Q&A with Mathieu Arzeno

French young star gets set for more Intercontinental Rally Challenge action on Giru di Corsica-Tour de Corse in his Peugeot 207 Super 2000.

How have you prepared for Giru di Corsica-Tour de Corse?

“I feel quite well-prepared; it’s going to be my third event in the car now after Monte Carlo and Ireland, so I think I am beginning to understand it. We’ve also done a lot of work to optimise the car set-up to the Pirelli tyres, and that is working well. Obviously it’s important to do a solid job in the recce and have some good pacenotes, then we will take it from there and hopefully we will be able to show our speed once we get going.”

What’s your approach going to be?

“We want to start off at a quick pace, but one that we can sustain for the whole of the rally. Although I’ve never actually been to Corsica before I feel quite confident because the nature of the roads seems to be reasonably similar to the roads I am familiar with close to home in Marseille. So we really have to make this opportunity count.”

Peugeot has a strong record in Corsica - what’s your earliest memory of the event when you were growing up?

“My memories of this rally are mostly from my father: he competed in Corsica in 1987 with a Renault 5 GT turbo, and he has told me a bit about his experiences. Then of course I remember watching the excellent Eurosport TV coverage last year and seeing Thierry Neuville win: that was really impressive, both from him and from Peugeot.”

You’re one of the leading French drivers competing in Corsica - how much pressure does that create?

“I suppose it creates quite a lot of attention, but I don’t really think of it as pressure: I find it nice that people are interested and want to talk about it with me. There are going to be a lot of very quick French drivers this year actually: I’m thinking of Bryan Bouffier and Pierre Campana in particular. If I can fight with them, then I will be very happy.”

How much of a confidence boost did your strong performance on the Donnelly Group Circuit of Ireland give you?

“Ireland was a really good experience and it gave me a lot of confidence. Compared to the ŠKODAs we were not so quick, but we were fighting with the best of the rest on terrain that was not so familiar to us, against the local specialists as well. Corsica will be a little bit the opposite situation: we will be more like the local specialists, so it’s down to us to see how we get on against the regular challengers. I really hope we can do well, and I’m feeling very good.”