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 Tour de Corse 1997The Tour de Corse official site has a result service. The Mediterranean island of Corsica was the scene of the sixth round of the 1997 World Rally Championship. Like Catalunya, the rally was driven entirely on paved surface, but the scenery was more mountainous, making the roads more twisty and the ditches deeper. The starting list had no surprises, with Uwe Nittel Driving the second Mitsubishi and Piero Liatti on the wheel of the second Subaru. Behind the works teams loomed the F2 Peugeot 306 Maxis who already showed their dangerousness on asphalt in Catalunya. Nobody was really surprised to see the Peugeot duo of Gilles Panizzi and Francois Delecour in front of everyone else again. That was indeed the case after the six stages of the first day. Great performance from them, especially since the twisty roads are not as suited for the front-wheel-drive cars as the Catalynuan roads were. Also, there were some rainshowers that made some parts of the route quite slippery. It must be admitted, though, that being a part of the French Rally Championship, the Peugeot drivers knew the Corsican roads as the insides of their pockets. More surprising was the man in third position, 19 secs behind the leader: Carlos Sainz had got the Ford going at speeds we haven't seen for a while. The extensive testing Ford did after Catalunya paid off. Not far behind Sainz came the Subarus of Colin McRae and Piero Liatti followed by Tommi Makinen of Mitsubishi. On the very long (49km) first stage of the next day Tommi Makinen's race came to an end as he hit a cow standing in the middle of the road at a speed in excess of 150kph. The cow left this world instantly and Makinen's Mitsubishi continued without steering into a ravine, rolling some 50 metres down the slope. The car was totally wrecked but luckily the drivers were unharmed. The incident raised some questions about the safety of Tour de Corse and brought back gloomy memories from 1986 when talented driver Henri Toivonen died in the event. The stage itself was won by Sainz by 10 secs and all through the day the battle raged between the Peugeots and Sainz. In the mixed weather tire choices were crucial. At the end of the day Delecour and Sainz were tied in front with Panizzi 9 secs behind. McRae was also very fast, taking some stage wins and creeping closer to the leaders, starting the last day 19 secs behind. Liatti lost time with some unsuccesful tire choices. Again, the battle of the last day became something to remember. During the day stage times were quite close and before the last special stage four drivers had a shot for the win. Sainz had a 7 second lead over McRae and Panizzi. Delecour was 13 secs behind. Colin McRae put all the effort he possibly could into the last, 39 kilometre stage and beat Sainz by 15 seconds, Panizzi by 38 and Delecour by 48 secs! “That was the drive of my life - there is no way the Subaru would have gone any faster!” said the delighted winner of the rally, Colin McRae, after the last stage. He is now only two points behind the championship leader Tommi Makinen. Carlos Sainz said also that he charged all he could on the last stage but apparently Pirelli tires worked better than Ford's Michelins in the overcast weather. Anyway, great to see Ford back in the pace again. The Peugeots weren't able to take the first F2 victory but 3rd place for Panizzi and 4th for Delecour was a very good result. Behind them came a bit disappointed Piero Liatti, followed by more F2 cars, the Renault Maxi Meganes of Philippe Bugalski and Serge Jordan. The next event will be back on gravel roads, as the circus travels to Argentina. Results of 1997 Tour de Corse:
Championship standings |
Next event: Rally Argentina (May 20 - 24)