THE SWITCHBACK

Tour de Corse was the first three day event of the season, however, that certainly didn't mean it lacked any of the drama.

 

DAY ONE

 

Friday was a great day for current championship leader Sebastien Ogier, winning three of four stages on the opening day, holding a 33.6 second lead by the end of the day.

 

Thierry Neuville struggled through the opening four stages, with the Hyundai i20 looking uneasy on the Corsican roads, but he managed to take second by the end of the day. 

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Kris Meeke held third after a consistent drive while a very mixed day for Ott Tanak saw him take fourth. Esapekka Lappi was the only person other than Ogier to pick up a stage win, lifting him to fifth.

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However, the disappointment of the day saw Sebastien Loeb crash out on stage two. After a fantastic opening stage, where he was the only man to get within 10 seconds of Ogier on the 49km La Porta stage, he carried too much speed into a right-left within 400 metres of the start of stage two.

 

Narrowly avoiding a tree after overshooting the two corners, Loeb then reversed into a deep ditch as he tried to get on his way but the car was completely beached. 

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In WRC-2, Jan Kopecky returned to the championship for the first time since Monaco. The Czech showed why he had a reputation as a tarmac specialist, as he opened up a 20 second advantage over Yoann Bonato, who was debuting the Citroen C3 R5.

 

Kopecky's Skoda team-mate, Ole Christian Veiby had a tough day but managed to hold onto the third spot. 

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DAY TWO

 

Back in the car after Friday's crash, Loeb demonstrated what could have been with wins in the first wo stages of the day before adding a third stage win on stage nine.

 

Ogier, who, unlike Loeb had a lot to lose, took a bit of a calmer approach. The rally leader didn't win a stage on day two but gave a master class on how to look after a lead. Despite never winning a stage he opened his advantage a further 11 seconds to all but wrap up the 25 points.

 

The Toyota's of Lappi and Tanak a stage win each before tying stage 10. Another difficult day for Neuville meant Tanak claimed second and Lappi jumped to fourth.

 

The extra position gained by the pair was due to a huge off for Meeke, who misheard a pace note during the final stage and was forced to retire.

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Also in the wars was Jari-Matti Latvala. The Fin had struggled all weekend as he couldn't find a set-up to suit him in the Toyota Yaris. However, having finally found what he was looking for in stage eight he wrapped the left rear of the car around a tree, sustaining roll cage damage and forcing a retirement. Meanwhile, Bryan Bouffier in the third M-Sport Fiesta had an engine problem, forcing him to retire completely.

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In WRC-2, if Ogier's masterclass wasn't enough, Kopecky smoothly guided his Skoda Fabia around the picturesque Frence island with ease (or so it looked) to open up a 1:24 lead over Bonato. Gearbox issues for Veiby saw him be overtaken by privateer Fabio Andolfi, who headed into the final day with a 55 second gap to Veiby in his own Fabia. 

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DAY THREE

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The final day saw Tanak and Lappi take the two stage wins on offer. Tanak winning stage 11 by over 12 seconds before Lappi took all five power stage points.

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Ogier could only manage third on the power stage with Loeb taking second spot. Meeke and Tanak took the remaining places.

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Ogier took a comfortable win overall, with Tanak trailing by 36.1 seconds in second. Hyundai pair Neuville and Dani Sordo took third and fourth respectively. Elfyn Evans, alongside stand in co-driver Phil Mills, took an impressive fifth with circumstances against them.

 

However, due to a puncture on stage 11, Lappi dropped to sixth overall. Mikkelsen's nightmare weekend saw him take a lowly seventh.

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Jan Kopecky took WRC-2 victory as well as holding off Kris Meeke to take eighth overall. Bonato took second on the C3 R5's debut and Andolfi just held third. Two flying stages on the final day saw Veiby make up 53 seconds in two stages on Andolfi but he fell 1.8 seconds short of the podium.