The 48th Rallye de France-Tour de Corse takes place this coming weekend - the fourteenth round out of sixteen in the 2004
FIA World Rally Championship.
France will also play host to the sixth - and penultimate - round in the 2004 FIA Production Car WRC.
Following a ceremonial start in the host town of Ajaccio on Thursday 14 October at 2000hrs, the event commences on Friday at 0830hrs.
With one of the highest ratios of stage to road distance, the event features just six long stages, all of which are repeated.
The longest stage, the Peri - Bastelica at 40.94km, will be used twice on Saturday, while the shortest, the Penitencier Coti Chiavari at 24.24km, will be run twice on the final day, Sunday 17 October.
The event will conclude later that day when the winning car crosses the finish ramp in Ajaccio at 1430hrs.
Special notes:
The Rallye de France will be the first asphalt event since August's Rallye Deutschland and the first of two consecutive Mediterranean sealed-surface events.
Renowned for its long stages, abrasive road surface and mountainous route, the Tour de Corse is one of the trickiest events of the season. Contour hugging roads and twisty stages have earned it the nickname 'rally of the thousand corners', while the cars, fitted with lowered suspension and wide, sticky tyres, are set-up to make the most of the racetrack-like surface. On the Corsican roads, under cornering, acceleration and braking, drivers will be subjected to the highest g-forces of the year.
The autumnal mountain weather is notoriously unpredictable in Corsica and is likely to play a significant role in the event's outcome. Bright sunshine can quickly give way to heavy rain, making accurate tyre selection and weather forecasting critical.
Competition on the rally is notoriously fierce, with regular WRC drivers battling alongside French tarmac specialists, many having honed their skills on the National Tarmac Championship. In fact, only three non-French drivers have won the event in the past ten years, the last man to do so was
Subaru's Petter Solberg in 2003.
FIA World Rally Championship news:
Sebastien Loeb leads the World Rally drivers' championship, 26 points ahead of
Petter Solberg. Citroen meanwhile head the constructors' - 47 points ahead of Ford, while Subaru are a further 16 adrift in third. Both Loeb and Citroen can clinch their respective titles this weekend.
News from the Manufacturers' teams:
555 Subaru World Rally Team:
[Petter Solberg, car #1 and
Mikko Hirvonen, car #2.]
Last year Petter Solberg won the Tour de Corse in dramatic fashion after a heavy crash at the pre-event shakedown. Thanks to a remarkable effort from the team, which involved working through the night to repair the car, the Norwegian took the start and went on to secure his first ever victory on tarmac.
With only limited knowledge of the Corsican stages, team-mate Mikko Hirvonen will be looking to gain more experience on tarmac in his Subaru Impreza WRC2004. He contested the event for the first time in 2003 and finished tenth.
Citroen Total:
[
Sebastien Loeb, car #3 and Carlos Sainz, car #4]
Citroen's pre-Corsica/Catalonia test took place near Vic in the north of Spain. This session gave Sebastien Loeb and Carlos Sainz a chance to get back into asphalt mode with the Xsara WRC and also to evaluate the latest rubber proposed by Michelin. Both were very pleased with the work accomplished and everything is looking very positive for the 'Reds'.
Marlboro Peugeot Total:
[Marcus Gronholm, car #5 and Cedric Robert, car #6].
Cedric Robert and Freddy Loix will join up with Marcus Gronholm in France - although Loix will not be nominated for manufacturer points. Gronholm is something of a fan of the Tour of Corsica.
"It is certainly one of my favourite asphalt rallies. The stages are narrow and twisty and more suited to my upbringing as a rally driver than is the case in Spain, which requires more of a racing driving approach. I have a good feeling in Corsica, although I hope it doesn't rain. When it does, tyre choice becomes very difficult and can be a bit of a gamble," says the Finn.
