When the manufacturer's title fight eclipsed the driver's – DirtFish

Ahead of the showdown between Hyundai and Toyota for the manufacturers' title later this month in Japan, we look back at some of the biggest manufacturer battles in World Rally Championship history. We asked you to vote for your top 5 and you chose this one at number one.

In 1983 the fundamentals of rallying changed. All the leading cars were now built to the freer Group B regulations, and Audi had pushed the envelope by introducing forced induction and perfecting its unique all-wheel drive transmission.

This gave the Ingolstadt brand the manufacturer's title in 1982, although Opel driver Walter Röhrl defeated the Quattro drivers Michèle Mouton and Hannu Mikkola in the drivers' championship. But Audi won three of the last four races. Surely nothing could stop the path to the doubles crown in 1983?

The season, immortalized by Stefano Mordini's film earlier this year, proved to be a classic slugfest between two manufacturers: Audi and Lancia.

The Italians were back. After a difficult year of development, the purpose-built mid-engined 037 was ready for an all-out title attack. Reigning world champion Röhrl was convinced to join team star Markku Alén, and the fight was on.

Lancia stated from the start that its focus was on the manufacturers' crown, which sparked greater interest in the manufacturers' championship, which had been overshadowed by the drivers' title in recent years.