Stéphane Sarrazin wins Tour de Corse with Oreca-Store.com !
Two weeks after his win at the Critérium des Cévennes, here is another convincing success in rally for Stéphane Sarrazin who clinched victory at the European Rally Championship’s final ! At the wheel of a Ford Fiesta RCC, entered by First Motorsport with the support of both 8StarMotorsports and Oreca-Store.com, the French driver delivered a perfect performance, constantly in the lead. Right from the second day, and together with co-driver Jacques-Julien Renucci, Stéphane Sarrazin made his mark on the challenge with four best times in a row.
Stéphane Sarrazin : « It’s just a real joy ! »
Right from the first special of this 57th Tour of Corsica, Stéphane Sarrazin placed himself at the top of the leader board. Throughout the first loop around Porto Vecchio, Bryan Bouffier and him took turns as leaders before Stéphane took control on Friday afternoon, posting another best time and relying on his rock solid consistency.
On Saturday morning near Ajaccio, the driver, originally from Le Gard, built up his success, establishing himself in the first place, with three best times in a row ! Having also posted the best time in the penultimate special, he therefore secured his lead before dealing with the final round. In the end, Stéphane Sarrazin and Jacques-Julien Renucci won the Tour of Corsica thanks to a faultless performance on board of their Ford RCC, about twenty seconds ahead of 2013 winner Bryan Bouffier who was driving the same car as theirs.
« It’s just a real joy to win the Tour of Corsica ! » says Stéphane Sarrazin. « Two weeks after the Rallye des Cévennes, which was quite an important one to me, we now clinch victory in one of the most legendary rally challenges. We really had to attack for that win. The first day was positive but we had to find the right compromise between risk-taking and pure performance. There were many tricky bits, we’ve managed to avoid them while taking our marks in Corsica. We knew that everything would depend on the second stage. Saturday morning we gave everything we had and really had to push. We had a fantastic car thanks to First Motorsport’s work and Jacques-Julien’s notes were just perfect. I felt confident, I managed to attack and I enjoyed myself very much even if I was aware that something important was at stake. Those two stages marked my return to rally. In the end, I hadn’t driven that car lots in practice sessions, and actually never in competition before the Cévennes. Two wins with this two-rally programme which we had put up together with 8StarMotorsports and Oreca-Store.com, I couldn’t have hoped anything more than that ! »