THE stage is set for the closest finish in the history of the World Rally Championship.

Three drivers will go into this weekend's final round, the Wales Rally GB, with a chance of winning the coveted title.

Almost 200 miles of flat-out driving in the Welsh forests separate Sebastian Loeb, Carlos Sainz and Petter Solberg from becoming 2003 World Rally Champion.

It should have been four, but British interest in the race was dealt a blow with the news that Richard Burns had been forced to pull out of the event after being admitted to hospital when he fainted on Sunday night.

For Citroen team-mates Loeb and Sainz, the mathematics are simple.

As both are tied on 63 points, they have to outscore one another and then make sure they have a point more than Norwegian Solberg who has 62 points.

For the popular Subaru pilot to win his first ever WRC title, he has to finish at least two places ahead of either Loeb or Sainz.

Both men have been a revelation in the ultra-quick Xsara this year -- but for very different reasons.

Tarmac specialist Loeb underlined his growing maturity on gravel with a brilliant second place in Australia, and proving that he will be no pushover in the muddy Welsh forests.

He said: "I think I have proved that we have a car that can win on gravel. We have to go to Wales and push as hard as we can, that's all we can do."

Sainz, the sport's elder statesman, has been consistently quick all season -- and on all surfaces -- eclipsing team-mate Colin McRae to such an extent that the former world champion was left out in the cold when Citroen made their driver choices for 2004.

But Solberg is the bookies favourite, starting from his favourite position of behind the leaders, with the right car and tyre combination for this event.

His Subaru Impreza is ideally suited to the rough tracks, and the Pirelli tyres are traditionally stong in wet weather, which is forecast for the three days of the rally.

"I don't think I will go flat-out from the start," he said.

"I have to keep Seb and Carlos behind me, that's more important than winning the rally. You know, you don't have win every battle to win the war."