ANTHONY Willmington, from Godmanstone near Dorchester, competes in the Network Q Rally of Great Britain this week along with Colin McRae and Richard Burns who are both bidding to claim the FIA Driver's World Championship.

The four-day, 1,000-mile Cardiff-based marathon is the 14th and final round of the FIA World Rally Championship and is guaranteed to be a tremendous final with McRae, Burns, Finland's Tommi Mkinen plus Carlos Sainz, of Spain, all capable of claiming the Driver's "crown".

Willmington, 33, teams-up with Andrew White, from Dorchester, in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI bidding for honours in the N4 class with amateur "privateer" crews competing against "factory" entered professional drivers.

Amateur driver Willmington, a tree surgeon, is contesting the UK's biggest annual sporting event for the first time.

McRae (33), from Lanark, enjoys a slender one-point lead over Mkinen (37) with Reading's Burns (30) a further one point adrift in third. A fourth Rally of Great Britain victory for either 1995 World Champion McRae or Burns, or a maiden Rally GB win for Mkinen (World Champion in 1996/7/8/9), automatically earns the rally victor the championship.

Sainz (39) must win in Cardiff with McRae non-scoring, Mkinen no higher than sixth and Burns finishing lower than fourth for him to snatch the driver's title for a third time. The capacity 120-car field competes against the clock, timed to one-tenth of a second, on 17 special stages totalling almost 240 miles mainly on Forestry Commission gravel roads in south and west Wales.

A purpose-built 1.5-mile "Super Special" Thyssen Rallysprint gets the rally underway in Cardiff Bay tomorrow evening (1830), the Welsh capital city chosen as rally headquarters for a second consecutive year. There is just a single service area for the entire event, located near Swansea adjacent to Junction 46 on the M4.

Access to all 17 special stages is by ticket, available on 01327 850291 or on-line at the 57th running of Britain's only World Rally Championship event is sponsored for the ninth consecutive year by Network Q, the UK's award-winning used car brand with over 460 outlets in the UK selling more than 120,000 cars of all makes per year.

NETWORK Q RALLY - FACTFILE

Timetable: Thursday, November 22: 1830-1955

Start: Cardiff City Hall. Thyssen Rallysprint, Cardiff.

Friday, November 23: 0600-2035. Seven stages in south/west Wales.

Saturday, November 24: 0700-1905. Four stages in south/west Wales plus Thysson Rallysprint, Cardiff.

Sunday, November 25: 0600-1550. Four stages in south Wales + Finish Ramp, City Hall, Cardiff.

Total distance: 975.34 miles

Special Stages: 17 (239.2 miles - all gravel).

(SS1/13-Margam; SS2 St Gwynno; SS3 Tyle; SS4/15 Rhondaa; SS5 Crychan; SS6 Halfway; SS7/11 Brechfa; SS8/12 Trawscoed; SS9 Resolfen; SS10/17 Margam; SS14/16 Rheola). Classes: Up to 1400cc 1401-1600cc 1601-2000cc Over 2001cc Production Cars: N1 N2 N3 N4 Touring Cars: A5 A6 A7 A8.