Historic Tour de Corse: A rally in motion, old-style assistance

Those used to modern rallies must quickly get up to speed. On the historic Tour de Corse, there is no question of competing in loops of special stages. Here, they are not only used once, but they are also spread all around the island of beauty. To be able to tackle them, the event will have 4 drop-off points: Porto-Vecchio, Lucciana, Calvi and Propriano. Between each end-of-stage park, the competitors will have had assistance throughout the day according to plans that require a lot of work.

« With the experience of other years, it takes me about 10 full-time days to prepare everything., explains Thierry Barjou, who plays the role of logistician for Romain Joffroy's team. On the event, there are more than thirty assistance points. When the route is published, but the timings are missing, we can make a first architecture. With the schedules, we start to quantify the mileages for each truck as well as the consumption. Our plan is made in such a way that we always know where everyone is, which offers the possibility of reacting if we lose a vehicle. This plan allows us to give schedules to the cook, because the entire team, including the crews, represents 60 people. »

« They're all going to have to move, takes over the former navigator (Jean-Louis Clarr, François Chauche, Christian Dorche, Jean-Pierre Richelmi, Didier Auriol…), and sometimes it's weird for them. There are mechanics who have never had this experience, while everyone is going in all directions. We find what was done a few years ago with trucks at the finish lines of the time trials, but also a fast car that can intervene when there is an emergency. The mechanics who are in the vehicles must have a real interaction with the team. They are the real actors of the rally because they get from point A to point B by following a map. They only use their brains to do this, not modern devices. I think people don't even realize how much efficient organization is needed to make this work."

This is what an assistance plan created by Thierry Barjou looks like for the 2024 Tour de Corse historique (Photo: Loïc Rocci)

In the area provided for assistance at Porto-Vecchio, the Joffroy team looks very good with its 11 cars entered. The spectrum is wide between professionals like Alain Oreille or Jos Verstappen and two of our crews taking part in their first rally, Barjou develops. We have 9 trucks and a fast vehicle. There are also one or two shuttles that can possibly help us if we have tire interventions. It is possible to have mechanics at the exit and start of the ES. Finally, everything that is forbidden elsewhere is allowed in historic. This freedom is wonderful. It is what makes the conviviality and the atmosphere of this event. We find a state of mind that has been lost at the highest level. »

Delving back into his notebooks, Thierry Barjou is already thinking about the stage that will take the competitors from Porto-Vecchio to Lucciana, at the gates of Bastia.