In the Group N class 18 drivers’ will be battling it out for the win - including PWRC regular, Andreas Aigner, as well as Brice Tirabassi and Intercontinental Rally Challenge runner, Dani Sola.
Route:
Although the rally is again based in Ajaccio and held over stages on the west of the island, organisers have introduced major changes for 2007 to increase the difficulty and pressure.
Much of the opening two legs are new, with one of Saturday's tests reappearing for the first time since 1996. Almost 60 per cent of the stages are new or have not been used in this format for four years. The first two legs will also contain two identical loops of three tests rather than the traditional two.
Sunday's final leg will be identical to last year. The route also heads further south than in previous years, reaching down to Sartène. The three legs are all of similar distance and drivers face 16 stages covering 359.32km in a route of 1117.20km
Last year:
Sebastien Loeb won the Rallye de France last year to take the honours for the second year running on his home event.
Lobe led from the off on Friday and although he didn’t utterly dominate it like he did in 2005, he was still in a class of his own and while Marcus Gronholm looked a threat early on, the Finn’s challenge soon faded.
Indeed Loeb managed to win six of the events 12 stages, finally taking the victory by just under 30 seconds after pacing himself over the third and final day. Gronholm meanwhile while strong, just couldn't match the pace of the Xsara and had to settle for the runners-up spot.
Daniel Sordo took the final place on the podium, around 10 seconds in front of
Mikko Hirvonen, while Alex Bengue and Xavier Pons rounded out the top six.
Manfred Stohl was seventh, while Stephane Sarrazin took the final drivers’ point in eighth.
A number of drivers’ had problems during the event, most noticeably
Stobart Ford duo
Matthew Wilson and
Jari-Matti Latvala and then Skoda privateer,
Francois Duval. All three had off road excursions, but while Wilson could re-start and finished 16th under the SupeRally, Latvala and Duval’s exits proved permanent.
