After more than a decade of regulatory stability, the World Rally Championship (WRC) embraced the new, cost-conscious, Super 2000 Rallye ruleset for 2011.

The incoming regulations outlawed costly driver aids and restricted the use of exotic materials, simultaneously mandating boost-controlled 1.6-litre turbocharged engines in preference to the departing 2.0-litre units.

As winners of the previous seven Drivers’ Championships—each courtesy of Sébastien Loeb—and three Constructors’ titles, Citroën had most to lose, yet the team’s DS3 WRC ensured a seamless transition to the new regulations.

Its transversely mounted inline four-cylinder engine and six-speed Sadev sequential gearbox permitted neat packaging; the 300 horsepower, 1,200-kilogram racer immediately pulled ahead of the field, winning in only its second event.

Incredibly, over the remainder of 2011 and 2012—a period encompassing some 25 WRC events—the DS3 would be beaten just five times.

Loeb and Citroën emerged victorious i...