Rally / 06 November 2014

2014 2WD ERC Driver?s Championship Goes To The Wire

FIA ERC ? Tour de Corse - Preview

The 2014 FIA European Rally Championship concludes next weekend with the “Tour de Corse” in Corsica and it’s gearing up to be some finale.

Zoltan Bessenyey and co-driver Yulianna Nyirfas, currently leading the 2WD Driver’s Championship, had the opportunity to secure the title in last month’s Rallye du Valais in Switzerland, but it wasn’t to be; they crossed the finish line, but without enough points to take the overall crown.  

So the Hungarian duo head into the final round 24 points ahead of closest rival Stéphane Lefebvre, but with everything still at stake.

With its twisty and narrow tarmac mountain roads, the 57th “Tour de Corse”, known as “the rally of 10,000 corners”, will test drivers to the limit. For Bessenyey there is the additional challenge that the Eurosol-Civic Type R driver has never driven the course before.

”This is our first experience in Corsica and after just a few kilometres during the recce I knew that it will be a very difficult rally. The stages are all narrow and bumpy, some are very dirty and the tarmac on the mountain roads is very abrasive. The Special Stages are long, but with only eleven stages and completely new ones added to the first day of competition, everybody will start with an equal chance of winning. Of course, everything depends on the result of our rival; to take the title, Lefebvre must win or at least finish second. He is under pressure, and that’s not an easy mission. I want, first of all, to finish this rally and if Lefebvre doesn’t succeed, than we will win the 2WD Championship for the second time!”

In addition to Bessenyey-Nyirfas, Swiss Laurent Berard and co-driver Stéphane Fellay will drive at the wheel of a second Civic Type R from the Chablais Racing Team.

The rally starts with the Qualifying Stage on Thursday 6th November. On Friday 7th November the 56 crews begin the first of 11 special tarmac stages, covering a total of 251,56 km. The winner will appear at the finish around 17h45 on Saturday 8th November at the Port de Commerce in Ajaccio.