Pierre Campana’s star rises

Corsican rally driver Pierre Campana has been inundated with positive feedback following his incredible fourth place finish at last weekend’s Tour de Corse.

The recently turned 26 year old enjoyed a competitive and consistent Tour on home soil, extracting the full performance potential out of both himself and the Michelin-shod Peugeot 207 S2000 car, fighting regularly amongst the front-runners.

Pierre put in a tremendous trouble-free performance with numerous highlights, of which SS7, SS9 and SS13 were particularly memorable. SS7 saw him finish fourth in stage after improvements made to the car’s handling. SS9 was his best stage performance in terms of finishing position, ending in 2nd place, while SS13 saw him finish just seconds behind the stage leader.

Pierre’s performances across all stages of the rally have cemented his status among rally insiders as ‘one to watch’. In fact, Pierre and his management team are already putting the wheels in motion to take the Corsican’s career to an exciting new level. Pierre looks back on a weekend to remember...

Four questions to Pierre Campana

Pierre, has your achievement from last weekend sunk in yet?

“I have finally had time to reflect on our performance from last week and it was definitely the highlight of my rallying career to date. To have had the chance to compete in a home rally around the streets of my home town was an amazing feeling and I will never forget the support of the home fans and supporters. I was also lucky to have the backing of a number of partners and supporters who made the participation possible. From Munaretto, Sparco, VP Racing Fuel, and under the watchful eye of Peugeot Sport, as well as Perin, Quotidia and my management team, I’d like to say thanks to everyone for the support which made this result possible.”

What was your approach to the event?

“Together with the Munaretto team, Sabrina and I set ourselves some very clear targets and that was to take each stage one at a time without worrying about the end result too much. This approach really helped keep us all focussed and concentrated, allowing us to deal with problems swiftly and professionally. Of course, it is unlikely that we can experience 14 stages of a tough rally like Tour de Corse without experiencing some problems, but we were able to work well to minimise the disruption to our programme – and that made a huge difference. The performance of the Michelin tyres was also excellent and consistent throughout on a tough surface.”

Were there any standout stages for you?

“We had a few handling issues in the opening stages that required us to drive around a few problems to maintain pace in the top six. The first three stages on the second day were also quite tough but after the team made changes to the rear shocks at service I felt that I had a perfect car underneath me. It was from that moment that we were able to show our real pace. The crash of the zero car in SS6 was unfortunate and I hope that Ari is continuing to recover well. SS7 went well and we set the fourth best time and then, on the final day, we had a really strong SS9 in second place. Generally, though, I was pleased with the quick and consistent pace that we showed throughout the entire event. The fact we were always with the lead group is what has pleased me most; I think our speed and consistency is what people have noticed more than anything.”

What’s next for you?

“One of our key hopes for Tour de Corse was to use it as a platform to demonstrate our potential and to open up a new door for my career. I hope that there are manufacturers out there who have now seen what I can do, in a tough rally against tough opposition, and who are willing to give me a chance to prove myself. With the Tour de Corse result and the result from Rally Monte-Carlo earlier in the year, I think I have shown myself to be a worthy opponent and a valuable addition to any outfit. I am also keen to show what I can do on an international stage and on gravel surfaces, so that is something I can’t wait to achieve.”