A transitional season for the WRC saw another title for Loeb, controversy over tactics, the rise of some new stars, and one of the finest rallies of all time. David Evans recounts how it all unfolded

What else did you expect? Sebastien Loeb had come close to losing his title in 2009, closer than ever, in fact. That wasn't going to happen again. Loeb was at the top of his game through this season and, like all true maestros, he did it his way. For a seventh successive year.

Looking back at the start of the season, Loeb smiles at the way he had been written off after finishing second to Mikko Hirvonen on the season-opening Rally Sweden. Having almost been beaten to his title by the Finn a couple of months earlier, the watching world suspected Loeb's decline had truly begun when he could find no response to the Ford driver's final-day firepower in Karlstad. It was true, Loeb did settle for second after a significant moment with a snowbank on the final morning. But looking back, it was utter folly to think that Swedish swallow was going to make Mikko's summer.

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