Autosportfoto

The Juniors grapple with a legend

Eleven under 28 year-old drivers are set to drive their DS 3 R3-MAXs at the Tour de Corse in the FIA Junior WRC category.

- This, the fifth round of the season marks the return of the Tour de Corse to the World Championship calendar.

- A winner of three events so far this year, Quentin Gilbert will have his first opportunity to seal the title by establishing an unassailable lead in the standings. The champion will earn a WRC2 programme for 2016 in a four-wheel drive DS 3 R5.

On its much-anticipated return to the World Championship, the Tour de Corse welcomes the FIA Junior WRC drivers. Between 2001 and 2008, several promising young rally drivers won on the narrow, winding roads of Corsica, including Sébastien Loeb in a Citroën Saxo Super 1600 and Martin Prokop in Citroën C2 Super 1600.

The eleven FIA Junior WRC crews will be tackling the new Corsican event for the first time, its itinerary closely modelled on the old route which toured the island. Starting in Ajaccio, the crews and teams will stop off in Bastia on Friday evening and in Porto-Vecchio on Saturday evening before making back to Ajaccio on Sunday, with a programme made up of nine stages varying between 16 and almost 50 kilometres in length.

The clear favourite after winning three of the first four rounds, Quentin Gilbert will have his first opportunity to become mathematically certain of winning the title. If he wins in Corsica, Gilbert will have an unassailable lead in the championship and will thus secure a WRC2 programme in a DS 3 R5 in 2016.

With the Finn Henri Haapamaki missing and the Italian Simone Tempestini competing but unable to score points, Ole Christian Veiby will be the championship leader's main rival. Having secured podium-finishes in Monte-Carlo and in Finland, the Norwegian has been one of the season's major revelations in the FIA Junior WRC. His progress on the most legendary tarmac rally will be followed with great interest.

The Swiss Federico Della Casa and the Emirati Mohammed Al Mutawaa will also have to contend with a formidable challenge from other French drivers because the home contingent features some of rallying's most promising young talents.

Jean-René Perry, a regular challenger for a podium spot in the FIA Junior WRC, the young Pierre-Louis Loubet (18 years old), born in Bastia and living in Porto-Vecchio, Terry Folb, consistently one of the quickest since the start of the year, Yohan Rossel, guided by the FFSA, and Charlotte Dalmasso, the only woman competing in the championship, will all be looking to impress in their DS 3 R3-MAXs.

Two other French drivers will be making their bow in the FIA Junior WRC at the Tour de Corse: Jordan Berfa, who first experienced rallying two seasons ago in a DS 3 R1, and the Ajaccian Jean-Philippe Martini will be using the event's return to Corsica to measure themselves against the category's more seasoned competitors.

QUOTE, UNQUOTE

Terry Folb: "This will be my first Tour de Corse. I'll be relying on the experience of my co-driver Franck Le Floch, who has already taken part in this event and the historic rally, and the experience of the Daumas Racing team. In the first half of the season, we did a lot of work on gravel, a surface on which I had not driven before. The aim is now to achieve some good results to help us to secure the funding to compete next year. The context is fairly specific in Corsica, with some very long stages, but I have prepared well for the event both physically and mentally. I want to show that we are capable of being at the front. My aim is to finish on the podium and I know that I have the resources to achieve that, with a team that works very well."

Mohammed Al Mutawaa: "I really can't wait to take part in my first rally on tarmac this season. I still have to work on my pace notes to make them more precise, because there are some details that need fine-tuning. The goal for this rally will be to improve our pace notes on the two runs in recce and see if the corrections help us to make progress."

THE ELEVEN CREWS ENTERED

51 - Charlotte Dalmasso (FRA) / Marion Renchet (FRA)
Date of birth: 15 October 1991
Team: ISC Distribution
2015 results: Monte-Carlo, 7th, Portugal, 10th.

53 - Ole Christian Veiby (NOR) / Anders Jaeger (NOR)
Date of birth: 17 June 1996
Team: Printsport
2015 results: Monte-Carlo, 3rd - Portugal, 5th - Finland, 3rd.

55 - Mohammed Al Mutawaa (ARE) / Stephen McAuley (GBR)
Date of birth: 02 December 1992
Team: Abu Dhabi Racing
2015 results: Portugal, retired - Portugal, 6th - Finland, 6th.

57 - Yohan Rossel (FRA) / Benoît Fulcrand (FRA)
Date of birth: 13 February 1995
Team: FFSA / PH Sport
2015 results: Monte-Carlo, 5th.

58 - Terry Folb (FRA) / Franck Le Floch (FRA)
Date of birth: 26 May 1990
Team: Daumas Racing / Allsports Management
2015 results: Monte-Carlo, retired - Portugal, retired - Finland, 4th.

60 - Quentin Gilbert (FRA) / Renaud Jamoul (BEL)
Date of birth: 29 May 1989
Team: DG Sport
2015 results: Monte-Carlo, 1st - Portugal, 1st - Poland, 7th - Finland, 1st.

63 - Federico Della Casa (CHE) / Domenico Pozzi (ITA)
Date of birth: 11 July 1991
Team: Delta Rally
2015 results: Portugal, 7th - Poland, 5th - Finland, 8th.

65 - Pierre-Louis Loubet (FRA) / Vincent Landais (FRA)
Date of birth: 18 February 1997
Team: PH Sport
2015 results: Portugal, 2nd - Poland, missed - Finland, retired.

66 - Jean-René Perry (FRA) / Christopher Guieu (FRA)
Date of birth: 25 December 1992
Team: MY Racing / Allsports Management
2015 results: Portugal, 4th - Poland, retired - Finland, 5th.

70 - Jordan Berfa (FRA) / Damien Augustin (FRA)
Date of birth: 31 March 1995
Team: CHL Sport Auto
2015 results: first appearance.

76 - Jean-Philippe Martini (FRA) / Ambroise Fieschi (FRA)
Date of birth: 9 September 1987
Team: Delta Rally
2015 results: first appearance.

FIA JUNIOR WRC STANDINGS

1. Quentin Gilbert 81 points
2. Henri Haapamaki 48 points
3. Simone Tempestini 47 points
4. Ole Christian Veiby 40 points
5. Jean-René Perry 22 points
6. Federico Della Casa 20 points
7. Christian Riedemann, Osian Pryce and Pierre-Louis Loubet 18 points
10. Mohammed Al Mutawaa 16 points
11. Terry Folb and Matthieu Margaillan 12 points
13. Yohan Rossel 10 points
14. Alessandro Re and Kornel Lukacs 8 points
16. Jari Huutunen 6 points
17. Charlotte Dalmasso 5 points
18. Daniel McKenna 4 points

NATIONS TROPHY

1. France 87 points
2. Italy 57 points
3. Finland 51 points
4. Norway 45 points
5. Switzerland 30 points
6. United Arab Emirates 20 points
7. United Kingdom and Germany 18 points
9. Hungary 16 points
10. Ireland 8 points

2015 CALENDAR

22-25 January Rallye Monte-Carlo
21-24 May Rally de Portugal
2-7 July Rally Poland
30 July - 2 August Rally Finland
1-4 October Rallye de France
22-25 October Rally de España
12-15 November Wales GB Rally