Part-time World Rally Championship campaigns are the rage at the moment.
Nine drivers have so far been confirmed to be taking part in the 2024 campaign, and over half of them will be doing so on a partial basis!
Now, then, feels as good a time as any to reflect on the best ever part-time WRC campaigns.
This, as always, is a subjective list – compiled by DirtFish writers Luke Barry and James Bowen – and as such some heavy hitters have missed out.
Arguably the king of the part-time season, Dani Sordo, hasn’t made it onto our chosen 10; mainly because picking just one of his campaigns to put forward was tricky as they were all just consistently good.
Gilles Panizzi is another unlucky not to have made the cut, particularly for his exploits in 2002 when he was unbeaten on pure asphalt. Piero Liatti’s 1997 season deserves a shout-out, as does his then Subaru team-mate Colin McRae for his 2005 heroics with Škoda – the fact it was just two rallies made it hard for the Scot to earn his place here.
And what about Lappi’s debut WRC campaign with Toyota, where he was winning stages and rallies just a handful of starts into his career? It too deserves an honorable mention.
So which drivers, and years, have? Without further ado, here is our reckoning:
Sébastien Ogier – 2023
Sébastien Ogier set the benchmark for success in a modern part-time campaign this year. After struggling slightly (by Ogier’s standards) in 2022, everything clicked into place this term as the Frenchman took home two victories in the opening three rounds and led the WRC points standings in the spring.
Although Ogier was always likely to fall out of title contention, he did pick up an additional victory on Safari Rally Kenya to take his win tally to three from eight starts on the year – the same as world champion Kalle Rovanperä.
What’s perhaps even more impressive though is just how close Ogier was to winning even more. A desperately unfortunate accident caused by his muddy foot slipping off the brake pedal took him out of Rally Italy Sardinia while leading, while suspension failure stopped his charge for victory on Acropolis Rally Greece. Punctures robbed him of any chance to challenge in Croatia and Central Europe, and Ogier took zero risks to finish second on Rally Japan to ensure his employer secured a 1-2-3 at home.
With so many missed opportunities in 2023, the Frenchman could arguably have been in championship contention right down to the wire in his partial campaign this year, had a few more situations gone his way.
James Bowen
Kris Meeke – 2016
Whenever Kris Meeke’s name comes up in a conversation, my mind always goes straight to those incredible onboard shots of his run through Ouninpohja en route to a historic 2016 Rally Finland victory – the fastest WRC event of all time.
That piece of driving mastery came as part of only a partial season for the Northern Irishman, as his Citroën team focused on the development of its new C3 for 2017. With no pressure to secure consistent points for the French manufacturer, Meeke was free to do what he did best – drive flat out.
He also won in Portugal, challenged Ogier for victory in Monte Carlo and showed speed just about everywhere he showed up that year, setting up a potential title challenge for his full-time return the following season.
Sadly that challenge wasn’t to be, and his career would never quite reach such heights again. His 2016 part-time campaign will likely always remain ‘peak Meeke’.
JB
Craig Breen – 2021
Tragically, Craig Breen only ever got one full-season crack at the world championship. But of his part-time campaigns, 2021 was definitely the highlight.
Sharing a Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC with Dani Sordo, the affable Irishman was a solid fourth on Arctic Rally Finland before a disappointing eighth in Croatia. But his next three events were simply sublime.
Leading Hyundai’s charge on team-mate Ott Tänak’s home event in Estonia, and challenging eventual winner Kalle Rovanperä for victory, was strong, and then he backed that up with a superb run in Ypres where he was the only driver to keep up with his other team-mate, Thierry Neuville, on the Belgian’s home ground.
Another podium place, this time third in Finland, capped off a brilliant run of rallies which earned Breen an opportunity at M-Sport Ford which sadly didn’t pan out as hoped.
Luke Barry
Kenneth Eriksson – 1995
For Sweden’s Kenneth Eriksson 1995 represented his best ever WRC points finish, taking third in the standings despite only entering half of that year’s rounds for Mitsubishi. In his four starts, Eriksson bagged two wins. By my math that’s a 50% win rate – not too shabby.
His home win on Rally Sweden is best remembered for a team orders debacle, with Mitsubishi ordering its two drivers to hold station as Eriksson led a 1-2 for the team heading into the rally’s final day. However, second placed Tommi Mäkinen had other ideas and stormed into the lead the following day before being ordered by Mitsubishi to slow down and cede the victory to Eriksson.
The Swede’s other win came in Australia, as Colin McRae and Subaru backed off to ensure they scored the vital points they needed in their ultimately successful drivers’ and manufacturers’ title challenges.
Eriksson defected to Subaru for a full-time drive in 1996 but would only return to winning ways again in a partial 1997 campaign, in an era where surface specials were highly sought after in the WRC and Eriksson was among the best on the loose.
JB
Walter Röhrl – 1983
This one was so good, they’ve even decided to make a film about it!
Well, not quite. The plot of the upcoming Race for Glory: Audi vs. Lancia movie is focused on the 1983 battle between the manufacturers’ rather than specifically the drivers’ battle, but why let that ruin my point…
Walter Röhrl, who would ironically join Audi the following season, was instrumental in Lancia’s 1983 success with its less-fancied rear-wheel-drive 037, despite the German famously refusing to drive on all the rallies.
