Dixies Corner has been the scene of many spectacular incidents, most notably Marcus Grönholm’s accident there in 2004. Phil, who will be co-driving for Petter Solberg in the works Subaru World Rally Team Impreza, believes Dixies Corner will be just as exciting this year – as he’ll be aiming for a record-breaking fifth victory and Wales Rally GB will most likely be the title decider, as the fight between Grönholm (BP-Ford Focus) and the defending World Champion Sébastien Loeb (Citroën C4) goes down to the wire.

“Dixies Corner is a great place to watch because you can see so much,” says Phil. “It looks a simple section of road, but as everybody knows it’s not and it catches a lot of people out.  We come out of Halfway forest and over a crest, which is on the asphalt junction of Dixies. There is huge jump there and we fly high onto a new gravel road, which runs parallel to the old asphalt road. It looks like drivers throw caution to the wind, but there is actually a big hole on the inside which a lot of people went into last year and did a lot of damage, so you have to be careful and take the right line.

“The gravel road itself is wide and flowing, yet it’s also one of those bits of road where you have to be very careful and really think about what you’re doing. All that section, from Dixies junction and on for about a mile after it, is quite tricky and complicated for the driver, so anywhere along there is extremely good viewing. After the asphalt the last five miles are absolutely flat out!”