The opening round of the 1990 world rally series was held at Monte Carlo and was destined to be a scorcher. Toyota favoured Carlos Sainz, Armin Schwartz and Mikael Ericsson, Mazda opted for Timo Salonen and Hannu Mikkola while Mitsubishi chose Kenneth Eriksson and Ari Vatanen. Lancia’s Integrale 16v cars were piloted by Didier Auriol, Bruno Saby, Miki Biasion, Juha Kankkunen, Bertrand Balas and Dario Cerrato. The outcome of this thrilling round was a battle royal between the Japanese and the Italians which ended in controversy, protest and bitterness. The gloves came off between Lancia and Toyota and competition between the two mighty teams became a good deal more bruising...