Markovic finished on the podium at his home rally in Western Australia last month and is gunning for another top drive in the capital, but this time against some of the world's best.

The 38-year-old said home advantage is a factor with several of the international drivers competing in Canberra for the first time.

"It's one of those events where home knowledge does help but unfortunately they've changed the rally this year and they've done it in reverse [compared to] previous years," Markovic said.

"I think it's on a bit more of a level playing field. It's always nice when you're in your home country, so from that side of it we're pretty relaxed and confident we'll put on a good show."

Two days of action packed races will take drivers and spectators to different locations in the capital with dirt set to fly at Kowen Forest and Tidbinbilla.

"Day one and day two are a different mix of rallies with the road conditions. Day one it's wide and open, so it's fast," Markovic said.

"Day two it becomes quite rough, then it's really on as far as how tight and twisty it becomes so it's two different rallies in one really."

The veteran racer said he'd wanted to test himself against Asia's best for a long time and was looking forward to the opportunity.

"This week we're stepping up in the Asia-Pacific side of things and it's something we want to do further down the track by progressing and going further into the Asia-Pacific rounds.

"Also the exposure. We get to compare like for like against the best drivers out there. From a personal side, that's great to mix it with them and hopefully we get a good result.

"This is the next level without going to the world championship. The Asia-Pacific is our feeder category to go higher and higher."

At qualifying on Friday Markovic finished outside the top three fastest times but the experienced racer believes his team are punching above their weight and can cause a few surprises this weekend.

"We don't have a huge budget. We flew in on Wednesday and the first time we had a chance to drive was this morning," he said.

"It was all about finding our feet, and we're pretty confident we'll have a good package for this weekend.

"There's a bit of both [nerves and excitement], my co-driver from the last two years was Gaurav Gill's [championship leader] co-driver for the last five years.

"The biggest thing coming here this weekend is still the Australian championship, but this is a bit like a grand final where you can step up and see how we go against the world's best."