Scanning the list of 1973 entrants, I'm going with Shekhar Mehta but I could be wrong there.

I was watching some footage from 1997 yesterday, and as far as I can work out there were only between 6-8 works seats that year, which is a similar number to this year.

I suspect the real answer to your somewhat loaded ("scourge", really?) question is that it has to with fewer and fewer external sponsorship deals (no tobacco, not worth it for alcohol, lesser ROI for other brands due to reduced mainstream exposure) and teams looking to save money to invest it elsewhere if one driver can bring sponsorship and another can't.

If you were starting a WRC team for a manufacturer this year, and you couldn't take any of the guys currently under contract (being paid) for a seat, which three would you choose? And after you've chosen those, could your mind be swayed on any of them, if your 4th or 5th choices could offer you a financial incentive?