Tuesday | 23 Jun 2015

Corsica promises 'old school' challenge

France’s Tour de Corse (1 - 4 October) will stretch the length and breadth of Corsica in an endurance route that is a throwback to the early years of the FIA World Rally Championship.

The three-day asphalt event contains just nine stages, seven of which exceed 35km, combining fast sections with twisty and narrow mountain roads for which the rally is historically known. Each evening’s halt will be in a different town as it follows a linear route.

French Motor Sports Federation president Nicolas Deschaux promised the route would be ‘old school’ and offer drivers a rally far removed from other rounds of the series.

After a Thursday evening start ceremony in Ajaccio, the route heads north on Friday via 109.24km of stages before overnighting in the north-east town of Bastia.

The middle leg is the longest with 128.58km of action. It repeats two of Friday’s tests as it journeys to the south-east town of Porto-Vecchio. Sunday heads across the southern part of the island to the finish in Ajaccio after a further 94.75km of tests.

Corsica mountains - famed for its twists and turns

The central service park will be based in Corte, in the centre of the island, and each leg contains just three stages, covering 332.57km of competition in a total route of 987.69km.

The Tour de Corse formed part of the inaugural WRC 1973 and many sections are familiar from its early days in the championship.

“We wish to combine tradition and innovation by coming back to segments that have marked the history of the Tour de Corse yet have not been used for almost 30 years,” said Deschaux.

The WRC returns to the Mediterranean island for the first time since 2008 ending a five-year spell in which France’s encounter was based in Strasbourg.


Tour de Corse - Retour en WRC...by FFSA-tv

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