Andrew Cowan, a Mitsubishi rally driver who scored the manufacturer's first international victory at the 1972 Southern Cross Rally, founded Andrew Cowan Motorsports in 1983 as the European base for Mitsubishi's motorsport activities. Based in Rugby, Warwickshire, it evolved into Ralliart Europe. Ralliart Australia was separately established in 1988 by Doug Stewart. These two regional licensees served as the operational backbone for Mitsubishi's global motorsport activities for two decades.
Ralliart Europe entered the World Rally Championship full-time in 1989 with the Mitsubishi Galant VR-4, winning that year in Finland with Mikael Ericsson and in Great Britain with Pentti Airikkala. The team finished fourth in the manufacturers' standings in 1989 and third in 1990.
The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution was introduced for the 1993 season. Its development through successive generations became the backbone of the program. The Lancer Evolution II arrived mid-1994, with Kenneth Eriksson taking its first victory at Rally Sweden in 1995. Eriksson also drove the Evolution III to victory at the 1995 Rally Australia, competing in both the WRC and the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship, where Mitsubishi was concentrating much of its effort.
The pivotal era began in 1996, when Tommi Mäkinen won five of nine rounds to claim the drivers' championship, the first of four in a row. The Lancer Evolution IV arrived for 1997, with Mäkinen winning four rallies and securing a second title. Through 1998, Mitsubishi continued developing cars to the older Group A regulations while rivals Subaru and Ford had already moved to the newer World Rally Car specification. Despite this disadvantage, Mäkinen took the Lancer Evolution V to four victories in the second half of 1998, claiming a third consecutive title, while Richard Burns contributed two wins that gave Mitsubishi its first manufacturers' championship.
The Lancer Evolution VI opened the 1999 season with Marlboro sponsorship. Mäkinen won in Monte Carlo on debut, then in Sweden, New Zealand, and Sanremo to secure a then-record fourth consecutive drivers' title. From 2000 onward, the gap to fully-compliant World Rally Cars became decisive: Mäkinen won only once in 2000 and managed three victories in 2001 before the team's own Lancer WRC debuted at Sanremo that year. Both Mäkinen and teammate Freddy Loix struggled to adapt, and Mäkinen suffered a serious accident that injured co-driver Risto Mannisenmäki. He narrowly missed a fifth title.
Mäkinen departed for Subaru in 2002, and his replacements — François Delecour and Alister McRae — could not score effectively with the Lancer WRC. Mitsubishi finished last in the manufacturers' standings that year, behind Skoda and Hyundai, and did not compete in 2003 as they restructured their motorsport activities.
In November 2002, Mitsubishi formed Mitsubishi Motors Motor Sports (MMSP) GmbH in Trebur, Germany. In 2003, MMSP consolidated the previously independent licensees, acquiring ACMS from Cowan. Experienced driver Gilles Panizzi led the 2004 WRC return, with the team running a reduced schedule. A developed car, the Lancer WRC05, arrived for 2005 with Harri Rovanperä taking most of the points; the team finished fifth in the manufacturers' standings ahead of Skoda.
At the end of 2005, Mitsubishi Motors suspended its participation in the WRC. MMSP supported limited private entries through 2006 and 2007. In February 2009, MMSP's operations manager John Easton completed a buy-out of the Rugby-based operation to form MML Sports Ltd.
Alongside the WRC program, Mitsubishi built a record at the Dakar Rally using the Mitsubishi Pajero. The team won the event twelve times overall between 1982 and 2007, including four consecutive victories from 2004 to 2007. In 2003, Mitsubishi purchased the Pont-de-Vaux-based SBM operation to form MMSP SAS for cross-country activities. The team developed the Mitsubishi Racing Lancer for the 2009 Dakar, but struggled against Volkswagen and withdrew from cross-country competition that year. In late 2009, the French operation was acquired and renamed JMB Stradale Off Road.
Mitsubishi's 1998 manufacturers' title and Tommi Mäkinen's four consecutive drivers' championships represent the high point of the Ralliart WRC program. The Lancer Evolution series, developed through stages I to VI and into the WRC car era, gave the team a coherent and commercially successful identity that linked road cars directly to competition hardware. The Ralliart brand was revived by Mitsubishi in May 2021 as part of a broader performance product strategy.