Tour de Corse 2000

I apologize for the delayed and incomplete report caused by my medical problems during the rally weekend. Full reportage will resume for San Remo Rally.

Leg 1

The rally of Corsica started on Friday with six special stages. It didn't come as too big a surprise that the French Peugeot drivers would be strong on the twisty tarmac roads. Francois Delecour and Gilles Panizzi dominated the first leg, although others weren't far away.

Stage one was won by Subaru's Richard Burns. Freddy Loix' poor performances continued as he crashed out of the rally on the first stage. On SS 2 Delecour was fastest and moved into the lead, with Panizzi taking the second position and droppin Burns into the third slot.

Delecour was again fastest on stage 3. Panizzi stroke back on the following stage after which their time difference was only 2.1 secs. Championship leader Marcus Gronholm, having not much experience on this specialty rally, was 8th, already a minute behind the leaders. Ford's Carlos Sainz took the third place from Burns.

Panizzi was fastest on SS 5, cutting Delecour's lead to only 1.1 secs. Burns continued to drop; Colin McRae moved into the 4th place. Panizzi's pace was impressive, winning four of the day's six stages. On the final stage of the leg he took the lead beating Delecour by 7.1 seconds. Sainz continued in third, being followed closely by McRae, Burns and Tommi Makinen.

Situation after stage 6 of 18:

1. Gilles Panizzi (FRA) Peugeot - 1.22.30,2
2. Francois Delecour (FRA) Peugeot +6,0
3. Carlos Sainz (ESP) Ford +16,4
4. Colin McRae (SCO) Ford +20,9
5. Richard Burns (ENG) Subaru +24,5
6. Tommi Mäkinen (FIN) Mitsubishi +26,1
7. Simon Jean-Joseph (FRA) Subaru +1.01,1
8. Marcus Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot +1.12,2
9. Didier Auriol (FRA) Seat +1.31,2
10. Piero Liatti (ITA) Ford +1.35,7
11. Toni Gardemeister (FIN) Seat +2.43,8

Leg 2

The second day, which started on wet and slippery roads after the night's thunderstorms, continued with the domination of the two Peugeots in the front. Panizzi kept the lead all through the day until the final stage of the leg where Delecour edged to overnight lead with the tiniest of margins, 0.2 seconds. Stage 8 was cancelled because of too many spectators packed on the roads so that there was no room for the competitors to go safely through. On stage 10 Colin McRae had a massive crash in which he was slightly injured. The situation first seemed even more critical as the rescue workers really had a tough time getting McRae out of the car. After the second leg it seemed only Carlos Sainz, who was 25 secs behind, could threaten the leading duo on the final leg.

Situation after stage 12 of 18:

1. Francois Delecour (FRA) Peugeot - 2.37.16,8
2. Gilles Panizzi (FRA) Peugeot +0,2
3. Carlos Sainz (ESP) Ford +25,9
4. Richard Burns (ENG) Subaru +1.29,9
5. Marcus Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot +2.06,8
6. Piero Liatti (ITA) Ford +2.30,5
7. Simon Jean-Joseph (FRA) Subaru +2.32,1
8. Didier Auriol (FRA) Seat +2.58,8
9. Tommi Mäkinen (FIN) Mitsubishi +4.23,1

Leg 3

The Panizzi bothers - Gilles and Herve - on their way to victory (Photo by Peugeot Sport)

On the final leg after two stages Peugeot's team boss Corrado Provera decided to freeze the situation in Panizzi's favour, who had again taken the lead by only less than a second. On the following stage Delecour took the lead but later backed off and let Panizzi take his first ever WRC win. Carlos Sainz had a power steering failure on SS 14 and lost almost two minutes, still keeping the third position, though. Peugeot's third driver Marcus Gronholm had also gotten up to pace as the stages on Sunday were the same as on the first leg. Gronholm was actually threatening to catch his main championship rival Richard Burns on the fourth spot, but the Finn had to settle for the fifth place as Burns really pushed on the final stages of the rally.

Results after stage 18 of 18:

1. Gilles Panizzi (FRA) Peugeot - 4.02.14,2
2. Francois Delecour (FRA) Peugeot +33,5
3. Carlos Sainz (ESP) Ford +1.12,6
4. Richard Burns (ENG) Subaru +1.30,9
5. Marcus Grönholm (FIN) Peugeot +1.57,1
6. Piero Liatti (ITA) Ford +2.53,8
7. Simon Jean-Joseph (FRA) Subaru +3.09,5
8. Didier Auriol (FRA) Seat +3.30,7
9. Sebastien Loeb (FRA) Toyota +6.53,2
10. F. Morel (FRA) Peugeot +7.20,4
11. Toni Gardemeister (FIN) Seat +7.20,5