New Zealand driver Possum Bourne, veteran of Subaru's early days, joined the team for the Rally New Zealand and Rally Australia.
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In a tightly contested year, Subaru's Richard Burns took his first and only drivers' world title, beating Ford's Colin McRae, Mitsubishi's Tommi Mäkinen and the defending champion Marcus Grönholm of Peugeot.
The last two days of the race consisted of a duel between Mikko Hirvonen, who drove a factory 2006 model Ford Focus RS WRC, and Chris Atkinson in a factory Subaru Impreza WRC 2006.
The following year saw Thiry continue in the Ford, then in 1999 he campaigned a Subaru Impreza in his role as third driver for the Subaru World Rally Team.