Al-Attiyah skipped the WRC counters in New Zealand and Finland in order to take part in the men’s skeet shooting event where he finished third following a thrilling shoot-off. It means the last time he put his Qatar World Rally Team Citroen DS3 WRC through its paces on gravel was on the Acropolis Rally in Greece in late May.

Despite his lack of recent running on loose surfaces, Al-Attiyah is raring to go on Wales Rally GB, even though he concedes it’s not an event he favours, particularly when it used to take place in winter.

“The huge advantage that we have is that we benefit from the work done by the works team,” said Al-Attiyah. “When I get into the car, I know that it has already been very well set up. I will be treating this rally with the respect it deserves and I'll gradually push more and more as I grow in confidence. It’s not my favourite rally when it rains, in wet conditions it is very easy to get caught out and end up going off the road. But this will be a surface on which I’ll be more capable of expressing myself.”