2007: Gronholm blows hat-trick hopes
It was actually Malcolm Wilson who did the warningin 2007, urging his lead driver, Marcus Gronholm, to take things easy on the slippery Irish roads to give himself the best possible chance of retiring as a three-time, rather than two-time, World champion.
After both Gronholm and chief rival Sebastien Loeb retired in Japan, the Finn arrived in Sligo for the first Rally Ireland four points better off than Loeb.
While his French rival had been strongly tipped to clean up on the event’s narrow and bumpy lanes – wins on two practice outings in Donegal and Cork providing perfect preparation time – Gronholm was never truly at ease on sealed-surfaces, particularly in anything other than dry conditions.
Wilson urged Gronholm to play it safe in Ireland, reasoning that fourth place would have been good enough for a final title push on Rally GB two weeks later, where victory on his favoured gravel surface would have made him champion, regardless of how Loeb fared.
Although Gronholm was doing as he was told, a sudden surface change nearing the end of the 12.78-mile Lough Gill test on Friday morning left him crashing out.
It left a bruised and battered Ford driver to return to Finland, while Loeb stayed in Ireland to win with ease in his Citroen to open up a six-point advantage with one round remaining.
Needing a fifth-place finish in Wales to secure a fourth crown, Loeb drove with caution throughout, netting only one stage win and finishing more than 90 seconds behind overall winner Mikko Hirvonen to beat Gronholm to the title by four points.