59. Che Guevara Energy Drink Tour de Corse 2016
29. 9. – 2. 10. 2016, Ajaccio - Bastia - Porto-Vecchio • asphalt 390.92 km • total distance including road sections - 1170.12 km • Other years • Other years
Info
SS10
"That's incredible for me. We've had a really hard weekend after struggling with the gearbox but we're very, very happy with the win. It's very important to win this championship."
"I have to be happy that I've only been beaten by the local drivers. It may have been a different rally if we hadn't lost time on the first day."
"That was very hard and there was big pressure for Johan (Rossel) and me. We did a good job. this was my first WRC rally and we won. Thanks to Citroén and the FFSA!"
"A bit disappointed but very happy to be second – that's a surprise for me. We had a lot of problems with the brakes here but that's okay."
"Congratulations to Elfyn because he did a great job. There were two stages where we weren't able to match him and that's how we lost the rally to him.
"We did what we had to do. We had to win to keep the championship hopes alive. The pace has been good and we've had a special edge when we needed it."
"That feels great and what we wanted this weekend. This is my first win in Corsica and this is such an historic event. The championship smells quite good for us."
"It was a very positive weekend for us, we did a clean run and had a perfect rally. Things are working well with my new engineer."
"I did a couple of mistakes in this one but that was a good rally for us. It's good to be back on the podium. I'm happy enough."
"I did what I could. There were a couple of places where I braked too early and maybe didn't push. I went the wrong way with my set-up at the beginning of the rally and it didn't work."
"That's not so bad. I'm really happy with how the weekend's gone. We showed some strong speed when we needed it and that feels good."
"We've gone back to basics and what comes more natural. Today has been more positive and that gives us some confidence for Spain."
"Now our focus turns to Catalunya and my home rally."
"Difficult to be really precise with the lines. Important thing for this weekend was that I came here and found some speed for next year. We've done that."
SS9
"We are really slow because we were trying to manage an issue with the engine. I don't know what it is."
"No brakes, no brakes, no brakes."
"I'm satisfied with the weekend but this is the first year when it's raining and slippery. I think I missed the experience from last year."
"I'm happy enough with that. The conditions were difficult in there. Felt where we could have gone so much faster in some places and then we were sliding badly in others."
"It's tricky with some dampness so we calm down when it's like this. When you're in this position, you want to get to the finish."
"I didn't want to take any risks – I tried to drive well in the clean line."
"I used notes from last year and it was a stupid mistake. There was a bit in the middle that was really, really fast but the notes were really slow. It was hard to get back into the rhythm."
"I'm not worried about positions at all. I'm focussing on Spain now and we're trying something completely different with the set-up to make it more aggressive – more like my normal driving style. It's not the most effective way in places, but a bit more comfortable."
"I did a very bad stage. It was difficult to learn the grip in the road and I wasn't really concentrated. I went very, very slow in some places."
"The car is working well. I want to finish the race today and to be on the same time as Mads."
"We had a puncture and then we got lost on the pace notes."
"It was a tricky stage, the conditions were changing all the time. I couldn't get into the rhythm."
"It was a lot more dry than I expected and maybe not the best solution with the soft tyres we chose."
"It was damp in a lot of places and I really concentrated on keeping the heat in the tyres during the dry places so we had some grip when it was damp."
SS8
"There's no reason to try and catch the guys in front from here. It's sensible to stay in third place and go drive again tomorrow."
"We had a puncture 11km from the end and we had to change the tyre. I have no idea what I hit. This is a very frustrating rally."
puncture
"That was a clean stage for us. I really concentrated on the technique of driving when it's like this. It seemed to work for us."
"It was okay; nothing special. We didn't push because we want to finish this leg."
"It's the first time I've done something like that with this car so it's quite a good time. It's beyond what I expected it to be."
"Water cooling for the tyres is good and no drop off any more. I think we had quite a good run."
"That was really hard. I had one soft tyre that helped a bit but I couldn't really take any risks. I had some understeer."
"The time is not good. We went very soft with the car on the clicks but it was too soft. Some of the grip was better than I thought."
"I went off a little in the beginning and hit some stones. I had a vibration but then it went. I tried to push and I know I'm good in these conditions."
"The tyres were a compromise and it changes the balance of the car. But you've got to try something in these conditions."
"I wished I had another soft tyre for the front but it was okay. I think we did a good stage."
"Just wanted to finish the day in the tricky conditions. That was really cruising for us."
