Tour de Corse explained

Tour de Corse
Status:Active
Genre:Motorsporting event
Frequency:Annual
Location:Corsica
Country:France
First:1956

The Tour de Corse is a rally first held in 1956 on the island of Corsica. It was the French round of the World Rally Championship from the inaugural 1973 season until 2008, was part of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge from 2011 to 2012, and finally returned to WRC in 2015. The name "Tour de Corse" refers to the fact that in the early days it was run around the island; nowadays it only features roads around Ajaccio. The rally is held on asphalt roads, and is known as the "Ten Thousand Turns Rally" because of the twisty mountain roads.

Several drivers have been killed during the event, including fatalities at 3 consecutive events. Attilio Bettega, driving a Lancia 037 Rally, died during the fourth special stage of the 1985 rally, Zérubia-Santa Giulia. On May 2 1986, exactly a year later, Henri Toivonen and his co-driver Sergio Cresto died in their Lancia Delta S4 during the 18th stage of the event, Corte-Taverna. Almost a year later in 1987, co-driver French Corsican Jean-Michel Argenti and driver Jean Marchini fatally crashed similarly to those before them.

The first running of the rally was won by the Belgian female driver Gilberte Thirion in a Renault Dauphine. Two drivers have won the event a record six times; Bernard Darniche (1970, 1975, 1977, 1978, 1979 and 1981) and Didier Auriol (1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1995). The only non-French drivers to win the event more than once are Sandro Munari, Markku Alén, Colin McRae and Thierry Neuville.

It has been largely popularized that Toivonen and Cresto's deaths sealed the fate of Group B rallying due to the realization that the cars had too much pure power and lack of containment, proving to be dangerous and potentially fatal to spectators.

