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Special Stage 4: Delta-Japan- France-Neuville
The top drivers refused to continue the race, but FIA president Jean-Marie Balestre refused to cancel the event, sparking outrage across the rally world.Two months later, Henri Toivonen was leading the Tour de Corse. The son of rally winner Pauli Toivonen, he was the only driver capable of taming the monstrous Lancia Delta S4—even Markku Alén struggled with it.Sick and exhausted, Toivonen lost control of his car. The fuel tanks, placed beneath the seats of both him and his co-driver Sergio Cresto, exploded instantly…The rally world mourned for the second time in two months and realized the severity of the situation. Group B regulations were abolished, tragically ending the era of the most extreme rally cars in 1986. Juha Kankkunen and Peugeot won titles that no one wanted to celebrate.
Group A
In 1987, reigning world champion Juha Kankkunen, who had won with Peugeot, joined Lancia and secured a second consecutive title. Lancia dominated 9 out of 13 rallies, effortlessly clinching the manufacturers' title. Only four rounds eluded the Delta:Sweden Rally (Mazda 323 4WD)Safari Rally (Audi 200 Quattro)Tour de Corse (BMW M3)Ivory Coast Rally (Volkswagen Golf GTi 16V)The Delta HF 4WD evolved into the Delta HF Integrale under the leadership of Italian driver Miki Biasion. Much like Audi’s early Quattro, Lancia worked on reducing understeer, a common issue with all-wheel-drive systems.With wider versions, improved suspension, larger wings, and wider tires, the Delta HF Integrale became even more competitive. Biasion was rewarded for his efforts with two consecutive world titles in 1988 and 1989, further cementing Lancia’s absolute dominance.However, in 1990, the balance of power began to shift. Toyota, which had been developing the Celica GT-Four ST165 since 1989, started putting Lancia under pressure.Spanish driver Carlos Sainz won four rallies and claimed the drivers' title, while Lancia managed to salvage its honor by retaining the manufacturers' championship
Most succesful WRC-car
With 10 manufacturers' titles, including six with the Delta Integrale, Lancia remains the most successful brand in WRC history. With 73 rally victories, it still holds fourth place in the all-time rankings.The Delta Integrale, with 46 victories, shares the record for the most successful rally car with the Subaru Impreza.Lancia remains an icon of rallying, a symbol of an era when ingenuity, boldness, and raw performance reigned supreme.
Japan
With Lancia's withdrawal from the WRC, a period of Japanese dominance began, only occasionally challenged by the daring Ford. However, it was Toyota, Subaru, and Mitsubishi that dictated the pace of the WRC until 2004.In 1992, Juha Kankkunen joined Toyota but had to concede the world title to his teammate Carlos Sainz, while Lancia claimed its final manufacturers' crown. The following year, the Finnish driver secured his fourth and last world title.In 1994, Didier Auriol shocked the rally world by becoming France's first world champion with Toyota, which also secured the manufacturers' title.However, in 1995, Toyota was unable to defend its title. During the Rally Catalunya, it was discovered that the Celica GT-Four was equipped with a clever system that allowed turbo pressure to exceed the legal limit. The punishment was severe: Toyota was banned from the WRC for one season.
McRae
The championship then became an intense battle between Colin McRae and Carlos Sainz, both driving the legendary blue-and-gold Subaru Impreza 555.Tensions peaked at Rally Catalunya, where Prodrive (Subaru's factory team) orchestrated Sainz’s victory, even placing team members on the road to slow down an enraged McRae. Later, they forced McRae to leave the service area late, resulting in a time penalty.However, in the final round, the RAC Rally (Britain), McRae wrote his name in rally history. His performance remains legendary, especially for fans of the PlayStation game Colin McRae Rally.On Day 2, McRae suffered a puncture, losing two minutes. Determined, he launched into a relentless comeback through the Welsh forests. Despite a second puncture, he made up lost time and finished the rally 36 seconds ahead of Sainz.At 27 years old, McRae became the youngest WRC champion and the first Briton to win the title—his only world championship victory.
Tommi
The next four seasons belonged to Tommi Mäkinen, who dominated the WRC with his Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution III, IV, V, and VI.This period was one of the most hotly contested in WRC history, with up to eight future world champions on the starting grid.Despite Mitsubishi’s dominance, they only achieved the drivers'-constructors' double once, in 1998.In 1999, Toyota returned to form, winning the manufacturers' title with the Corolla WRC.However, the season’s biggest surprise came from Citroën. French driver Philippe Bugalski stunned the rally world by winning the Rally Catalunya and Tour de Corse in a two-wheel-drive Citroën Xsara Kit-Car.These lightweight front-wheel-drive cars compensated for their smaller engines with superior agility on tarmac. Bugalski’s success gave Citroën its first WRC victories and marked the beginning of an unprecedented French dominance in rallying…
France
Citroën had already laid the groundwork, but in 2000, Peugeot made its grand return to the WRC after 14 years of absence. With its 206 WRC, the Lion brand immediately ended seven seasons of Japanese domination. Ford tried to resist but ultimately failed to break French hegemony.Finnish driver Marcus Grönholm clinched the drivers’ title in 2000 and repeated the feat in 2002, while Peugeot secured three consecutive manufacturers' championships. The only interruption came in 2001, when Richard Burns, inspired and determined, won the drivers’ title with Subaru.In 2003, ‘Hollywood’ Petter Solberg won the drivers’ championship with Subaru, but Citroën already claimed its first manufacturers’ title with the four-wheel-drive Xsara WRC. This was only the beginning of an era of absolute dominance.
