Tour de Corse: news in brief

Škoda UK´s Mikkelsen happy with progress

Andreas Mikkelsen says moving into third overall on Tour de Corse-E.Leclerc this morning is just the start of his progress in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge.

Mikkelsen, driving a Škoda UK Motorsport Fabia S2000, is still under orders to chase finishes rather than fastest stage times following his early exit on January’s Rallye Monte-Carlo.

“These stages today are proper Corsica stages, very tricky and hard to judge your braking points,” said the 21-year-old Norwegian, who is 18.5s off first place after five stages. “You can always push a little bit more but it is very easy to make a mistake, like we saw with Guy Wilks this morning. I will continue to drive like I am doing and will continue to improve.”

Gonon needs more experience to push hard

Swiss driver Florian Gonon maintains a strong lead of the IRC Production Cup on the Tour de Corse-E.Leclerc in his Subaru Impreza WRX – but he says that his inexperience of the conditions is preventing him from pushing harder.

“I’m very happy with the way that things have gone, but I’m reluctant to push any harder as I don’t have experience with the car in these conditions,” he said. “The roads are quite changeable from day to day, so this is a big learning experience for us. However, I’m really enjoying it. The scenery and the atmosphere are fantastic.”

Gonon, co-driven by Sandra Arlettaz, is currently 14th overall and beating the new R4-specification Subaru Impreza driven by Japanese factory driver Toshi Arai, which is running on Yokohama tyres.

“I am trying but it’s important to be careful too,” said Arai, a double Production Car world rally champion. “I have been to Corsica before and had some big accidents, so no risks.”

Maurin makes the most of fast Fiesta

Frenchman Julien Maurin says that he is making the most of his latest-specification M-Sport Ford Fiesta S2000, running first on the road on the second day of Tour de Corse-E.Leclerc.

“Today has been a really good day so far,” said Maurin, who holds eighth overall after five stages. “We thought we had a puncture after we cut a corner quite aggressively on stage five, but that’s the only issue we’ve had. I’m just enjoying myself and trying to learn more about the car.”

Some engine evolutions to the M-Sport-built Fiesta – the car that won Rallye Monte-Carlo last year – have resulted in more power and a more usable spread of torque, as well as a slightly different engine note.

“It’s definitely better, but it’s not a night and day difference,” said Maurin, who is being co-driven on the Intercontinental Rally Challenge event by Olivier Ural. “Our aim is to finish the rally in a strong position and score some points. If we can do that, it’s definitely mission accomplished.”

Second-placed Kopecký admits to time loss

Jan Kopecký has conceded that he is struggling to avoid losing time on Tour de Corse-E.Leclerc, despite holding a solid second overall on the Intercontinental Rally Challenge event.

The Škoda Motorsport driver, chasing his first win in the IRC for more than one year, is 15.8s behind leader Thierry Neuville after five stages.

“It was difficult not to lose time on the first two stages,” said the Czech Republic ace. “The third stage was better but again we were not able to win the stage. It’s very difficult because I don’t know these stages at all. We think all the time about how we can improve the car but it’s difficult to find a good compromise with the set-up. Still second place is not a bad position to be in.”

Freddy Loix, at the wheel of a BFO Škoda Rally Team Fabia is also looking for an upturn in speed after completing the morning loop of stages in fourth overall.

“The feeling could be better and the driving could be better, that’s clear,” said Loix. “It’s difficult to be quick and clean with the lines. I’m wearing my tyres and myself but I can’t find the good rhythm.”

Panseri: Bouffier puncture was bad luck

Bryan Bouffier’s co-driver Xavier Panseri said their puncture on stage five of Tour de Corse-E.Leclerc was simply a case of bad luck.

The Peugeot France duo had been leading the event by 4.2s only for their 207 Super 2000 to suffer a rear-left puncture four kilometres into the stage.

“It was the cut that everybody took, you are obligated to take this cut otherwise you have no chance to go through the corner,” said Panseri, left. “Some drivers were obviously more lucky than we were because we hit a stone, they did not.”

Panseri insists Bouffier has vowed not to give up in his efforts to win the Intercontinental Rally Challenge event.

“He will continue to push like hell because everything is possible,” said Panseri. “The car is good and everything was going well before the puncture. We can come back.”

Van Dalen reveals disappointment for Wilks

Marc van Dalen has spoken of his disappointment after Peugeot UK’s Guy Wilks crashed out of Tour de Corse-E.Leclerc this morning.

Wilks, co-driven by fellow Briton Phil Pugh, had posted the fastest time on Friday’s opening test and was up to third overall when he went off the road on a downhill section approximately six kilometres from the finish of the 23.24-kilometre Barchetta-La Porta test.

“Guy received a [timing] split to the car which was not good so he tried to push a little bit more,” said van Dalen, whose Kronos Racing organisation runs Peugeot UK’s IRC bid. “He braked two metres too late and went off into a ditch. The car was not damaged but he was unable to get back on the road from the position he was in. It’s a shame but it can happen, that’s rally.”

Robbie Durant, who is co-driving Harry Hunt in the IRC 2WD Cup, admitted the section where Wilks and gone off was particularly difficult.

“We almost went off ourselves because the car doesn’t seem to want to stop,” said Durant. “It’s hard because you have to be really careful on the brakes.”

Neuville vows to remain focused in Corsica

Thierry Neuville insists winning Tour de Corse-E.Leclerc is the last thing on his mind, despite growing his overall advantage to 15.8 seconds on the Intercontinental Rally Challenge counter.

Neuville, driving a Team Peugeot Belgium-Luxembourg 207, was embroiled in a close scrap for first place with Peugeot France’s Bryan Bouffier, only for his French rival to suffer a left-rear puncture on stage five.

“We have seen Bryan Bouffier and what’s happened to him [so we don’t look to the win],” said Neuville. “He was driving really well and he’s had a puncture. It’s really a disappointment for him. That could happen to us so we need to continue like we did in the morning.”