Thierry Neuville won’t be completely lacking experience of Corsica’s tight and twisty roads when he contests Tour de Corse-E.Leclerc for the first time this week.
Neuville, 22, will drive a Team Peugeot Belgium-Luxembourg 207 Super 2000 on the island event, round three of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge.
Earlier this year he took part in the reconnaissance for a regional rally alongside new co-driver Nicolas Gilsoul.
He said: “We know it won’t be the same roads but it was good experience because you got a feeling of what it would be like because we did the recce for one and a half days. I know it won’t be an easy rally because there are a lot of difficult places and it is always hard when you go to a rally for the first time.”
Neuville prepared for the asphalt event with a test in France last month. He said: “We worked a lot on the suspension and it was very good. We have made another big step and the car was feeling better and better. A top five finish would be good but some of the other guys will have more experience than me.”