It is going to be a thrilling fight to the Cardiff finish for the WRC crown through the longest stages of the three day event, which moves to West Wales this morning.

Newly-crowned FIA World Rally champions BP-Ford continued to dominate the top of the leaderboard during yesterday's second leg of Rally GB. 

Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen (above) returned to Swansea with a 35.5sec advantage over team-mates Marcus Grönholm and Timo Rautiainen after a second day's competition in the rain-soaked forests of south Wales in their Focus RS World Rally Cars.

Behind them by just 1m 15sec was third placed Sebastien Loeb’s Citroen C4 and the three-times WRC champion only has to finish in the top five to win his fourth driver’s title on Wales Rally GB.

Over the fast and sweeping stages today he and co-driver Daniel Elena will be driving for the crown and not the crowd as he must balance pace with position to stay in the top five but not risk sliding off or creating a mechanical problem.

Hirvonen (right) lacked experience on yesterday's speed tests over military land north of the rally base in Cardiff, having not driven them since 2004. 

However, the 27-year-old Finn maintained his comfortable advantage over Grönholm, whose thoughts are focused more on trying to secure his third drivers' world title on this 16th and final round of the championship than winning the rally outright.

Yesterday's route took competitors north from the Swansea service park to a tightly-clustered group of speed tests around the Epynt military ranges. 

Drivers tackled two identical loops of three special stages there, before the now traditional super special stage inside Cardiff's Millennium Stadium in front of a crowd of more than 26,500.  The seven tests covered 104.48km.

Conditions were much improved from friday.  Strong winds kept the fog away but temperatures were just 3ºC as the action began this morning. 

However, as the day progressed the skies turned darker and cloudbursts ensured the gravel forest tracks remained muddy and slippery.  BFGoodrich's extra soft compound tyres were the choice of both Hirvonen and Grönholm throughout the day.

Hirvonen made a cautious start and after the first loop Grönholm had reduced the overnight 39.6sec gap to 32.6sec.  Grönholm cut the deficit back further during the afternoon tests, before 27-year-old Hirvonen reclaimed a few seconds when his 39-year-old team-mate suffered handling difficulties on the final forest stage.

Grönholm's title hopes depend on arch-rival Sébastien Loeb hitting trouble so the BP-Ford driver took no risks.  His only problem came on the final forest stage when his car began to oversteer. 

"I don't know what happened but the right corner was oversteering and the car was like a snake.  I didn't hit anything and then on the motorway to the final stage in Cardiff it was OK again.  It was a mystery," he explained. 

However, he put that behind him to speed to an emotional stage win in the super-charged atmosphere at the stadium on his 150th and final rally before retirement.

"There was no stress and no pressure today as I can do nothing but wait and see what happens to Loeb.  There's no plan to push to catch Mikko.  It would be stupid for me to do that and make a mistake.  My plan is to stay in second. 

“It would be good to win my final rally but that's not my priority – the title is.  It was great to win in the Millennium Stadium, though.  There was a fantastic atmosphere and I really appreciated the ovation the fans gave me at the end of the stage," he added.

Behind the BP-Ford duo, Sébastien Loeb took no risks in third, Petter Solberg and Welsh co-driver Phil Mills, Subaru, spun on the first stage and dropped 30sec but retained fourth ahead of Dani Sordo in the second works Citroen. 

The closest battle was between Chris Atkinson’s Subaru and the Ford Focus of Matthew Wilson for sixth. 

Atkinson, seventh overnight, moved ahead on the opening stage and the pair fought for every second during the rest of the day until the Australian opened a small gap to end the day, 10.0sec ahead. 

The star performer was Jari-Matti Latvala, Ford, who restarted under SupeRally rules in the morning and was fastest on all six forest stages. 

It was a very bad day for Welshpool’s Stuart Jones and Andy Bull, who were making their debut in the new MGS2000 (right) and crashed very heavily in Halfway Forest.

Andy broke a collar bone and was taken by ambulance to Prince Charles Hospital, Merthyr Tydfil, but Stuart was not reported injured.

In the Production World Rally Car Championship it’s also a neck and neck race to the finish.

Guy Wilks, Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, is leading the pack with total penalties of 2hours 31mins 51.4secs with Mark Higgins similar car less than 61seconds behind.

The final leg today promises to provide a real sting in the tail.  After leaving Swansea at 06.25, drivers face two identical loops of two stages to the north-west in Brechfa Forest, split by service back in the city. 

The tests are the longest of the rally and competitors face 114.26km of competition.  Notoriously slippery, the Brechfa roads are also characterised by long bends which can stretch for several hundred metres.  The finish is in Cardiff at 15.10. 

For route and timings today, see Friday’s WheelsWithinWales.

2hours 16mins 27.3secs