WRC

LOEB RACKS UP THE STAGE WINS AS MEEKE FORCED TO RETIRE

Whilst Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena, who rejoined under Rally 2 rules today and won three out of the leg’s six stages, performed superbly on behalf of Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT, Kris Meeke and Paul Nagle suffered an unfortunate end to their day when they went off the road on the final stage when running in second overall.

Crossing the inland scenery of the Cap Corse from east to west, the day’s completely new and very fast opening stage (35.61km) promised to be a real challenge. The same could also be said for the next stage, also brand new, held in the Désert des Agriates to the south-west of Saint Florent, on more sweeping, circuit-style roads.

These two demanding speed tests provided Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena, who rejoined under Rally 2 rules this morning after their misfortune yesterday, with the perfect opportunity to remind everyone of their immense talent, as the pair won the day’s first two stages. The nine-time world rally champions even claimed a third stage win in the afternoon, therefore winning half of the six tests contested today, taking their personal tally to the impressive figure of nine hundred and twelve stage wins in the WRC! The crew’s times showed they are still very competitive and confirmed the high performance level of the C3 WRC in Corsica.

Also in good form on the day’s opening stage – as seen in his third fastest time, just 1.9s behind his famous team-mate over the 35km stage – Kris Meeke then had a more up and down morning, but still managed to hold onto third place. The midday service enabled the Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT to fine-tune the set-up of his C3 WRC for the afternoon loop. Kris had just drawn level with Neuville in second overall when a pace note mistake meant he carried too much speed into a corner and ended up going off on the final stage of the day.

Another formidable Tour de Corse challenge awaits the drivers in tomorrow’s final leg, as the crews tackle the rally’s longest stage. A marathon 55.17 kilometres between Vero, Sarrola and Carcopino, 48.21km of which are completely new, like the Power Stage which follows it.