Sordo to contest Tour de Corse

Dani Sordo will contest next month’s Tour de Corse, round four of the all-action Intercontinental Rally Challenge.

Sordo, who is co-driven by fellow Spaniard Carlos del Barrio, will take part in a MINI John Cooper Works Super Production Car, which is owned by the Drive-Pro organisation and run by SMG Motorsport with engineering support from Prodrive, the company responsible for developing the machine.

Because MINI is not currently a registered IRC manufacturer, Sordo and del Barrio will not be eligible for overall IRC points on the event, which will receive extensive live television coverage on Eurosport. This is the case for other drivers planning to compete on IRC events in cars from a non-registered make.

“The Tour de Corse is one of the classic rallies,” said Sordo, a frontrunner in the World Rally Championship and a former Junior world champion. “I really like it because it is very technical and you have to be very precise in your positioning of the car on the road.”

Sordo, 28, has competed on the Tour de Corse on four previous occasions prior to its inclusion in the IRC for the first time in 2011. He has twice finished on the podium, claiming third overall in 2006 and 2007.

The MINI SPC is identical to the World Rally Car version, apart from a smaller air restrictor (30mm compared to 33mm) and rear wing, different bumper, smaller front brakes and side windows made from glass rather than plastic.