The 40th anniversary of the WRC: picture special

Carlos Sainz won the 1992 driver's championship in a Toyota Celica, seen here in full flight during the Rally de Portugal

The Alpine-Renault A110, seen here competing on the Monte Carlo Rally, won the inaugural 1973 WRC

The Ford Escort RS1600, driven by Chris Sclater, was another entry in the 1973 season

Jussi Kynsilehto and Martin Holmes pushed their Ford Escort to its limits in the 1975 WRC

The 1975 Safari Rally in Kenya wasn't all dust and sand, as some may have expected

Heavy snow impeded progress during the 1978 Monte Carlo Rally; here Michele Mouton's Stratos follows Maurizio Verini's Fiat 131

Markku Alén won the 1978 driver's championship in his Fiat 131 Abarth

Hannu Mikkola helped Audi secure the manufacturer's championship with its Quattro in the 1982 season

Walter Röhrl won the 1978 season in an Opel Ascona 400, seen here in Monaco

Stig Blomqvist takes on the Acropolis Rally of Greece in his Audi Quattro

Timo Salonen won the driver's championship in 1985, driving a Peugeot 205 Turbo 16

Henri Toivonen puts the hammer down in his Lancia 037 Rally during the 1985 Rally Finland

Walter Röhrl weaves his Audi Quattro between spectators in the 1985 Rally Italia Sardegna

Group A competitors, like Franz Wittmann's 16-valve Volkswagen Golf GTI, became prevalent after Group B was banned

Stig Blomqvist competed in the 1986 WRC in a Ford RS200

The Lancia Delta S4, seen here in Italy in 1986, was banned along with the other Group B cars due to concerns about safety

Henri Toivonen and co-driver Sergio Cresto were tragically killed in an S4 during the 1986 Tour de Corse

The Lancia Delta HF 4WD, a Group A car, secured Lancia both the driver and manufacturer titles in 1987

Carlos Sainz campaigned a Ford Sierra RS Cosworth in the 1987 season

This shot, from 1990, shows the cars in the parc fermé after a stage

Carlos Sainz survived a dramatic crash in his Celica during the 1991 Rally Australia

Colin McRae got behind the wheel of a Prodrive-built Subaru Legacy in 1992

Toyota triumphed in the 1993 championship, taking both the driver and manufacturer top spots

The manufacturer repeated its success in 1994, again winning both titles

Colin McRae won the 1995 season in the popular Subaru Impreza

Tommi Mäkinen stormed to victory in 1996, driving a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution III

Carlos Sainz guides his Ford Escort RS Cosworth through one of Rally Indonesia's stages

Tommi Mäkinen won the driver's championship again in 1997, but Subaru took the manufacturer's award

Colin McRae drove for Ford in 1999, competing in a new Ford Focus

Richard Burns won his first World Rally Championship in 2001. Unfortunately he died four years later from a brain tumour

Colin McRae endured a number of technical issues and crashes in his Focus, seen here after an off in the 2001 WRC

Marcus Grönholm won the championship in 2002, driving a Peugeot 206 WRC

Sébastien Loeb joined Citroën in 2002 and rapidly becoming a dominant force

Petter Solberg tears through a stage in his championship-winning Subaru Impreza

Citroën won both driver and manufacturer championships in 2004, beginning a long line of victories

Sébastien Loeb proved unstoppable, winning every driver's championship from 2004 to 2012

Marcus Grönholm drove with Ford in both the 2006 and 2007 seasons

2006 saw Ford snatch the manufacturer's championship from Citroën

Loeb charges to victory in the 2008 season, driving the Citroën C4 WRC

Mikko Hirvonen crashed out spectacularly during the 2010 Rally Finland

Kimi Räikkönen entered his own Citroën DS3 WRC into the 2011 WRC season

Petter Solberg aided Citroën on its way to another manufacturer's victory in the 2011 WRC

Dani Sordo drove for Mini in its first WRC season...

... but Citroën remained the top of the league

Volkswagen's Polo R WRC made its first competitive appearance in 2013; Hyundai will soon be entering the WRC as well