In terms of lineup, Freddy Loix (Belgium) was appointed as the new regular number two driver. The team was newly sponsored by Philip Morris, and the LANCER EVOLUTION VI appeared at the opening round in a bright red and white Marlboro livery, colors that are also symbolic for motorsports champions. Mäkinen won the long-established Monte Carlo Rally for the first time, a victory that MITSUBISHI MOTORS had dreamed of for many years. Following that, MITSUBISHI MOTORS won the Swedish Rally for the second time running, their third win in that event. It was also their six consecutive win since the previous year’s Rally Finland. This was indeed the moment of glory for the Group A specification LANCER EVOLUTION.

In the middle of the season, WR cars had progressed into maturity in their third year and began to be fiercely competitive. In the same year, Ford introduced their Focus WRC from the opening round, and Peugeot also started to test race with the 206 WRC at the sixth rally, the Tour de Corse. Despite the production model the compact 206 WRC was based on, it did not meet the minimum overall length of 4m imposed by the WR car regulations, the 206 WRC was nevertheless homologated, demonstrating the preferential treatment WR cars were given by the FIA.

However, MITSUBISHI MOTORS continued to field a Group A car, pursuing further improvements to the LANCER EVOLUTION, with Mäkinen claiming his second win of the season in the ninth round, Rally New Zealand. And from the 12th round, Rally Sanremo, they deployed the rear active differential that they had been testing for more than five years. In that Rally Sanremo, Mäkinen took the lead to Peugeot's new WR car in the last stage of the final leg to win the race. This also allowed Mäkinen to take the lead in the series rankings, and he went on to set an unprecedented record of winning the world championship for the fourth year in a row. Meanwhile, Gustavo Trelles won the Group N Cup for the fourth consecutive time. Katsuhiko Taguchi competed in the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) with a Group N LANCER EVOLUTION built by TASK Engineering also achieved a phenomenal performance, claiming the series title after hot favorite rival retired from the final round.