I am surprised but I havent found a thread to Tour de Corse yet. So I will start a new one.
http://www.tourdecorse.com/site/wp-c...00-690x300.png
Rally will have a new sponsor this year - Corsica Linea.
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I am surprised but I havent found a thread to Tour de Corse yet. So I will start a new one.
http://www.tourdecorse.com/site/wp-c...00-690x300.png
Rally will have a new sponsor this year - Corsica Linea.
A lot of new stages, or stages not used in a long time. Désert des Agriates was driven last in 1994 with another name, for instance. Also some stuff from the IRC/ERC years giving advantage for the drivers who were doing the round back then.
So that is Ogier, Neuville, Meeke, Breen and BouffierQuote:
Originally Posted by AnttiL;1171604 .
SS2/4 has been driven by Sordo, Neuville, Mikkelsen, Bouffier and Breen in 2011-2013. The power stage ending was driven in 2008 with Latvala, Mikkelsen, Loeb and Østberg in WRC cars, Ogier in a S1600 Citroen. SS5/8 and the power stage's ending was also done in reverse in 2012, but that probably does not help at all.
https://twitter.com/CitroenRacing/st...70150328512512
Lefebvre does TDC with the C3 R5
What's it like spectating in Corsica with marshals and amount of people, similar and relaxed like Sardinia?
This looks like a good excuse to get off work...
https://www.google.no/maps/@42.89366...7i13312!8i6656
Beautiful bit of road. I don't think that's the SS route though. I think it's slightly more inland on the D33.
I'm heading out there for the rally so I'd be interested to know the answer to SubaruNorway's question too. Don't want to get pinned in at a hairpin.
So how crucial is start order for Corsica? I know the later cars will have more grip due the more rubber on the roads, but is there a lot of cutting in Corsica which can throw debris on the roads?
Here's my route preview for Tour de Corse 2018 https://itgetsfasternow.wordpress.co...se-2018-route/
Very much new roads.
Sébastien Ogier (FR) Ford Fiesta WRC
Elfyn Evans (GB) Ford Fiesta WRC
Bryan Bouffier (FR) Ford Fiesta WRC
Thierry Neuville (BE) Hyundai i20 coupe WRC
Andreas Mikkelsen (NO) Hyundai i20 coupe WRC
Dani Sordo (ES) Hyundai i20 coupe WRC
Jari-Matti Latvala (FI) Toyota Yaris WRC
Ott Tänak (EE) Toyota Yaris WRC
Esapekka Lappi (FI) Toyota Yaris WRC
Kris Meeke (GB) Citroën C3 WRC
Sébastien Loeb (FR) Citroën C3 WRC
Fabio Andolfi (IT) Skoda Fabia R5
Nil Solans (ES) Ford Fiesta R5
Hiroki Arai (JP) Ford Fiesta R5
Takamoto Katsuta (JP) Ford Fiesta R5
Pierre-Louis Loubet (FR) Hyundai i20 NG R5
Nicolas Ciamin (FR) Hyundai i20 NG R5
Stéphane Levebvre (FR) Citroën C3 R5
Guillaume de Mevius (BE) Peugeot 208 T16
Corsica long-term prediction:
Meeke, Neuville and Ogier are clearly main favorites ( in no particular order).
Then there is a group of 3 jokers (again in no particular order):
Loeb, Sordo, Mikkelsen, Tanak
And additional joker is Evans who used to be much faster on tarmac than gravel, so with Michelins he could be high up.
Looks like it might be an exciting rally.
I think Toyota itself is a joker, how will that car work on tarmac? Of course we saw some of that in Monte on the dry stages, but TDC is still a bit different.
I think Ogier, Loeb, Meeke and Neuville are all contenders for the win, hard to decide who to put in the pickems.
yeah I'm very tempted to head up for that stage. But I'm staying in Pietralba which is super close to the other two Saturday stages. They share a carpark at one point, and have a regroup between them, so depending on crowds it may be possible to do four stages that day.
That might have to do with you being a Latvala fan. Latvala in Toyota has yet to show rally winning speed on tarmac on any rally. Corsica with relatively low top speed didn't seem to suit them much last year.
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I don't put Loeb up in first group because on Tarmac he won't have any road position advantage and while he used to be best on tarmac it's also the surface where quick reactions matter a bit more than experience which counts against him.
If there is some rain he could be bigger favorite, but then is the question of C3 in slippery conditions.
Have Citroen definitely not entered Breen? Or is the list above just speculation?
They were going to see if it was possible, and if they can't run a 3rd car on their home rally, it's pretty awful. With Meeke, Loeb and Breen (all good on tarmac), they'd have the chance for a superb team result.
It's most likely my fandom :D
It's true he hasn't shown winning pace but he was decent last year in Corsica, fell foul to engine gremlins in Germany and retired after hitting something on the first day of Spain. It's a little uncertain at this point but he's no slouch. I suppose he could surprise us, especially if other drivers retire for whatever reason.
One could argue that it`s really individual. Some 100 year old is more energetic than a fity year old etc.
Are the entries closed? No M-Sport in WRC2?
Getting closer, so a resurrection of the discussion:
In my view there are quite a few interesting things coming up:
Citroen - will the C3 (seemingly) still have upper hand on dry+clean tarmac like in Spain? I'd think so
Loeb - how will he compare to others without road position advantage but on historically his best surface. My guess is similar to Meeke, comparison with others will depend on cars. If they are roughly the same speed I think he will fight for podium, but not necessarily for win.
Meeke - will he keep it on the road without issues in case there is pressure from Loeb or others?
Evans - bad start of the season and now on a rally where he had best result before 2017. I'm a bit skeptical he would be in the top fight. But top 5 beating most of the 2nd drivers could be a goal.
Toyota - How did the car improve on slow-medium speed tarmac? I expect them to be able to fight in the top but not to be the fastest car.
Lappi - also quite bad start of season, how has his tarmac performance evolved if at all?
Hyundai - Have they got rid of the understeer issues they had in Spain? Maybe Corsica with lots of short turns instead of long ones will suit the car better even if they didn't?
What if Loeb and Meeke are 1st and 2nd comfortably, what would the team orders be? Let Loeb win and recieve great publicity or aid Meeke for a championship-chance (which is unlikely anyway...)?
I expect a huge push from Seb Ogier for a multiple of reasons. First, it's another home event and he wouldn't have taken kindly to being outpaced by Meeke and Thierry here last year. He also didn't win a pure tarmac event last year which he'll want to put right. Of course the championship is the biggest reason overall he'll want to fight for the win, but make no mistake that Loeb being here fighting him in equal conditions (Loeb actually at a disadvantage if the roads get a bit dirty) will also add some more spice to the event. That 2nd day in Mexico was the best Ogier has driven in a long time imo and I think he relished Loeb being back.
Loeb's Mexico performance is very ominous however. He said before the event he wasn't sure how he'd be on gravel after so long away, but sounded confident about his prospects on tarmac. Surely he will be even more confident now after showing in Mexico he is still on the pace. The C3 was on for the win here last year with Meeke until it blew up, and Loeb is the GOAT so I'm sure he can be one of the 4 drivers who can win. Meeke, Ogier and Neuville the others. Sordo, Evans, Tanak and Mikkelsen probably in the next batch just a bit behind if I was to guess.