SS7
"We had a puncture in the middle of the stage and had to change it. Not happy with that."
accident
water leak
"We had the hardest tyres for the front and medium for the rear. It was a nightmare."
stopped
"The last 10km were very wet and with three hard tyres it was tough."
"That was unbelievable! On the wet surface with these tyres it was impossible."
stopped
"It was okay. The grip was okay until we got to the end and then all of a sudden it started raining and it was tricky."
"That was really tricky and hard to judge the pace in these conditions."
"It was wet before the end and it's getting wet quite quickly. We maybe had the wipers on for 10km."
stopped
"I had a good feeling with the car. I tried to drive fast but it looks like I lost a lot of time."
"The brakes are horrible, the car is so difficult to brake."
stopped
stopped
"I had a very good stage. We made a nice change with the rear differential on the car in service and I now have a but more turn in. That's what I wanted."
"That was as much as I could do. Car is there or there abouts – it just comes down to my driving. But we can go away and look at all the data after the rally to see where we can improve."
"I think I used my tyres a bit too much in the beginning. They were going off in the end."
"Close to the start we had some rain just before and it was a bit on the limit. Some parts on the road are messy after the first pass but this is normal."
SS6
FL puncture
some front-end damage after hitting some rocks at the side of the road
front-left puncture 10km before the end. Possible broken top mount as well
"I tried to push and I don't want to give up. I hope it doesn't rain because that will make the roads very dirty and we won't be able to push this afternoon."
"I didn't have a great feeling and struggled all the way through. The feeling wasn't quite there."
broken wheel
"Things aren't working this morning. We'll have to go back to the drawing board."
"We hit something a couple of times on the inside and feared we'd punctured but all was okay. We saw some cows going into a blind corner on the entry and was expecting the worst. But we kept our foot at full throttle and it was okay."
stopped 0.4km into the stage
SS5
puncture
"Elfyn's doing a great job but we will try to push."
"I did a spin on the last hairpin and I lost too much time."
"Going better but the feeling was that I had no grip from the first kilometre to the last one."
stopped
"I drove terrible. I'm quite disappointed with my drive but looking at the time it obviously wasn't that bad. I suppose I should be happy with that."
"I really thought that was slow. Everything in my mind is now focused on 2017. This feels good."
stopped
"We are a little bit out of the race after yesterday's puncture but I do my best."
"Better start than yesterday. This year is more technical than last year. Didn't find the perfect rhythm yet."
"It was not so bad. I was very smooth and consistent - I think I managed quite well."
"Very difficult stage, changing rhythm a lot. We cooked the brakes and they never came back. I lost confidence for the last two thirds of the stage."
"That was a clean stage but really difficult on the tyres and to know how hard to push. Happy enough with the drive."
"I had a bad start, I was too cautious. Too slippy maybe. I didn't want to take too many risks as this is a stage for punctures. No need to push really and I try to drive clean."
SS4
"We lost the front tyres a bit on this stage and we had to reverse on a tight hairpin. But we liked this stage. It's been a good day – apart form the crash with Veiby this morning."
"The feeling with the car has been improved since this morning but we still lose some time. Might have to do some more work to be more competitive. But really looking forward to tomorrow."
"It was a good day for us. Jan (Kopecky) and Elfyn (Evans) are going very fast and it's hard to catch them if you don't want to take risks. Tomorrow will be important because I think it's the toughest day."
"It's been a bad day. We've had some problems between SS3 and SS4. We had a problem with the alternator."
"That was okay and felt like a pretty good run. There was lots of gravel on the road that meant I couldn't commit 100% in some of the corners but that's what happens here."
"That was a big pleasure. Maybe the best moment of my season because every note was perfect."
"That stage was good and I'm happy. The puncture in the previous stage was frustrating but we're the second fastest car on this stage and that's positive."
"I'm trying to drive differently but it doesn't make any difference if we try to push more or less. We'll keep working."
"We had a rear puncture. I don't understand because I didn't touch anything. I did some kilometres and tried to stay calm but we had to stop and change the wheel."
"I don't understand how Sébastien can go so fast!"
"I pushed hard at the beginning and overheated the tyres. I had to slow down."
"We had a puncture for the last 8kms."
"We're still in the fight. Séb has been in his own world today – very impressive. Maybe he's in the 2017 car already!"
"I'm very happy, it's a great day for us. No mistakes – all good so far. Everything was there to enjoy."
SS3
Went off after finish line.
"We've changed the set-up of the car a little bit and now we have more grip. It will be nice to try and have a battle with Evans."
on intercom
"I really couldn't push much more in this stage. I had a really good set up and it was a pleasure."
