The Tour de Corse is a rally first held in 1956 on the island of Corsica. It was the French round of the World Rally Championship from the inaugural 1973 season until 2008, was part of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge from 2011 to 2012, and finally returned to WRC in 2015. The name "Tour de Corse" refers to the fact that in the early days it was run around the island; nowadays it only features roads around Ajaccio. The rally is held on asphalt roads, and is known as the "Ten Thousand Turns Rally" because of the twisty mountain roads.

Tour de Corse
StatusActive
GenreMotorsporting event
FrequencyAnnual
Location(s)Corsica
CountryFrance
Inaugurated1956
Gareth Jones driving a Subaru Impreza WRC at the 2008 rally.

Several drivers have been killed during the event, including fatalities at 3 consecutive events. Attilio Bettega, driving a Lancia 037 Rally, died during the fourth special stage of the 1985 rally, Zérubia-Santa Giulia. On May 2 1986, exactly a year later, Henri Toivonen and his co-driver Sergio Cresto died in their Lancia Delta S4 during the 18th stage of the event, Corte-Taverna. Almost a year later in 1987, co-driver French Corsican Jean-Michel Argenti and driver Jean Marchini fatally crashed similarly to those before them.

The first running of the rally was won by the Belgian female driver Gilberte Thirion in a Renault Dauphine. Two drivers have won the event a record six times; Bernard Darniche (1970, 1975, 1977, 1978, 1979 and 1981) and Didier Auriol (1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1995). The only non-French drivers to win the event more than once are Sandro Munari, Markku Alén, Colin McRae and Thierry Neuville.

It has been largely popularized that Toivonen and Cresto's deaths sealed the fate of Group B rallying due to the realization that the cars had too much pure power and lack of containment, proving to be dangerous and potentially fatal to spectators.

