Tour de Corse 2001

Leg 1

The silly season heated up during the two weeks between San Remo and Corsica. Tommi Makinen announced his move from Mitsubishi to Subaru, and Subaru's ace Richard Burns his going to Peugeot, although this might not be 100% sure, yet. Mitsubishi has been left in a difficult situation without a star driver for next year. Rumours say they will also lose the support of their main sponsor, Marlboro, so things don't look very bright for the team.

On the twisty roads of Corsica, domination of the French teams was again expected. The expectations came true already on the first stages of the rally. Peugeot's Gilles Panizzi was fastest on SS 1, but then the lead was taken by Citroen's Jesus Puras, who kept it all through the day, although he was chased hard by Panizzi and Didier Auriol. Marcus Gronholm took the 4th position with the third Peugeot.

The variable conditions on the first leg caused several drivers making contact with the side walls of the road. Philippe Bugalski crashed his Citroen and retired already on the first stage. On SS 2 championship contenders Colin McRae and Richard Burns brushed the wall, both losing a couple of minutes, but being able to continue, while Carlos Sainz damaged his car in the extent that he had to retire after the stage.

On the final stage of the day, Tommi Makinen hit the railing and bounced into the rock wall on the inside of the road, then rolled and slid on his roof to the edge of the road just barely missing a huge drop into a ravine. Makinen got away with some bruises, but his co-driver Risto Mannisenmaki hurt his back and was taken to hospital. His condition is not serious, but he will most likely miss out the final events of the season. He will be replaced by an experienced Finnish co-driver, Timo Hantunen.

Leg 2

The situation in the top three remained stable but close on the second leg. Panizzi was within 15 secs from the leading Puras all through the day, while Auriol lost 30 secs on SS 7 because of a sudden downpour, which made the road slippery for him. On the final stages of the day Puras increased his lead to 23.5 secs, and Auriol was already almost 50 secs behind the leader. Marcus Gronholm crashed on SS 8 and retired, so Petter Solberg was elevated to 4th place, more than two and a half minutes behind the leader. Francois Delecour was 5th, being followed by the Subarus of Markko Martin and Richard Burns.

Leg 3

Jesus Puras continued his superb performance on the four stages of the final leg on Sunday. He extended his lead to 33 secs before securing his win on the last two stages and letting Panizzi close the gap to 17.5 secs. It was the first victory for Citroen Xsara WRC and also for the sympathetic Spaniard. Puras, 38, is a seven times Spanish champion and has excelled before in various asphalt rallies.

Didier Auriol took an easy third place, not really trying to catch the leaders any more. Francois Delecour dropped from 6th place with problems, so prior to the last stages the three Subarus were 4th, 5th and 6th, with Richard Burns at the end of the line. Naturally, the team issued orders to let Burns take the 4th spot and move past Sainz into third spot in the championship points.

As expected, the asphalt events didn't make much of a differnce in the championship table, so the situation remains exciting for the two final events of the season, Australia and Britain. Once again the champions will be decided on gravel roads.

Results of Tour de Corse:

1. Jesus Puras (ESP) Citroen - 3.58.35,5
2. Gilles Panizzi (FRA) Peugeot +17,5
3. Didier Auriol (FRA) Peugeot +1.11,9
4. Richard Burns (ENG) Subaru +4.53,1
5. Petter Solberg (NOR) Subaru +2.53,9
6. Markko Märtin (EST) Subaru +5.21,6
7. Harri Rovanperä (FIN) Peugeot +7.26,9
8. Piero Liatti (ITA) Hyundai +8.09,2
9. Alister McRae (SCO) Hyundai +8.52,7
10. Francois Delecour (FRA) Ford +9.56,1
11. Colin McRae (SCO) Ford +10.21,3
12. Freddy Loix (BEL) Mitsubishi +13.14,7
13. Sebastien Loeb (FRA) Citroen +17.40,9 (Super 1600)
14. Andrea Dallavilla (ITA) Fiat +17.49,4 (Super 1600)