Winners

Seasonwidth=200DriverCo-driverwidth=200CarSeriesEvent report
1956 Gilberte ThirionRenault DauphineNon ChampionshipReport
1957 Michel NicolAlfa Romeo GiuliettaReport
1958 Guy MonraisseRenault DauphineReport
1959 Pierre OrsiniRenault DauphineReport
1960 Herbert Linge Paul-Ernst StrählePorsche SC 90Report
1961 René TrautmannCitroën DS19Report
1962 Pierre OrsiniRenault DauphineReport
1963 René TrautmannCitroën DS19Report
1964 Jean VinatierRenault 8 GordiniReport
1965 Pierre OrsiniRenault 8 GordiniReport
1966 Jean-François PiotRenault 8 GordiniReport
1967 Sandro MunariLancia Fulvia HF CoupéReport
1968 Jean-Claude AndruetAlpine-Renault A110Report
1969 Gérard LarroussePorsche 911 RReport
1970 Bernard DarnicheAlpine-Renault A110 1800ERCReport
1971Rally cancelled
1972 Jean-Claude AndruetAlpine-Renault A110 1800ERCReport
1973 Jean-Pierre NicolasAlpine-Renault A110 1800WRCReport
1974 Jean-Claude Andruet Michèle 'Biche' Espinosi-PetitLancia Stratos HFReport
1975 Bernard Darniche Alain MahéLancia Stratos HFReport
1976 Sandro Munari Silvio MaigaLancia Stratos HFReport
1977 Bernard Darniche Alain MahéFiat 131 AbarthReport
1978 Bernard Darniche Alain MahéFiat 131 AbarthReport
1979 Bernard Darniche Alain MahéLancia Stratos HFReport
1980 Jean-Luc Thérier Michel VialPorsche 911 SCReport
1981 Bernard Darniche Alain MahéLancia Stratos HFReport
1982 Jean Ragnotti Jean-Marc AndriéRenault 5 TurboReport
1983 Markku Alén Ilkka KivimäkiLancia 037 RallyReport
1984 Markku Alén Ilkka KivimäkiLancia 037 RallyReport
1985 Jean Ragnotti Pierre ThimonierRenault R5 Maxi TurboReport
1986 Bruno Saby Jean-François FauchillePeugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2Report
1987 Bernard Béguin Jean-Jacques LenneBMW M3Report
1988 Didier Auriol Bernard OccelliFord Sierra RS CosworthReport
1989 Didier Auriol Bernard OccelliLancia Delta IntegraleReport
1990 Didier Auriol Bernard OccelliLancia Delta Integrale 16VReport
1991 Carlos Sainz Luís MoyaToyota Celica GT-Four ST165Report
1992 Didier Auriol Bernard OccelliLancia Delta HF IntegraleReport
1993 François Delecour Daniel GrataloupFord Escort RS CosworthReport
1994 Didier Auriol Bernard Occelli[1] [2] Toyota Celica Turbo 4WDReport
1995 Didier Auriol Denis GiraudetToyota Celica GT-Four ST205Report
1996 Philippe Bugalski Jean-Paul ChiaroniRenault Mégane Maxi2-Litre World Rally CupReport
1997 Colin McRae Nicky GristSubaru Impreza WRC 97WRCReport
1998 Colin McRae Nicky GristSubaru Impreza WRC 98Report
1999 Philippe Bugalski Jean-Paul ChiaroniCitroën Xsara Kit CarReport
2000 Gilles Panizzi Hervé PanizziPeugeot 206 WRCReport
2001 Jesús Puras Marc MartíCitroën Xsara WRCReport
2002 Gilles Panizzi Hervé PanizziPeugeot 206 WRCReport
2003 Petter Solberg Phil MillsSubaru Impreza WRC2003Report
2004 Markko Märtin Michael ParkFord Focus RS WRC 04Report
2005 Sébastien Loeb Daniel ElenaCitroën Xsara WRCReport
2006 Sébastien Loeb Daniel ElenaCitroën Xsara WRCReport
2007 Sébastien Loeb Daniel ElenaCitroën C4 WRCReport
2008 Sébastien Loeb Daniel ElenaCitroën C4 WRCReport
2009 Pascal Trojani Francis MazottiPeugeot 307 WRCFrance Cup[3] Report
2010Rally cancelled
2011 Thierry Neuville Nicolas GilsoulPeugeot 207 S2000IRCReport
2012 Dani Sordo Carlos del BarrioMini Cooper S2000Report
2013 Bryan Bouffier[4] Xavier PanseriPeugeot 207 S2000ERCReport
2014 Stéphane Sarrazin Jacques-Julien RenucciFord Fiesta RRCReport
2015 Jari-Matti Latvala Miikka AnttilaVolkswagen Polo R WRCWRCReport
2016 Sébastien Ogier Julien IngrassiaVolkswagen Polo R WRCReport
2017 Thierry NeuvilleReport
2018 Sébastien Ogier Julien IngrassiaFord Fiesta WRCReport
2019 Thierry NeuvilleReport
2020Rally not held

Multiple winners

WinsDriverYears won
6 Bernard Darniche1970, 1975, 1977–1979, 1981
Didier Auriol1988–1990, 1992, 1994–1995
4 Sébastien Loeb2005–2008
3 Pierre Orsini1959, 1962, 1969
Jean-Claude Andruet1968, 1972, 1974
Thierry Neuville2011, 2017, 2019
2 René Trautmann1961, 1963
Sandro Munari1967, 1976
Jean Ragnotti1982, 1985
Markku Alén1983–1984
Philippe Bugalski1996, 1999
1997–1998
Gilles Panizzi2000, 2002
Sébastien Ogier2016, 2018

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Didier Auriol - rally profile eWRC-results.com. eWRC-results.com.
  2. Web site: Bernard Occelli - rally profile eWRC-results.com. eWRC-results.com.
  3. Web site: 8 November 2009 . results Tour de Corse – Rallye des 10000 Virages 2009 . 25 June 2013 . eWRC-results.com.
  4. Web site: 56. Tour de Corse 2013 results . eWRC-results.com . 18 May 2013 . 25 June 2013.