Giandomenico Basso has gone fastest on the opening stage of the 55th running of Giru di Corsica-Tour de Corse, Pénitencier Coti-Agosta plage. Driving an M-Sport Ford Fiesta RRC, Basso completed the 25.89-kilometre run in a time of 17m00.5s.
“It was a long stage for the car and for the driver,” said Basso, a four-time in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge. “I went for the hardest tyre possible for the heat but it was difficult.”
Dani Sordo, making his IRC debut, was second quickest, 3.4s down on his Italian rival. “It was a really good and nice stage,” said the Spaniard. “We used the hard tyre but even that was not enough because the tyres were starting to move around. I drove the stage with confidence and there is nothing I need to adjust on the car.”
Rising Irish star Craig Breen impressed with the third fastest time in his Saintéloc Racing Peugeot 207 Super 2000, 0.2s adrift of Sordo.
Defending IRC champion Andreas Mikkelsen was fourth quickest for ŠKODA UK Motorsport, 0.4s down on Sordo. The Norwegian, who reported that his tyres and brakes had overheated at the finish of the run, said before the start of the rally that the stage would favour the turbocharged cars of Basso and Sordo due to the uphill nature of the test.
Corsican driver Pierre Campana was fifth fastest despite complaining that his brakes had overheated and lost some of their performance.
Mathieu Arzeno set the sixth quickest time in his Saintéloc Peugeot with Bryan Bouffier next up in his Delta Rally example. Bouffier reported suffering significant understeer through slow corners in his 207.
Jan Kopecký admitted to driving with a degree of caution in order to preserve his factory ŠKODA tyres. He was eighth fastest.
The stage created a huge test for the IRC aces, with a twisty uphill section at the start, a fast and bumpy section at the top of the mountain before a slippery and twisty downhill section towards the finish.
Go to http://irc-results.com/2012/tour-de-corse-2012/ to view the latest results.