With the air filled by the cheering crowd of 26,500 rally-mad fans, the drivers put on a spectacular show as they raced across the area usually used for rugby and football internationals.

Fastest through the 1.1km test was Ford’s Marcus Gronholm/Timo Rautiainen, who set a record time of 1m 03.8s.

The crowd greeted their performance with rapturous applause, whooping and hollering at the tops of their voices and revelling in a final chance to say goodbye to the Finnish world champions, who will be retiring from the sport after Wales Rally GB.