But of those he did do, he won three of them, was second on two more and claimed a third in Portugal. In other words, Röhrl (at the time the defending champion) was never off the podium all year.
That enabled him to finish second in the drivers’ championship, despite competing in just half the rallies Audi’s eventual champion Hannu Mikkola did.
LB
Ari Vatanen – 1984
1981 WRC champion Ari Vatanen had waited three years for a competitive car by the time his part-time 1984 campaign rolled around. But boy was it a car worth waiting for, as Vatanen would take charge of Peugoet’s 205 T16 – the car that would end Audi’s domination of Group B and take the final two drivers’ and constructors’ titles of that famous WRC era.
Before those successes came the car’s mid-season debut in 1984. After consecutive retirements on the Tour de Course and Acropolis Rally, Vatanen stormed to victory in his native Finland giving Peugeot its maiden WRC victory.
The Finn would back that result up with wins in Sanremo and GB to end the season fourth in the standings despite only competing in five of the year’s 12 rallies. Considering that achievement came for a brand-new team in a brand-new car, Vatanen’s 1984 is a worthy contender for the title of best ever part-time WRC season.
A full season in a dominant machine beckoned for 1985, and Vatanen continued his winning streak in Monte Carlo and Sweden before his career-defining accident on Rally Argentina ended his title hopes, and almost his life.
JB
Carlos Sainz – 2005
Are we cheating including Carlos Sainz’s 2005 here, if we said McRae didn’t make the cut in the same year for just starting two events, and Sainz himself started just two?
Maybe. But I at least don’t care, because as great as McRae’s impact was for Škoda, it cruelly never came with the headline result to boot. What Sainz managed for Citroën in 2005 meanwhile was deceptively impressive.
After retiring at the end of the previous season, Citroën poached François Duval from Ford, but the Belgian had a rough start to life behind the wheel of a Xsara WRC with several crashes. After yet another off, and a subsequent fire, co-driver Stéphane Prévot actually walked away from Duval and Citroën decided to bench him.
Sainz was the chosen one and slotted back in beautifully. He didn’t set the world alight with his speed but he delivered exactly what Citroën needed him to – a fourth place in Turkey and third-placed podium in Greece.
Duval was back in for Argentina and Sainz’s job was done. The ultimate super sub.
LB
Mads Østberg – 2012
Mads Østberg has always been a strong, if unspectacular, performer in the WRC. But no season sticks out more than his 2012 campaign.
Competing in a Ford Fiesta RS WRC run by his own Adapta Motorsport outfit, Østberg truly stuck it to the big boys – most famously with his one and only WRC win in Portugal after Mikko Hirvonen’s exclusion.
But it was Østberg’s ruthless consistency that really shone through.
Over the 11 rallies he started, the Norwegian never, ever retired and didn’t finish lower than fifth all year. The only event he missed was New Zealand (thus just about qualifying this as a part-time season) and had he made that trip, he could maybe have beaten works Ford driver Jari-Matti Latvala to second in the championship.
As it was Østberg finished just five points adrift, and comfortably clear of Ford’s other works pilot and Østberg’s compatriot Petter Solberg.
LB
Sébastien Loeb – 2022
Picking just one partial season for Loeb was difficult, because he had many that impressed.
Remember 2018, where with Citroën he proved he was still on the pace of the world’s best in México and managed to win in Spain? Or even 2013, where Loeb won twice and was second in Sweden before untimely crashing on what we all thought was his final WRC start in France?
I even tried to argue that 2006 counted! He missed the final four rallies after all… but James wouldn’t let me have that.
So instead we’ve chosen to highlight 2022, Loeb’s sole season with the team he continually beat across the late 2000s: M-Sport.
Purely judged on results, this might seem an odd choice. Loeb retired twice and used super-rally in Portugal. But that Monte Carlo victory at the start of the Rally1 era was just epic, and he proved the only driver able to win with a Puma across the whole season.
And of those other rallies? He led two of them (and was just 1.9s off first on the other) before either a small mistake or mechanical mishap denied him a result.
LB
Juha Kankkunen – 1997
By 1997, Juha Kankkunen had seen, and done, it all. The four-time WRC champion had been left without a full-time drive since Toyota’s one year ban from the championship towards the end of 1995, and after missing the first half of the 1997 season, it looked like Kankkunen’s WRC career might be fizzling out.
Then came the call from M-Sport. The old master was drafted in by the factory Ford team to replace Armin Schwarz and support Carlos Sainz’s drivers’ and Ford’s manufacturers’ title bids, and the Finn immediately showed he’d lost none of his speed.
Kankunnen led the Acropolis, only his second rally back, before allowing team-mate Sainz to take the win, and pretty well matched the Spaniard (who was fighting for the drivers’ title) for pace over the remaining gravel rounds. After taking five podiums from just eight starts, the Ford driver ended the year fourth in the standings, only behind the all-conquering trio of Sainz, Colin McRae and champion Tommi Mäkinen.
After regaining his mojo in that 1997 part-season, Kankkunen would continue as a factory driver in the WRC for another five years before eventually retiring on his own terms.
JB