Winners

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Season Driver Co-driver Car Series Event report
1956   Gilberte Thirion   Nadège Ferrier Renault Dauphine Non Championship Report
1957   Michel Nicol   Roger de la Geneste Alfa Romeo Giulietta Report
1958   Guy Monraisse   Jacques Feret Renault Dauphine Report
1959   Pierre Orsini   Jean-Baptiste Canocini Renault Dauphine Report
1960   Herbert Linge   Paul-Ernst Strähle Porsche SC 90 Report
1961   René Trautmann   Jean-Claude Ogier Citroën DS19 Report
1962   Pierre Orsini   Jean-Baptiste Canocini Renault Dauphine Report
1963   René Trautmann   Jean-Claude Ogier Citroën DS19 Report
1964   Jean Vinatier   Roger Masson Renault 8 Gordini Report
1965   Pierre Orsini   Jean-Baptiste Canocini Renault 8 Gordini Report
1966   Jean-François Piot   Jean-François Jacob Renault 8 Gordini Report
1967   Sandro Munari   Luciano Lombardini Lancia Fulvia HF Coupé Report
1968   Jean-Claude Andruet   Maurice Gelin Alpine-Renault A110 Report
1969   Gérard Larrousse   Maurice Gelin Porsche 911 R Report
1970   Bernard Darniche   Bernard Demange Alpine-Renault A110 1800 ERC Report
1971 Rally cancelled
1972   Jean-Claude Andruet   Michèle 'Biche' Espinosi-Petit Alpine-Renault A110 1800 ERC Report
1973   Jean-Pierre Nicolas   Michel Vial Alpine-Renault A110 1800 WRC Report
1974   Jean-Claude Andruet   Michèle 'Biche' Espinosi-Petit Lancia Stratos HF Report
1975   Bernard Darniche   Alain Mahé Lancia Stratos HF Report
1976   Sandro Munari   Silvio Maiga Lancia Stratos HF Report
1977   Bernard Darniche   Alain Mahé Fiat 131 Abarth Report
1978   Bernard Darniche   Alain Mahé Fiat 131 Abarth Report
1979   Bernard Darniche   Alain Mahé Lancia Stratos HF Report
1980   Jean-Luc Thérier   Michel Vial Porsche 911 SC Report
1981   Bernard Darniche   Alain Mahé Lancia Stratos HF Report
1982   Jean Ragnotti   Jean-Marc Andrié Renault 5 Turbo Report
1983   Markku Alén   Ilkka Kivimäki Lancia 037 Rally Report
1984   Markku Alén   Ilkka Kivimäki Lancia 037 Rally Report
1985   Jean Ragnotti   Pierre Thimonier Renault R5 Maxi Turbo Report
1986   Bruno Saby   Jean-François Fauchille Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2 Report
1987   Bernard Béguin   Jean-Jacques Lenne BMW M3 Report
1988   Didier Auriol   Bernard Occelli Ford Sierra RS Cosworth Report
1989   Didier Auriol   Bernard Occelli Lancia Delta Integrale Report
1990   Didier Auriol   Bernard Occelli Lancia Delta Integrale 16V Report
1991   Carlos Sainz   Luís Moya Toyota Celica GT-Four ST165 Report
1992   Didier Auriol   Bernard Occelli Lancia Delta HF Integrale Report
1993   François Delecour   Daniel Grataloup Ford Escort RS Cosworth Report
1994   Didier Auriol   Bernard Occelli[1][2] Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD Report
1995   Didier Auriol   Denis Giraudet Toyota Celica GT-Four ST205 Report
1996   Philippe Bugalski   Jean-Paul Chiaroni Renault Mégane Maxi 2-Litre World Rally Cup Report
1997   Colin McRae   Nicky Grist Subaru Impreza WRC 97 WRC Report
1998   Colin McRae   Nicky Grist Subaru Impreza WRC 98 Report
1999   Philippe Bugalski   Jean-Paul Chiaroni Citroën Xsara Kit Car Report
2000   Gilles Panizzi   Hervé Panizzi Peugeot 206 WRC Report
2001   Jesús Puras   Marc Martí Citroën Xsara WRC Report
2002   Gilles Panizzi   Hervé Panizzi Peugeot 206 WRC Report
2003   Petter Solberg   Phil Mills Subaru Impreza WRC2003 Report
2004   Markko Märtin   Michael Park Ford Focus RS WRC 04 Report
2005   Sébastien Loeb   Daniel Elena Citroën Xsara WRC Report
2006   Sébastien Loeb   Daniel Elena Citroën Xsara WRC Report
2007   Sébastien Loeb   Daniel Elena Citroën C4 WRC Report
2008   Sébastien Loeb   Daniel Elena Citroën C4 WRC Report
2009   Pascal Trojani   Francis Mazotti Peugeot 307 WRC France Cup[3] Report
2010 Rally cancelled
2011   Thierry Neuville   Nicolas Gilsoul Peugeot 207 S2000 IRC Report
2012   Dani Sordo   Carlos del Barrio Mini Cooper S2000 Report
2013   Bryan Bouffier[4]   Xavier Panseri Peugeot 207 S2000 ERC Report
2014   Stéphane Sarrazin   Jacques-Julien Renucci Ford Fiesta RRC Report
2015   Jari-Matti Latvala   Miikka Anttila Volkswagen Polo R WRC WRC Report
2016   Sébastien Ogier   Julien Ingrassia Volkswagen Polo R WRC Report
2017   Thierry Neuville   Nicolas Gilsoul Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC Report
2018   Sébastien Ogier   Julien Ingrassia Ford Fiesta WRC Report
2019   Thierry Neuville   Nicolas Gilsoul Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC Report
2020 Rally not held

Multiple winners

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Wins Driver Years won
6   Bernard Darniche 1970, 1975, 1977–1979, 1981
  Didier Auriol 1988–1990, 1992, 1994–1995
4   Sébastien Loeb 2005–2008
3   Pierre Orsini 1959, 1962, 1969
  Jean-Claude Andruet 1968, 1972, 1974
  Thierry Neuville 2011, 2017, 2019
2   René Trautmann 1961, 1963
  Sandro Munari 1967, 1976
  Jean Ragnotti 1982, 1985
  Markku Alén 1983–1984
  Philippe Bugalski 1996, 1999
  Colin McRae 1997–1998
  Gilles Panizzi 2000, 2002
  Sébastien Ogier 2016, 2018

References

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  1. ^ "Didier Auriol - rally profile eWRC-results.com". eWRC-results.com.
  2. ^ "Bernard Occelli - rally profile eWRC-results.com". eWRC-results.com.
  3. ^ "results Tour de Corse – Rallye des 10000 Virages 2009". eWRC-results.com. 8 November 2009. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
  4. ^ "56. Tour de Corse 2013 results". eWRC-results.com. 18 May 2013. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
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