I guess there’s only so much disappointment a championship contending factory team can take.

After getting pummeled by Sebastien Loeb and Citroen for nine straight years, Ford has announced that it will no longer contest the World Rally Championship.

Perhaps the fact that Loeb will no longer compete a full season from next year played into the manufacturer’s – whose factory team is run by M-Sport – thought process.

After not being able to defeat the flying Frenchman despite the excellent efforts of Marcus Gronholm and Mikko Hirvonen, succeeding in a championship without Loeb could diminish their achievement.

Whatever the reasoning, the announcement comes at the wrong time for rally fans who were looking forward to the arrival of factory teams from Volkswagen and Hyundai. With Red Bull set to promote WRC from next year, Ford’s presence in such a potentially competitive field would have been a lot to look forward to.