highest form of motor racing.

But the Rally GB, the climax of the World Rally Championship, starts this morning with barely a Briton worth waving a flag at. There will be nine British crews in the field of 63 cars when they set out from Cardiff on the gruelling challenge of more than 80 miles of stages through dense, wet Welsh forests — and none of them has a realistic chance of winning.

This rally is a head-to-head between Mikko Hirvonen, the young Finnish pretender to the world rally crown, and Sébastien Loeb, the reigning champion who wants to make this his sixth consecutive triumph.

Think Michael Schumacher with mud and you are close to Loeb’s extraordinary track record of success. The Frenchman is such an amazing talent that moves have only just been thwarted to have him race in Formula One’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix for the Scuderia Toro Rosso next weekend. The FIA, the governing body, refused him a super licence on the ground of safety, even though Loeb promised to be frighteningly competitive.

Loeb dismissed his disappointment at being refused permission to race Formula One’s new champion from Britain but perhaps he is tiring of cleaning up in rallying after 53 victories — more than double some of the other greats of the sport, such as Colin McRae with 25.

Without detracting from his achievement, Loeb’s domination has been against a background of ebbing competition. Manufacturers have slowly disappeared from world rallying — the biggest blow being Subaru’s departure at the end of last year — and that has meant fewer seats for up-and-coming drivers. There are now, effectively, only two manufacturers in the sport, Ford and Citroën, which means just four top seats for drivers with the budget to battle for the honours, and they are held by Loeb, a Frenchman, and Daniel Sordo, a Spaniard, at Citroën and Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala, the Finns at Ford.

How far this is from the glorious days of British rallying eight years ago when Richard Burns and McRae came to Cardiff in a private duel for the title, surrounded by serial winners, such as Carlos Sainz and Marcus Grönholm.

The chances of seeing a British victor now in a sport that is ingrained in the national fibre is some way off. Matthew Wilson, 22, is the highest-placed Briton in the championship, in seventh, yet he still does not know whether he can raise the money from sponsors to guarantee being in this rally again next year.

He is more privileged than most — his father, Malcolm, is principal of the Ford World Rally Team — but he drives for a sponsor team and says the cost of rallying at the highest level is choking off young British talent. A World Rally car is a £500,000 piece of technical wizardry that needs a crew and transport to a dozen locations around the world annually.

“It is hopelessly expensive,” Wilson said. “It is not like circuit racing where you progress through the ranks. There is nothing like that in rallying and the costs are huge. Young drivers just can’t make their way through.”

Wilson is the great British hope, targeting a top-five finish at his home rally this weekend. The bonus is that he is a relative youngster in a sport in which drivers mature late. Perhaps Britain does have a champion in waiting.

Leading players

Mikko Hirvonen
Points 84
Team BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally
Country Finland
Starts 97
Wins 11
Stage wins 153
World Championships 0
Type Ice-cool Finn. Second in the championship to Loeb last year. However, that could be his problem when the mind games start.

Sébastien Loeb
Points 83
Team Citroën Total World Rally Team
Country France
Starts 123
Wins 53
Stage wins 633
World Championships 5
Type The Robert Mitchum of his sport and the fastest man on four rally wheels in history.

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