“We were carrying a spare shaft and all the tools to change it, but I hoped we wouldn't need to,” he said. “We've spent ages trying to diagnose why it kept breaking and thought we'd found it. The fact that we changed the thing in less than 15 minutes at the roadside doesn't really matter; we've lost so much time now.”

The time loss should have made Harrison's victory secure, but unbeknown to the youngster, he had been heavily penalised for missing a chicane on the previous stage, which had dropped him to within a minute of Sykes. This, coupled with Harrison's failing fuel pressure meant the potential for Sykes to regain the lead was strong.

The decision was made in favour of Sykes on the penultimate stage though, when Harrison slid into a ditch in the returned appalling weather conditions. The resulting time loss left him with a stage maximum, handing victory to the recovering Midlander.

“We thought it was all over when the 'shaft broke,” explained Sykes, “but David has had real problems too today and it is really good to get to the finish after the problems we've had this year.”

With the season now at a close all that remains is for Champions Harrison and Thomas to take their place at the wheel of their prize MG on the final round of the World and British Rally Championships, Wales Rally GB in early December.