Marcus Gronholm was the only man who could keep Sebastien Loeb in sight in recent World Rally Championship seasons, and even the Finnish great couldn't prevent him notching up four successive titles.
So with Gronholm retiring at the end of 2007, it looked like Loeb's dominance would reach new heights in 2008 - and sure enough the incredible Citroen driver became the first five-time WRC champion in history, while also breaking his own record by winning 11 of the season's 15 rallies, including his first triumphs in the celebrated Finland and Great Britain events.
But it would be wrong to say that Loeb had no competition, that he had an easy run to the title, or that his superiority and the loss of the works Subaru and Suzuki teams means that the WRC is in an irrevocable decline.