Preview: Rallye de France-Tour de Corse.

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.

Ford Motor Company:

[Markko Martin, car #7 and Francois Duval, car #8.]

Both Marrko Martin and Francois Duval will test in Corsica prior to the practice period. Duval drove yesterday [Monday] with his team-mate taking over today [Tuesday].

A fishermen's blockade of the port in Ajaccio prevented the team's support vehicles making the short ferry crossing from the previous round in Sardinia to Corsica as scheduled. Instead of making the journey at the start of last week, the team had to wait in Sardinia until the strike was cancelled and they could sail on Thursday.

The BP-Ford team has nominated Michelin's N and TA tyres for the event. The N patterned rubber is suitable for dry or humid conditions and engineers can cut grooves into the rubber to match the tyres as closely as possible to the conditions at the time. The TA 'intermediate' tyre is used in wet weather and additional cuts can be added to the rubber to clear the water if heavy rain soaks the asphalt. Both patterns will be available in varying compounds and construction.

Mitsubishi Motor Sports:

Mitsubishi will miss this event, following their decision to modify their 2004 WRC programme, and concentrating solely on testing for 2005.

Mitsubishi confirmed prior to the Rally Italia Sardinia that they would be definitely be back full-time next year, they will also take part in the next event in Spain, with Gilles Panizzi and Daniel Sola.


Production Car WRC:

The battle for the Production Car WRC title resumes this weekend following the last round at the Rallye Deutschland at the end of August, which was won by Xavier Pons, with Niall McShea second and Alister McRae third. Jani Paasonen, who finished 5th in Germany, currently leads the championship standings with 29 points, while McRae and Toshi Arai are equal second on 20. McShea has 19 and Manfred Stohl has 18.


Other significant entries:

Skoda will take part again this weekend, following confirmation at the last event that they will return to the WRC full-time in 2005 - the two Fabia's will be driven by Toni Gardmeister and Armin Schwarz.

Other notable entries include Freddy Loix in a third Peugeot 307, Daniel Carlsson (Peugeot), Nicolas Vouilloz (Peugeot), Stephane Sarrazin (Subaru), Alexandre Bengue (Peugeot) and Anthony Warmbold (Ford).


Schedule:

The rally incorporates significant changes from the 2003 version with half the event's 12 special stages either new or revised, and a new central service park in Ajaccio's port. However, it retains its compact nature with more than 36 percent of the 1060.72km total distance being competitive.

The rally begins with a ceremonial start in the heart of Ajaccio on Thursday evening. Each leg comprises two identical loops of two stages, split by service back in Ajaccio.

The opening day is located in the mountains south-east of the town, near Propriano.

The second leg is the longest of the rally at 154.36km and is based south of Ajaccio.

The final day remains unchanged from the 2002 and 2003 events and is located north of the town.

As usual, all the tests are long and demanding. The second leg is especially tough with stages of 36.24km and 40.94km, the longest of the event.

With an average stage distance of 32.31km, the rally has the highest average of any event, apart from the non-uniform Safari Rally in Kenya, in recent times.


Hot tip:

Sebastien Loeb to win? The Citroen is best on asphalt and the Frenchman will be keen to clinch the drivers' title in style...

Last year:

Petter Solberg won the event last year, beating Carlos Sainz by 36.6 seconds. Sainz demoted Francois Duval to third in the final test, while Marcus Gronholm and Colin McRae were fourth and fifth respectively. There was only two significant retirements - Markko Martin and Didier Auriol.