Authors of a faultless performance, Julien Saunier and Frédéric Vauclare won the 24th edition of the Tour de Corse Historique, aboard a 1974 Porsche 911 3.0 RS. On the podium, the driver wanted to salute the organizers of a rally in which he was participating for the first time, but certainly not the last! Same conclusion for Jos Verstappen who will return...

Having left Porto-Vecchio last Tuesday, the competitors returned to the port city on Saturday. For five days, the rally had surprises in store for them, some scheduled, such as the four new special stages, others less so, like the showers that occurred during stages one and three. Under the finishing arch, many were keen to salute the organisation of the rally, "one of the five best events in the world for historic cars" according to Automoto host Jean-Pierre Gagick, who was competing in a Ford Mustang.

Rookie and winner

The last day was like the first four for Julien Saunier and Frédéric Vauclare, who set two scratch times in the four events on the programme. The Lyon driver won seven of the seventeen special stages of a Tour de Corse Historique that he almost led from start to finish, since he took command from the second special stage on Tuesday morning. The winner of the 2003 Young Rally, aged 42, had however had a major scare on Wednesday afternoon, when the front suspension stops of his Porsche 911 3.0 RS broke. "I knew neither the car nor the rally and I had not been back to the island since my participation in the Corte rally in 2005," confided the winner at the finish. " But we had still prepared our move well, with meticulous reconnaissance. The secret of our victory lies largely in the extremely precise note-taking of Frédéric (Vauclare). He had even spotted the slopes where water might flow if it rained. And that's exactly what happened! He was the one coaching me to tell me when to attack or when to slow down. He is 60% responsible for our victory. It's extraordinary, because I had long dreamed of taking part in the Tour de Corse Historique, which is a legendary rally."

Pieri, Ear, Capanaccia, Verstappen

Second at 45 seconds, Tom Pieri and Fabien Cortes were on a par with the leaders in the second part of the event. The 25-year-old driver, who aims for a career at the highest level of modern rallies, admitted to having a lot of fun at the wheel of a BMW M3 whose posters he collected as a child. "We came up against someone stronger than us, but we'll be back next year ," he concluded sportingly, as he left the Porto-Vecchio finish village. Next came Alain Oreille, who is older than his two podium companions combined! A great performance for the double 1989-1990 Group N World Rally Champion and his wife Sylvie, who he will still have to convince to come back next year.

We should also mention the performance of Olivier Capanaccia and Audrey Nesta, delayed by an electrical problem from SS3, and who climbed from 122nd to 9th place overall, with five scratch times to their name. The big attraction of the 2024 edition, Jos Verstappen, finished 21st. The Dutchman and his Belgian co-driver Renaud Jamoul occupied the top ten until midday of the penultimate stage, when a mechanical intervention following a slight oil leak forced them to arrive late, resulting in a penalty. Under the finishing arch in Porto-Vecchio, the former F1 driver was already talking about the idea of ​​returning next year. Finally, a word about the Lancia 037s, which were in the spotlight during this edition. Three of the four Italians finished, the first, that of Bernard Revest and Pierre-Jean Finidori, finishing 19th.

Photo finish in Regularity

In VHRS Regularity, the battle raged until the last special. Delayed on Tuesday evening following a gearbox change, Christophe Baillet and Jean-Marc Piret gradually came back to take the lead in the penultimate special of the rally. In Porto-Vecchio, they were six seconds ahead of Pierre and Olivier Feligioni, who had been leading the debate since the sixth of the seventeen specials. Behind the two Porsche 911s, it was a more modest VW Golf that came in 3rd, that of Stéphane Blaise and Robert Vandevost.

Beyond the sporting results, this 24th edition marked by a new record of entrants kept all its promises in terms of organization. A performance widely praised by all the competitors at the finish.

Marie-Ange Dini, organizer: "Everything went perfectly. Our teams did a huge amount of work before and during the event to make this edition a great success. In terms of sport, each day brought its share of twists and turns and great stories. This edition also presented a very wide variety of models, particularly in Regularity, with the almost complete range of cars that have distinguished themselves throughout the history of the Tour de Corse. We can finally be pleased to see internationally renowned personalities like John Buffum or Jos Verstappen taking an interest in our event."

HCV classification

1. Saunier-Vauclare (Porsche 911) in 3h59'26"

2. Pieri-Cortes (BMW M3) at 45"

3. Ear-Ear (Porsche 911) at 3'30"

4. Mancini-Mancini (BMW M3) at 5'27"

5. Fotia-Pasqualini (BMW M3) at 5'29"

VHRS Ranking

1. Baillet-Piret (Porsche 911) 149 pts

2. Feligioni-Feligioni (Porsche 911) 157 pts

3. Arnal-Goudou (Morris Cooper S) 188 pts

4. Ozanne-Duhayer (Porsche 911) 197 pts

5. Rigondet-Souillard (CG 1200) 235 pts