Loeb
Over the following years, Citroën would secure 10 manufacturers’ titles, first with the Xsara, then the C4, and later the DS3 WRC. Meanwhile, a certain Sébastien Loeb rewrote history, claiming nine consecutive world championships and becoming the most successful driver in WRC history.Most rallies during this period became battles for second place, as Loeb and his Monegasque co-driver Daniel Elena were simply untouchable.Loeb had climbed the ranks through Citroën’s junior program, progressing from the 1600cc category to WRC. His WRC debut actually came in a Toyota Corolla WRC with Citroën’s approval, but he remained loyal to the French brand for all his titles.After a brief stint in European touring car racing with Peugeot, he joined Hyundai in 2019 as a part-time driver. Although victories eluded him in this role, he shocked the rally world in 2022 by winning Rallye Monte-Carlo with M-Sport Ford WRT, marking his 80th career WRC win—a record. At 47 years old, he also became the oldest rally winner in WRC history.
Ogier
As Loeb’s reign ended, another Frenchman, another Sébastien, stepped up.Following a similar path, Sébastien Ogier climbed through Citroën’s junior program, winning the Junior WRC title in 2008 after just two years in rallying. In 2010, during his first full WRC season, he won the Rally de Portugal—as Loeb’s teammate.But Ogier wasn’t content to remain in Loeb’s shadow. In 2011, he left Citroën for Volkswagen, even though the German manufacturer wouldn’t officially enter WRC until 2013 with the Polo R WRC.It was a risky move, but it paid off spectacularly. After a transition season in 2012 with a Škoda Fabia S2000, Ogier and Volkswagen dominated the WRC from 2013 to 2016, securing four consecutive world titles.With mission accomplished, Volkswagen withdrew from WRC, forcing Ogier to find a new challenge.Ogier then joined M-Sport Ford and delivered their first title since Ari Vatanen in 1981, winning the 2017 drivers' championship. He followed it up with another title in 2018, again with Ford.In 2019, he moved to Citroën but struggled, prompting Citroën to withdraw from WRC altogether.Seeking a competitive seat, Ogier signed with Toyota in 2020. It was the right choice—he secured two more world titles in 2020 and 2021, along with Toyota’s manufacturers’ championships.From Loeb’s nine titles with Citroën to Ogier’s eight across three teams, France had ruled the WRC for nearly two decades.Today, Ogier still competes in the WRC with Toyota, although he no longer participates in a full season. With eight titles, it seems unlikely that he will match Loeb’s record. However, with 62 victories, he remains the second most successful driver in WRC history, far ahead of Marcus Grönholm (30 wins).One thing is for sure: the French flag will continue to fly high at the top of the WRC’s statistics for many years to come...
Neuville World Champion
Thierry Neuville is born on June 16th 1988 in Sankt Vith, the German speaking part of Belgium. He drives his first rally in an Opel he funded himself, but joins the Ford Fiesta Cup one year later in 2008, winning the title.Like Loeb and Ogier before him, he becomes part of the PSA group talent programme, winning the Bulgarian Junior World Rally in 2010. In 2012 he starts a full WRC Citroën DS3, winning 6 special stages in France, becoming fourth in that rally.
Poulidor
AFter an interloper with Ford, Hyundai signs the young Belgian. In Germany 2025 Neuville finally wins his first WRC-event. His 2016-season confirms his considerable talent with a win in Sardinian five podiums and runner up in teh drivers' championship. In 2017 he wins four events, bettering everyone, but again Ogier beats him to the championship. Three wins in 2018 again grants him second in the championship, and the nickname 'WRC's Poulidor' as the eternal bridesmade begins to surface. His second spot in 2019 trully earns him the nickname.
WRC-Champion
2020 is hampered by the Covid pandemic, but Neuville does win the Monte-Carlo, the most prestigious win in his career. In 2021 he wins two events, one being the Belgian WRC-event, the first ever to be organised in Belgium. Two third place standings in the WRC-standing in 2022 and 2023 are finally followed by the long overdue world crown. He wins the Monte-Carlo again, along with Greece and finishes on the podium in Croatia, Portugal, Finland and Central Europe. A busted turbo almost ruins everything in the final event in Japan, but Neuville fights back to sixt place, enought to win the titel as the first Belgian driver in WRC-history. His co-driver Martijn Wydaeghe, from the Flemisch speaking part of Belgium, makes this a complete Belgian victory.
