WRC - Rallye de France-Tour de Corse - Preview
The FIA World Rally Championship contenders head to the tight and twisty mountain roads on the Mediterranean island of Corsica for the 10th round of the series
For the second consecutive year, France’s round of the FIA World Rally Championship returns to Corsica for what is nicknamed the ‘Rally of 10,000 Corners’. The challenge of the Tour de Corse comes from the tight and twisty abrasive asphalt roads that wind relentlessly through the mountains, placing high demand on tyres as well as driver fitness. The weather can also be unpredictable on the island’s mountainous terrain, adding to the challenge of what is already a hugely demanding event. France’s championship rally traditionally ran on the Ile de Beauté between 1973 and 2008 before moving to the mainland and the Alsace region in 2010. Last year, however, it returned to its origins and for 2016 the event will cover the whole Corsican territory from its north-easterly base in Bastia, with visits to Porticcio and Ajaccio on the west coast and the harbour town of Porto-Vecchio in the southeast. As the season heads towards its climax, reigning FIA World Rally Champions Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia head to their home round with their first opportunity to seal the titles for the fourth consecutive year. While an outside chance largely reliant on the results of their main rivals, it is nevertheless mathematically possible. The fight in the FIA WRC 2 Championship continues and Elfyn Evans, the category leader, will be looking to capitalise on his last point scoring round, being that none of his nearest rivals are registered for points in France. The event also marks the WRC debut of Hyundai’s new R5 machinery and all eyes will be on the i20 to see how it fares against the opposition. This is also the penultimate round of the FIA Junior WRC Championship and Ole Christian Veiby and Terry Folb need to excel if they are to seriously challenge series leader Simone Tempestini who could win the title in France. THE 2016 ROUTE Seventy per cent - 161 of the 390 competitive kilometres - is new this year, largely represented by three new stages (Acqua Doria-Albitreccia, Novella-Pietralba and the Porto-Vecchio-Palombaggia Power Stage). This year Bastia replaces Corte as the host town, but before the competitive element of the event gets underway the crews head to Ajaccio for the ceremonial start on Thursday evening. Long stages characterise the Tour de Corse and Friday’s opener at 49.72 kilometres will be a sharp wake-up call at the start of a long day with no service and only a tyre-fitting zone in Porticcio. Saturday is the longest competitive leg of the event and kicks off with the first of two runs through the second longest stage of the rally - La Porta-Valle di Rostino at 53.72 kilometres. Sunday is no cruise to the finish with marginally the longest stage from Antisanti-Poggio di Nazza (53.78 kilometres) before the concluding Power Stage, which will be broadcast live on the international television feed. The Porto-Vecchio marina will then host the finish of the 10th round of the FIA World Rally Championship. RALLY DATA
MEDIA ACCREDITATION
TOUR DE CORSE TIMETABLE AND MEDIA OPPORTUNITIES ORGANISED BY THE FIA
FIA PRESS CONFERENCE ATTENDANCE
MANUFACTURER ENTRIES, TOUR DE CORSE
ADDITIONAL MEDIA OPPORTUNITIES Autograph Signing Session: On Friday and Saturday selected crews will be available for a 15 minute autograph session. This will take place in the service park during the end of day service at the teams’ service areas. The provisional classifications for all the WRC Championships can be found on the following link: http://www.fia.com/events/world-rally-championship/season-2016/standings Shortly after the finish of the event, a downloadable stage chart showing the progressive positions of the leading crews during the rally will be available. This is copyright free for editorial purposes and available at the following link: http://www.fia.com/events/world-rally-championship/season-2016/stage-chart-9 |
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