MOTORSPORT: All to play for at Rally Oz

Both the driver and manufacturer titles are three-way contests at Rally Australia.

Sebastien Ogier leads by three points in his quest for a sixth straight driver’s title -- and his second with M-Sport Ford, before his return to his Citroen roots next year.

Belgian Thierry Neuville has led most of the season in his Hyundai i20 Coupe but will have to overhaul Ogier to claim a first crown — something he vows he can do with the Frenchman having to 'sweep' the gravel roads in his Fiesta as the first driver on the course in the early stages at least.

Estonian Ott Tanak is the third contender, the form driver for Toyota with a late-season hat-trick before striking troubles while leading in Britain and Spain. He's 23 points behind Ogier with 30 to play for over three days, 24 stages and almost 320 kilometres of competition.

Toyota is 12 points clear in the manufacturer battle in just its second season back in the WRC.

With Finns Jari-Matti Latvala and Esapekka Lappi to support Tanak, Toyota is well placed with its Yaris to deny Hyundai a first title and M-Sport Ford a repeat of last year's underdog success.

The latter is 25 points behind Toyota, with a maximum 43 to be scored by manufacturers this weekend.

Bonus points in Sunday's power stage could be decisive in both championships.

And then there's the Australian Rally Championship to be decided too.

Victorian Eli Evans is favourite for a fourth national title, with a 57-point lead in a Skoda Fabia R5 over 23-year-old Canberran Harry Bates in a Toyota Yaris.

Bates will mount a stronger, manufacturer-backed effort next year when his 21-year-old brother Lewis joins him in a similar car after his apprenticeship in the Super 2000 Corolla previously campaigned by father Neal and Harry.

Steve Gleeney, driving a new Skoda this weekend for the first time after the 'serious injuries' to his Subaru at Rally South Australia, and 2016 ARC victor Molly Taylor in a Subaru are the other mathematical chances to deny Evans this season, with 100 points on offer.

There have been major revisions to the Coffs course this year, with some completely new stages and others reworked using known sections, including from the famed Nambucca stage.

Two jumps and a water splash have been included in the harbourside special stage to be run on Friday and Saturday nights, as well as a longer, higher jump on the Wedding Bells power stage.

Tommi Makinen, the winner of four straight WRC driver titles with Mitsubishi Ralliart in the 1990s and who has headed Toyota's return to the WRC, says the sole Japanese manufacturer team in the WRC at the minute "has a great opportunity in front of us -- to win a championship in just our second year would be a fantastic achievement".

Tanak, in his first year with Toyota after being Ogier's teammate last season, is confident in the Yaris for the manufacturer title because of its recent form on gravel and has promised to "give it my all" in the driver battle "even though it is not really in my hands".

Neuville, winner at Coffs last year, is playing mind games after losing his mid-season lead.

"I think it's better to be second and just a few points behind [Ogier going into Rally Oz]," the Belgian said.

"It's not the most uncomfortable situation. It's a small advantage actually, but everything counts now.

"We won the rally here from that position 12 months ago and we'll be targeting the same result.

"That will be the best way to take the title.

"It's time somebody else was clearing the road [although that's something Ogier has had plenty of practice at in previous years].

"Recent rallies have not gone our way. All manufacturers and crews have had ups and downs this season, but we need to put all this behind us and to focus on a perfect weekend."

Supporting Neuville in similar i20s are Norwegian Andreas Mikkelsen, winner of the 2016 Rally Australia in Volkswagen's swansong, and New Zealander Hayden Paddon, looking to repeat last year's third place at Coffs for Hyundai.

The canny Ogier, who has maintained the French monopoly on the driver title since the great Sebastien Loeb's retirement from full-time rallying after nine straight championships, says he's comfortable to start out as the leader on Friday.

"It's better to have the points in the bag," he said after a win and a second place in the past two rounds.

"I've done it before [been first on the road and won Rally Oz in 2015 and '16] and I'll try to do it again.

"The pressure is on our rivals to overhaul the deficit."

As M-Sport Ford boss Malcolm Wilson said: "This will be rallying at its best."