Juha Kankkunen: The asphalt events in Germany, Spain and France will be the key.

Juha Kankkunen has said that while fellow Finn Mikko Hirvonen definitely has a good chance of taking the drivers' title this year, he is worried that the three asphalt events in the second half of the season will give Sebastien Loeb the edge.

Kankkunen, who took the title four-times during his time at the pinnacle of the sport and who last competed in the World Rally Championship back in 2002 with Hyundai, added that with only three points between Mikko and Seb, it is impossible to say just who will come through to take the overall honours.

"It is not going to be easy for Mikko to beat Seb," he told Crash.net Radio in an exclusive interview at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. "I have been speaking to Mikko and it is of course possible because he is there [and leading the championship at the moment]. It depends how Sebastien drives.

"It is very close and very open. The fight at the moment is between the two Fords [Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala] and Sebastien Loeb - as Subaru brought out its new car late.

"We have to remember though, that there are these asphalt rallies to come and they are very good for Sebastien. Normally he always does well on them. There are also several gravel rallies as well however, and Mikko is very fast on the loose."

Asked what has made Loeb so successful - he is statistically the best driver in the history of the WRC with 41 wins - Kankkunen added that the Frenchman is just 'unique'.

"He is very talented and he is a very good driver," he continued. "He drives very carefully and of course he has a good car. A good man has to have a good car, so that everything works together. The package is good."

As for the WRC in general, Juha noted that his main gripe is that there are just not enough teams participating at the moment.

"It would be nicer if there were a few more people fighting for the win and just more teams in the rallies," he added. "Rallying is a nice sport. But I think there is a lot that needs to be done [to improve things].

"The first thing is to bring the teams back and cut down a little bit. My idea, the same as Carlos [Sainz]'s, is to cut down on the number rallies and make them longer. Go for quality. Give the drivers' time to do a proper reconnaissance and concentrate on the event more, instead of doing them practically in a row every weekend," he summed-up.

TO HEAR THE INTERVIEW IN FULL WITH JUHA KANKKUNEN: CLICK HERE