The French ace said he needed to win all five of the remaining rounds, including next month's Rally Ireland, to overhaul Marcus Gronholm at the head of the championship table and he is two-fifths of the way there, now just four points behind the Finn.

However, after two victories on the tarmac roads of Spain and Corsica, Loeb and the Citroen team return to the gravel tracks preferred by Gronholm for Rally Japan this weekend.

Based at Obihiro on Japan's northern-most island of Hokkaido, 900 kms from Tokyo, it is not Loeb's favourite rally even though he won there last year.

Indeed, he regards his five-second win over Gronholm in 2006 as one of his best achievements.

"After the finish of last year's event, all the talk was about the fact that it was our (record) 27th WRC win. Daniel (co-driver Elena) and I prefer to recall the way we won it. The fight rarely gets that close, especially on the final day, and I rate it as one of my finest victories," he said.

"Does that make Rally Japan a better event to my eyes though? Possibly. Nobody likes getting up early or driving for hours on long road sections but, happily, the stages are interesting."

But he believes he will have to take the same kind of risks again if he is to retain his World title.

"Given the number of events to come after Japan and also given the current gap in the championship, we don't really have any alternative," said Loeb. "We need to try to finish ahead of Marcus. If we succeed, and even if he finishes second, we will still be in with a chance for the title when we come to Ireland.

"I was delighted to have won the back-to-back rounds in Spain and Corsica. That wasn't a foregone conclusion. Everyone said we were favourites, but neither event was easy. We needed to go out and win them.

"We're getting there, but the challenge is as tough as ever."

But the pressure is also on Gronholm who retires at the end of the season and wants to go out with his third World title.

The Ford No.1 has seen his advantage cut from 10 points to four in the past two rounds and although he knows Japan represents a critical event for him before they head back to Europe and the tarmac roads of Ireland, he tries to play down its importance.

"A win in Japan would obviously help but I think this could go all the way down to the final round in Wales," he said.

"The roads here are very narrow in places, but quite quick. They remind me of the stages in Great Britain, and even Finland. They require great care because there are deep ditches by the side of the road. It's hard to pick them out because of the thick vegetation and it's tricky to see the exit of corners because overhanging trees block the view. It is a difficult rally," he added.

And both Loeb and Gronholm will be wary of the Subaru threat. Former champion Petter Solberg and Aussie Chris Atkinson have not been factors in this year's championship but the Subarus showed signs of a resurgence in Corsica and they always raise their game in front of their home audience.

Meanwhile, the Production championship is likely to be settled this weekend with Japanese driver Toshi Arai just a few points away from taking the title for a second time.

He can only be denied if Mark Higgins takes victory but the British champion fractured his collar bone last week and although he flew to Japan at the weekend it is not clear whether he will be fit enough to start in his Italian Top Run team Mitsubishi.

Niall McShea, Ulster's former PWRC champion, was the only other driver with an outside chance of winning the title but his Turkish-run Lukoil TaCk team withdrew his Subaru because of on-going budgetary problems.

But McShea has been assured they will be back for Rally Ireland.