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Camilli shows promise in Corsica

M-Sport World Rally Team's Éric Camilli and Benjamin Veillas enjoyed a positive weekend as the FIA World Rally Championship travelled to the legendary Tour de Corse - bringing their Ecoboost-powered Ford Fiesta RS WRC home in a creditable eighth place.

Determined to deliver an error-free performance, the Frenchmen did so with an air of composure and maturity; but that did not stop them showcasing flashes of potential.

Only pushing when confident, those pushes delivered a series of highly competitive split times which demonstrated Camilli's natural ability behind the wheel and encouraged the team's future ambitions.

Often finding himself on the same pace as the leaders, Camilli was just 1.3 seconds adrift of World Champion Sebastien Ogier and 0.1 seconds shy of Andreas Mikkelsen at the mid-point of SS5 - making him the fourth fastest man through the stage's first 23.30 kilometres.

But these impressive statistics did not deter him from his primarily objective. Fully focused on getting through all of the stages unscathed, Camilli did just that. Rebuilding his confidence and gaining a wealth of knowledge, the Frenchman will be hoping to continue in the same vein as the season continues.

In the sister M-Sport Fiesta RS WRC, Mads Østberg has spent the weekend implementing a new strategy to improve his asphalt driving.

Fully aware that he and co-driver Ola Fløene would lose time as they put their theory into practice, the Norwegian was not focused on results this weekend and stuck firmly to his game plan.

Having collecting a wealth of knowledge and information, Østberg will analyse his findings over the short break before RallyRACC Catalunya - Rally de España where he will hope to show further improvements on the circuit-like stages.

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Éric Camilli (8th) said:

"I'm really happy with this weekend. Our target was to complete all of the stages without mistakes and we did that. When we felt comfortable, we could push a bit more and when we did that it was good to see that we had some really competitive split times. That was a big confidence boost and we know that we are going in the right direction - we just need the experience."

Mads Østberg (9th) said:

"This rally has been really good practice for me. We've been trying a new strategy this weekend - changing our style to improve our driving on asphalt. Before the rally we knew that it would not be easy and that we would lose a lot of time, but it is definitely a positive to be trying something different.

"I haven't set any blinding times, but we have to be patient. I feel that we progressed throughout the weekend and by the last stage I felt that we had some really good settings. The plan now will be to take everything we have learnt this weekend and continue the progress in Spain."

Team Principal, Malcolm Wilson OBE, said:

"Éric has done exactly what was asked of him this weekend. He has made it through these difficult stages without a single mistake and, when he felt comfortable, his split times were very encouraging.

"That is the natural talent and ability that we saw in him last year, and the reason why he is where he is today. Experience is so important at this level of competition but, once he has that, I'm confident that he'll be able to carry that level of performance throughout an entire weekend.

"Mads has had to be very patient this weekend. He's testing a new strategy to improve his driving style and knew that he would lose time in the beginning. He knows that it's not going to happen overnight, but he is determined to stick to his game plan."