Campana set for a WRC breakthrough opportunity

Corsican rally star Pierre Campana is set for a breakthrough opportunity in his still young career as he is set to take part in the forthcoming WRC events in Germany and France at the helm of a MINI John Cooper Works WRC with Team Drive Pro, the support of Prodrive and crucially with support from the FFSA. It will be Pierre’s debut competition in a WRC car.

Pierre has been named as leader of the FFSA’s ‘Rally Team France 2011’, designed to promote the best national hopes right up to the highest level of motorsport. He follows in the esteemed footsteps of rally names such as Sébastien Loeb and Sébastien Ogier to be head of this initiative for 2011.

The announcement made today will give the 25-year-old from Corte the perfect platform from which to showcase the talents that saw him shine in Tour de Corse and Monte Carlo events earlier this year.

Pierre’s career will now move into this exciting new chapter with Rally Germany taking place 19-21 August and Alsace Rally de France taking place from 30 September – 2 October. Pierre will be run and supported in his MINI John Cooper Works WRC by Team Drive Pro, with the invaluable support of Prodrive, who are responsible for the recent return of the MINI brand to WRC. It will be Pierre’s competitive debut in a WRC car and first time at WRC Germany, while he did not compete at Alsace last year. His last WRC participation came in the 2008 Tour de Corse in which he took a JWRC podium.

The FFSA will also support Pierre by way of a bespoke training programme organised by the Auto Sport Academy, which will place at his disposal a management team in competition as well as a PR and communications campaign for the “Rally Team France 2011”. Pierre will continue to be managed by Quadra Sports.

Pierre’s first taste of the MINI John Cooper Works WRC car with BMW engine and Michelin tyres will be in a one day test at the Pôle Mécanique circuit Alès-Cévennes in the south of France on Thursday. He will then take part in the Richard Burns Memorial Rally in the UK, together with the MINI WRC works team, in mid-August, as preparation for WRC Germany the following week.

Pierre Campana said: “I am very proud to have been chosen by the FFSA to wear the colours of Rally Team France. For me it’s a great leap forward in my rally career and I cannot wait to begin this exciting new chapter. It will be a big challenge but one which I am confident I can contest to a high level and with complete focus and motivation. To be driving a MINI John Cooper Works WRC car is an incredible thought and I will do all I can to uphold the reputation of all these legendary brands. I am incredibly thankful to the FFSA for giving me this incredible honour and would also like to extend my thanks to Drive-Pro for giving me this opportunity. I can’t wait for the test to get underway at Alès-Cévennes tomorrow. I am keeping my expectations realistic, though, because this will be my first WRC participation since Tour de Corse three years ago. I was not in last year’s event at Alsace and this will be my first ever WRC Germany, so I will have plenty to learn in a short space of time. I am going to soak up every minute of this experience and just do my best along this great new journey which has been laid in front of me.”

Nicolas Deschaux, President of the FFSA, commented: "The FFSA has long set itself the challenge of guaranteeing conditions and creating the necessary environment for our most promising hopes to attain the highest stage of their discipline, and we still continue today with the same determination. Following Sebastien Ogier in 2009, the steering committee members are, together with myself, happy to entrust Pierre Campana with the colours of Rally Team France this year. We believe that this young, talent and committed driver will give his all to seize the opportunity that the FFSA has offered him.”