In keeping with a longstanding tradition that was briefly interrupted for two seasons, Great Britain's round of the World Rally Championship will bring the curtain down on the 2007 campaign. For the sixteenth and final round of the season, Citroën Sport has entered two C4 WRCs, one for Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena and the other for Dani Sordo/Marc Martí.

The format of the all-gravel fixture is very similar to that of last year's visit to South Wales. Indeed, the 17 stages (eight different tests contested twice each, plus a superspecial) that make up the menu of the 2007 event are all old acquaintances. The first day takes crews to the Neath Valley and visits such well known venues as Resolfen and Rheola. The forests and military ranges near Llandovery provide the backdrop for the second leg, while Sunday's action will take crews into the daunting Brechfa Forest, a fitting location for the finale of this year's drama-filled championship.

This emblematic fixture, which was known for many years as the RAC Rally, has also tended to be one of the toughest events on the WRC calendar and has lost none of the ingredients that helped forge its legend. For rally fans, it still conjures up pictures of cars opposite locking through muddy stages as their lights struggle to pick out the road ahead in thick fog.

Its end-of-year slot also means it has often been decisive in the outcome of one or both world titles. The different cities that have hosted the event over the years have frequently been the scene of the sort of celebrations that Cardiff can expect again this time round, and Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena go to Wales with a real chance of securing a fourth consecutive crown.

To succeed, the Citroën duo knows what it has to do… on paper at least! Should Marcus Grönholm win in Wales, Seb and Daniel, who have a six-point advantage over their Finnish rival, will need to pick up at least four points if they are to join Tommi Mäkinen (champion in 1996, 1997, 1998 and 1999) in the record books as World Champions four times in a row. The talent of the Citroën-Total crew, the competitiveness of their C4 WRC and the high standard of the work of everyone at Citroën Sport should give them the means to succeed, but everybody is perfectly aware that things are rarely that straightforward…

"Since I became the director of Citroën Sport 19 years ago," says Guy Fréquelin, "I have repeatedly said that rallying is the most unpredictable form of motor sport. I'm not going to change my tune just because this is my last rally as team boss, especially since the 2007 title will be decided on such a notorious event as Wales Rally GB! The usual imponderables relating to the cars' mechanicals and the possibility of a driver error are even more pronounced on this event. Its extreme conditions make it very complex. We have a real chance and we are all very motivated, but I am still very much on my guard…"