Everyone agrees. Year after year, the Tour de Corse field is gaining in quality and it is very clever who can announce the name of the future winner among the 223 cars registered in VHC. Among the logical favorites, we must obviously include the drivers who have already won on the island.
Alain Oreille on a Porsche Carrera 3L RS, Philippe Gache who also races in an even more spectacular Porsche and Christophe Vaison with his Ford Sierra Cosworth all have successes. Will one of them become the record holder for historic victories? They will be able to count on the experience acquired on these very special roads as well as during their careers, these three "pinsutes" having well-filled CVs. In the little game of predictions, Vaison was the favorite before the start, given that rain was forecast for the first day.
They will have to be wary of several competitors who only want one thing: to put their name on the prize list. The local of the stage, Olivier Capanaccia and his superb M3 could put everyone in agreement. With the experience at their disposal, Bruno Saby and Denis Giraudet would have had their say with a Subaru Legacy, but they had to withdraw.
Several outsiders will then be observed, such as Christophe Casanova, Jacques Thibon (navigated by the ever-young Stéphane Prévot), or Jérôme Mancini on the BMW M3 side. In the Porsche clan, will Jean-Baptiste Botti, Julien Saunier, or Pascal Ippoliti stand out from the bush?
While it is proven that experience in this very specific event counts for a lot, the performances of two hopefuls will be scrutinized. With their M3, will Tom Pieri and Anthony Fotia manage to overturn the hierarchy?
Depending on the intensity and frequency of the rain during the short warm-up, surprises could occur with drivers starting at the back of the standings. Finally, it will be interesting to observe the results of Jos Verstappen who will completely discover Corsica, the historic atmosphere...and roads with bends.
In order to make the events more fluid, the organizers had the excellent idea of splitting the competitions into two. The VHC will compete in two special stages on their own north of Porto-Vecchio (Conca/Favone 8,13 km and Kamiesch/Col de Bavella 18,83 km) while the VHRS will have their own course. This prologue, which promises to be wet, will give a trend, but all the protagonists affirm that the event will be long and that nothing will be decided on Tuesday evening.
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