Car: Impreza WRC Drivers: Petter Solberg, Mikko Hirvonen 2004 position: 3rd

But the emergence of Citroen as rallying's strongest team suggested it would be hard work to retain the title, and so it proved.

Solberg guided the Impreza to an impressive five wins - only one less than world champion Sebastien Loeb.

But despite his best efforts, the Subaru never really looked quite capable of stopping Citroen's march.