Campana opens Monte-Carlo with 2WD and R3 lead

Corsican rally star Pierre Campana has begun his second Rallye Monte-Carlo in excellent fashion by leading the 2WD and R3 categories after the opening four stages of this year’s contest.

Campana, alongside his navigator Sabrina de Castelli, ended the first day of action, run in dry but bitterly cold conditions, in an impressive 16th place overall in their Renault Clio R3.

The opening day of the rally has not been without its dramas with organisers forced to curtail the fourth stage due to an accident. Just 29 cars were able to compete in that fourth stage with Campana among those unable to take part. Those drivers were given the time they had recorded on the first pass through the repeated stage.

As early as today’s opening stage, Pierre experienced trouble when he sustained damage to his suspension when trying to pass a competitor who was unfairly holding him up. Pierre’s performance and consistency paid off, though, securing second best in the 2WD category throughout the first three stages after having scored the best time in the legendary Burzet.

Heading into the fourth stage, Pierre was just 2.4s adrift of the 2WD leader, but after the addition of times after the cancelled fourth stage (the time from stage 3 was taken as a reference by the stewards), Pierre was in charge of the class by 12 seconds heading into day two.

Supported by French simulation company Ellip6 for this centenary edition of the Rally Monte-Carlo, 25-year-old Pierre is chasing glory the IRC 2WD Cup after finishing second in his debut at the prestigious event in 2010.

Pierre said: “It has been an eventful but positive first day in Monte-Carlo for me and I am pleased with what we have been able to achieve in the circumstances. I had a bit of trouble in the first stage when trying to get past cars who should have made the job a bit easier. I sustained some damage to the front right suspension after a coming together with a car but I managed to work around the problem to set the second best time in the 2WD category after the first three stages. When we came to the final stage of the day, an accident prevented us from completing a run, but the stewards used the previous stage as a guide to determine the times, as per the regulation, and we ended the first day leading the 2WD and R3 categories, which was a great result for day one. The car and the Michelin tyres have been performing very well today. It is good to have Ellip6 supporting me again for this event and hopefully the positive start to this great event will continue into day two.”