The eleventh edition of the French Classic Rally Corsica (Tour de Corse historique) was held from 4 to 8 October. On the starting grid of this 1,100 km event held this year along the superb winding roads between Ile Rousse, Porto, Propriano and Port Vecchio, teams No. 2 and 16 proudly defended Motul's colours.
Composed of Jean-Pierre Lajournade and his co-pilot Denis Baron, team no. 2 constantly battled it out in the lead yet without committing any big mistakes. Their Porsche 911 did however come off the road slightly once (just damaging one rim, no more) and that slowed down somewhat the team which had mounted the second step of the podium in the previous edition. As the level has considerably risen since then, the French driver can be proud of his 5th place in the overall standings just behind famous drivers of the likes of Philippe Gache or Jean-Claude Andruet, no less.
In 55th place, we find team no. 16 composed of Michel Mallier (a major Matra specialist) and… Henri Pescarolo (16 is his favourite number). Driving a Matra 'Napoléon'*, both were particularly competitive for the greatest pleasure of the many journalists who made the trip. Unfortunately, following big brake problems, they were relegated to the lower end of the standings after being assigned a two hour penalty. Pending 2012, Matra enthusiasts will very soon be able to admire this unique model at the Matra museum in Romorentin, France, as well as at the next Retromobile show.
* The only one produced, the Matra 'Napoléon' was specially developed in 1965 for the Tour de Corse, on a Matra Djet base. Unfortunately the project was very soon abandoned by Matra and the car was destroyed. It was only in 2005 that it could be rebuilt using original plans.
Standings:
1/ GACHE Philippe / RIVIERE Nicolas PORSCHE 911
2/ ANDRUET Jean Claude / BICHE PORSCHE 911
3/ OREILLE Alain / CAUSAN Christophe PORSCHE 911
4/ MANZAGOL Jean Pierre / MAGINI Vanessa RENAULT 5 TURBO
5/ LAJOURNADE Jean Pierre / BARON Denis PORSCHE 911 Motul
…
55/ PESCAROLO Henri / MALLIER Michel MATRA MS 610 Motul
