Sébastien Ogier has been untouchable on the opening day of Rallye de France-Tour de Corse and the Volkswagen driver has a 44 second lead after nearly 160 kilometres of competition. While also aided by the misfortune of others, he has nevertheless claimed fastest time in each of the four stages and sits ahead of Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville after a long and hot day in the stages around Ajaccio. After a difficult start, Jari-Matti Latvala has climbed into third, 58 seconds adrift of the lead.

The coastal town of Ajaccio hosted last night’s ceremonial start but today the crews headed onto the mountain roads for two identical loops of two stages totalling 157.68 competitive kilometres. Ogier was immediately on the pace through the opening 49.72 kilometre Acqua Doria to Albitreccia stage, albeit challenged hard by Kris Meeke who, but for a spin, would probably have clinched the fastest time. In the following stage the Frenchman consolidated his advantage, going into the afternoon loop with 14.7 seconds in hand to Meeke. He was equally impressive in the repeated stages and his lead was instantly increased when Meeke was forced to stop and change a puncture, losing him well over two minutes and resulting in him overnighting in 11th position.

Thierry Neuville struggled with the balance of his i20 WRC this morning but finished the opening loop in third. This afternoon the Belgian had brake issues at the end of the opening test and then overheating tyres in the final stage but he moves into second following Meeke’s puncture. Team-mate Dani Sordo was hot on his heels earlier in the day but the Spaniard dropped from fourth to ninth this evening when he too picked up a puncture. Jari-Matti Latvala, winner of the event last year, was an uncharacteristic seventh earlier in the day, the Finn questioning the car’s set-up as well as acknowledging his driving should be better. Happier with the car this afternoon, despite some brake problems, he overnights in third, 14 seconds off Neuville.

Andreas Mikkelsen has had a mixed day but has been in the thick of the fight; he is fourth overnight and just 1.3 seconds behind Latvala, he too struggling with brake wear. Craig Breen, on his preferred surface, has climbed from eighth to fifth tonight, getting back into the tarmac groove quickly despite not competing on the previous sealed surface event in Germany. Hayden Paddon has dropped to sixth, overheating the tyres in the first stage this afternoon and then losing time with a puncture in the last one. Even so, just 7.5 seconds separate him and Breen. Eric Camilli is the lead Fiesta RS WRC driver in seventh, team-mate Mads Østberg down in 10th as he tries to refine his asphalt driving with a different style. 

In the FIA WRC 2 Championship, series leader Elfyn Evans tops the standings and is eighth overall in the Fiesta R5. He has shared the stage wins with Skoda’s Jan Kopecky and the pair are split by 15.7 seconds going into Saturday’s stages. Kevin Abbring, debuting the Hyundai i20 R5, is third. The Junior WRC Championship is being led by Frenchmen Yohan Rossel and Laurent Pellier in first and second respectively, with Martin Koci third.

Rallye de France-Tour de Corse – Unofficial Classification after Section 2