DERBY DAYS WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIPHopes are high Subaru Impreza WRX STi and Mitsubishi Evolutions battle will recommence, writes Damian Cullen
FERRARI V MCLAREN, Porsche v Audi, Ford v Chevrolet - the day after Ransom Olds began mass production of motorcars at his Oldsmobile factory at the beginning of the 20th century, the first debate as to who had the fastest car began.
And it continues today.
While Formula One attracts fans happy to watch vehicles they could never aspire to own, the World Rally Championship has the distinct advantage of featuring cars that look the same as those that are driven on every road in the world.
It has made car manufacturers eager to compete in the WRC. And compete successfully. And it has fuelled many rivalries - particularly between Japanese car companies. And probably most famously between the "Evo" and the "STi".
The battle between the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution and Subaru Impreza WRX STi has been one of the greatest performance-car rivalries. And with every successful race in the WRC reflected in increased car sales in Asia, Europe and, eventually, America, the prize for winning is far more than mere points and trophies.
With Tommi Mäkinen and Richard Burns behind the steering wheels, the Evo clinched the manufacturers' championship for Mitsubishi for the first time in 1998 and Mäkinen actually took the driver's titles in the Evolution from 1996 to 1999.
The success came as a huge shock to the Subaru team, who had claimed three manufacturers' titles in a row with the Impreza WRX STi immediately before Mitsubishi's maiden win.
For every car magazine in the world, the Evo v STi feature became required reading - and provoked furious debate.
The Impreza also raced to the driver's title in 1995 (Colin McRae), 2001 (Richard Burns) and 2003 (Petter Solberg).
In fact, one of the greatest rivalries between drivers in the WRC reached its peak in that 2003 season when Solberg clinched his first world championship by winning the Wales Rally. The Subaru driver had entered that final meeting of the season a single point behind rival and fellow young-gun Sébastien Loeb.
However, Loeb bounced back to claim the WRC driver's title in 2004, '05, '06 and last season, which featured another classic rivalry - between the French pilot and Marcus Gronholm.
The Finn edged Loeb by three-tenths of one second to win the Rally of New Zealand last September, the closest-ever finish in WRC. At the end of the season, Loeb was only four points clear of Gronholm on the drivers' table.
But, unfortunately, that rivalry ended prematurely, when Gronholm retired at the end of last season.
And the WRC is still waiting for a renewal of hostilities between Mitsubishi and Subaru. There have been several false dawns - with many reports that Mitsubishi are about to return with the Evo. But while this weekend's fifth round of the WRC season - centred around the Dead Sea area outside Amman in Jordan - will once again feature the Impreza, the Evolution will again be missing. And its loss is being felt.
The battle for WRC supremacy between the two - in a sport that features a thousand rivalries - was one of motorsport's most exciting battles in the competition's 35-year history.
The World Rally Championship began in 1973 and was immediately viewed as a battle between big car companies - in fact, for the first six seasons there was only a championship award for the winning manufacturer.
The Monte Carlo rally only actually began because of another rivalry - between the town and the nearby coastal town of Nice.
In the first years of the 20th century, Nice was the more famous of the two - attracting wealthy Europeans to its carnival and casinos. The 1911 rally was originally devised to attract tourists away from Nice to Monte Carlo - and was slotted in at the start of the year in order to advertise the town's mild climate in the early months of the year.
It was early days in the battles between cars, drivers and manufacturers. The average speed at the 1911 race was 15 miles per hour.
