He'll line up at No.1 for the FM Contracts Down Rally based at Castlewellan in his Carella Corolla which has finally returned to Cookstown after being " lost" in Holland.

Leader since the second round of the series back in March, Allen has had to miss one of the last three events and tackle two others in borrowed cars and has seen his advantage eroded to the extent that he is now just one point ahead of Stephen Moore as the championship goes down to the wire.

The Toyota had originally been sent to Holland in early July to be re-built after Allen crashed on the Raven's Rock Rally down south. But it was delayed in transit and then the work took much longer than expected, leaving Allen fighting to defend his lead in unfamiliar cars.

In the meantime, Moore stepped up his challenge, taking maximum points on two out of the last three rounds in his Ford Focus and they are virtually neck-and-neck going into tomorrow's event which is run by the Rathfriland Club.

The scoring system dictates that each driver only counts his seven best scores which means that Allen and Moore can add just four points to their current totals of 107 and 106 respectively. It also means that if Allen wins tomorrow, he is the new champion, but if Moore wins it all goes down to the last round, the Townparks Glens of Antrim Rally next month.

But the situation could be complicated by Sean Devine. He can't win the title but he is more than capable of beating Allen and Moore in his Subaru and, indeed, is a past winner of the Down Rally.

If he does it again, or even splits them, the calculators will have to come out.

The top six for the event, which starts from Castlewellan Forest Park at 9am, also includes Richard Hogg in his Skoda Octavia, Richard Cathcart, the leading production contender in his Subaru, and Emma McKinstry at No.6 in the S9 Subaru she will drive on Rally Ireland next month.

Top of the entry list: 1 Glenn Allen and Damien Connolly (Toyota Cor olla); 2 Stephen Moore and Tony McHugh (Ford Focus); 3 Sean Devine and Damien Duffin (Subaru Impreza); 4 Richard Hogg and Mark Hanna (Skoda Octavia); 5 Richard Cathcart and Martin Brady (Subaru Impreza N); 6 Emma McKinstry and Kenny Hull (Subaru Impreza); 7 John McGaffin and Alan Russell (Subaru Impreza); 10 Donagh Kelly and Kevin Flanagan (Mitsubishi Lancer N); 11 Gareth Logan and Alan Purdy (Mitsubishi Lancer N); 12 Ian Cochrane and David Vance (Mitsubishi Lancer N); 14 Martin Cairns and Gary Monteith (Subaru Impreza); 15 Seamus O'Connell and Sean Magee (Ford Escort).