Tour of Corsica 2016
The second stage of the Tour de Corse will again include two special stages covered twice. The crews will set off tomorrow from 9:22 a.m. in the 53,72km La Porta-Valle di Rostino, the longest special stage of the Rallye des 10 Virages.
Yoan Rossel finished at the top of the JWRC with 4”4 ahead of Laurent Pellier. Martin Kocy took third place following Terry Folb's accident after the finish of SS3.
In WRC 2, Evans completed the first stage of the Tour de Corse with a lead of almost 16 seconds over the Skoda Fabia R5 of Jan Kopecky. Kevin Abbring completes the provisional podium in the category, already more than a minute behind the leader, followed at 20 seconds by Yoann Bonato (DS 3 R5). José Antonio Suarez completes the top five in his Peugeot 208 T16 R5 ahead of Frenchmen Julien Maurin (Fabia R5) and Quentin Gilbert (DS 3 R5) who lost further time with alternator problems.
The provisional classification at the end of SS4:
And that's what it looks like at @TourdeCorseWRC after day 1: @SebOgier leading the field, @JariMattiWRC is 3rd, @AMikkelsenRally 4th! #WRC pic.twitter.com/rUNn81NP6p
— Volkswagen Motorsport (@VolkswagenRally) September 30, 2016
Sébastien Ogier signs his fourth scratch in as many special stages contested at the Tour de Corse. The leader of the Rallye des 10 Virages completed the 000km of the Plage du Liamone – Sarrola-Carcopino in 29,12'18''37, ahead of Kris Meeke (Citroën), Jari-Matti Latvala (Volkswagen) and Andreas Mikkelsen (Volkswagen). ) by around ten seconds, closely followed by Thierry Neuville (Hyundai).
Dani Sordo (Hyundai) lost two minutes following a rear puncture at the start of the special forcing him to stop to change his wheel. His teammate Hayden Paddon suffered the same problem but the New Zealander was able to limit his delay to 25 seconds from the benchmark.
Craig Breen (Citroën) set the sixth time, almost 20 seconds behind Sébastien Ogier, finishing just ahead of Éric Camilli (Ford) who was ahead of his teammate Mads Ostberg by 17 seconds.
Sébastien Ogier completes the first stage of the Tour de Corse with 44 seconds ahead of Thierry Neuville and 58 seconds over Jari-Matti Latvala. The Finn is one second ahead of his teammate Andreas Mikkelsen. Craig Breen completes the top five.
Camilli ranks 1″6 behind Breen, ahead of his teammate Ostberg by 17s. “It was a great pleasure to compete in this special. It was perhaps the best moment of my season because every note was perfect. I am both satisfied with this time and this stage. » The Frenchman took advantage of Sordo's puncture to take 7th place, 38 seconds ahead of the Spaniard.
Breen finished around ten seconds behind his teammate Meeke, increasing his lead over Paddon by 5″2. The Irishman finds himself 5th with 7″5 ahead of the Hyundai driver.
Meeke is the fastest… behind Ogier. The Citroën driver ranks 10s behind the Frenchman. “I really liked this special. The puncture that occurred in the previous special is frustrating but we remain the fastest behind Ogier. » Meeke passed Tänak without difficulty.
Things are better for Tänak who is ahead of Ostberg by 1″8. The Dmack driver is still more than half a minute behind the M-Sport driver.
Ostberg finished 38 seconds behind the benchmark but the Norwegian remained behind Sordo, 2″8 behind.
Sordo finished 2 minutes behind Ogier's scratch. The Spaniard confirms having had a puncture like his teammate Paddon. “It happened at the back at the start of the special. We had to stop for a change. » Sordo finds himself more than a minute behind Paddon in the general classification.
Paddon finished 25s behind Ogier. The Hyundai driver suffered a puncture in the last 8 km. Good news for Breen 6th who was chased by the New Zealander.
Latvala regains 9 tenths in Neuville and comes back to 14 seconds behind the Hyundai driver by taking 3rd place following Sordo's problems. “The time is good but I made a mistake towards the end. I had understeer and lost the line in a corner. »
Neuville sets the 3rd provisional time, 8 tenths behind Mikkelsen. “I attacked too hard at the start of the special and I had to let up to relieve the tires. » The Belgian temporarily keeps 2nd place but is 44s behind Ogier.
Sordo loses a lot of time in SS4. The Hyundai driver who was in 3rd position was almost 2 minutes behind Ogier in the 2nd split.
Paddon ranks 14″2 behind Mikkelsen and sees the top 5 slipping away while the Hyundai driver is playing just behind Breen.
Terry Folb will no longer be able to defend his 3rd place in JWRC after going off the road after the finish line…
Mikkelsen drops 10″7 to Ogier and now finds himself almost a minute behind his teammate, fighting with Latvala for 4th place. “The special was good for us. My pace is quite satisfactory. »
Ogier completes SS4 with a time of 18'37″5. “I am obviously very satisfied with this day. We had a good pace without making any mistakes. The conditions were beautiful. Hope it lasts. »
Mikkelsen is now 5″6 behind Ogier who still seems to be on a very good pace.
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