"We had a puncture early on, no idea where. We had to stop and change. Okay, we're not in the championship but it's frustrating."
"We are trying but we don't have any brake cooling. Half way through I lost the pedal. I tried to stay focussed but I was struggling to stop the car."
"I think maybe Ogier was sleeping this morning."
"The set-up is definitely better. The biggest problem I have now is that after 30kms the brakes are a fight."
"Good run, fluid with the car. Just struggled with the brake in the last km"
"I completely overheated the front tyres with 10kms to go. Maybe I pushed them too hard in the beginning?"
"I'm really struggling with the brakes in the last 10kms – I have to push the pedal so hard."
"Very hot conditions and the tyre was moving a lot. I couldn't really push because of the tyres and I had no idea what rhythm I had at the end. It wasn't easy for me."
stopped - restarted, probably a puncture.
SS2
"We tried to push a little bit but did two or three mistakes."
"I lose the power steering half way through the stage."
"We have a problem with the clutch. "
"I was pushing from the beginning but struggling with the handling of the car a bit – some understeer in places."
"The car was moving around quite a lot but the time isn't too bad."
"Better feeling but Tarmac is not my favourite surface and I'm struggling a lot. There is a huge difference between my pace on Tarmac and gravel."
"Difficult. We have pushed in the stage but the time was not really there. I don't know."
"That was a better stage for us and happy with the time. All the other drivers have come fresh from a Tarmac rally in Germany. A lot more quicker than I expected."
"Had a good stage, although quite dirty in a few places. Happy with what we're doing."
"Hit a bank and some rocks on the outside so a bit lucky there. It felt better in here but I maybe wanted a bit too much and we lost time?"
"Felt much better than the first stage but the time was not good. I had a bit of understeer."
"Not the time I should be able to do. I don't know. Maybe I was a bit wrong with what I did in the test and thought it would be good for the rally? Maybe the set-up has gone in the wrong direction and the rhythm isn't the greatest either?" "To není čas, na který mám. Možná máme špatné nastavení od testování."
"I'm not comfortable all the time. Sometimes I have huge oversteer and then some understeer. It was a bit better than the first stage."
"The notes were better, but sliding a lot quite a lot especially in the rear."
"Struggling with my foot a little but I think I did an okay time in there. Hopefully I can get a massage and that will work some magic."
"Some work to do on the set-up to be perfect but it's not bad and a good start to the rally for us. Try to get a good felling and, for sure, I was pushing a bit more in this one than I did in the first."
SS1
"We had a problem with the turbo in the stage and no pressure. I'm not sure if we can fix it because we don't have any pipe."
"Very strange situation. I was coming to the stage and was warming the brakes. Unfortunately, Veiby crashed into me."
"We lost the brakes and that was very difficult for the stage. We will have to look at that."
"That was really tricky on my first stage with the car. I will need to work with the car for the rest of the rally and try to improve."
"Really enjoyable. I took it a bit easy as I didn't want to overdrive the tyres. I could have pushed a bit more and some other things I'd like to change on the car."
"We had a big spin and lost a lot of time. I'm not confident."
"Not happy with the tyres."
"The rhytm wasn't great because we had a small issue with the car."
"I wanted just to finish the stage. This was just the start of the race and no problems."
"That was a bit of a wake up call. Really struggled to get a rhythm and killed the tyres early. I had to wait for them to come back on again."
"I spun at a hairpin not far into the stage. But I got back into my rhythm straight away and that time is good on a dirty road."
"What can I say? Really trying but no precision."
"That was okay. I'm trying to change my driving on Tarmac. The feeling is completely bad but I'm trying to do something I'm not used to. This is a project I'm continuing with for a long time. This is just the beginning."
"Happy with the time. Really, really bad time with the brakes at the end and was understeering a lot. But the time is okay."
"Didn't have the best rhythm on the driving and started to improve at the end. I know I can do a better job. I was a bit cautious on this stage."
"I can't really go for the perfect line because struggling with understeer. I'm really surprised. We have to check the set up and tyres."
"That was an enjoyable stage. Struggled with the notes a little because they were a touch inconsistent. Thought my time was a lot slower than that so that's not too bad."
"Everything was going well and then my left foot went to sleep with some vibrations. I didn't have a good feeling with the brakes."
"Not so easy to find a good rhythm. I think my notes are a bit too low and slowing me down a bit. But maybe it's better this way on such a long rally."