The 46th season of the World Rally Championship continued this weekend with the fourth round of competition, the 61st annual Tour de Corse in Corsica, France.
The 12 stage, 333.48-kilomter (207.21 miles), based in Bastia, was won by French driver Sebastien Ogier, his third victory of the season and second in the event, and co-driver Julien Ingrassia. Ogier, who led the event from start to finish, won by 36.1 seconds over Estonian pilot Ott Tanak and co-driver Martin Jarveoja.
Here are some statistics related to the Tour de Corse as well as the 2018 season after four rounds.
- Overall Winner (Driver): Sebastien Ogier
- Overall Results (WRC Classic/Eligibility M Only): Sebastien Ogier, Ott Tanak, Thierry Neuville, Dani Sordo, Elfyn Evans, Esapekka Lappi, Andreas Mikkelsen, Kris Meeke, Sebastien Loeb
- Overall Winner (Manufacturer): Ford
- Overall Winner (Tire): Michelin
- Overall Winner (Country): France
- Total Stages/Distance Contested: 12 stages/333.48 kilometers (207.21 miles)
- Longest Stage: 55.17 kilometers/34.28 miles (Vero to Sarrola-Carcopino)
- Shortest Stage: 13.55 kilometers/8.42 miles (Piedigriggio to Pont de Castirla)
- Stage Winners (By Driver): Esapekka Lappi (4), Sebastien Ogier (3), Sebastien Loeb (3), Ott Tanak (2)
- Stage Winners (By Country): France (6), Finland (4), Estonia (2)
- Stage Winners (By Manufacturer): Toyota (6), Ford (3), Citroen (3)
- Stage Winners (By Tire): Michelin (22)
- Total Time: 3:26:52.7
- Margin of Victory: 36.1 seconds
Notes of Interest (Tour de Corse):
- This was the 43rd career victory for Sebastien Ogier, driver of the No. 1 Ford Fiesta WRC, and his second in the Tour de Corse. Ogier is second all-time in WRC victories, behind fellow Frenchman Sebastien Loeb (78). Ogier was the leader after each of the 12 stages.
- This is the first season since 2016 that Ogier has won at least three WRC rallies in a season, and the first time since 2015 he has won three of the first four rallies in a season. He ended his 2017 championship season with two victories. His career-best season in terms of victories was 2013 – which started his streak of five straight titles – in which he achieved nine wins.
- Ogier has now won at least three WRC rallies in six of nine seasons. He’s also won more than a third of the WRC rallies in which he’s competed (43 of 127; 33.9 percent).
- Ogier now has 22 stage wins this season, which is more than half of the 11 he earned all of last season. His season-best was set in 2013, when he won 110 stages. With his three stage victories all-time, Ogier now has 513 stage wins, 16 behind Stig Blomqvist (529) for ninth all-time.
- Ogier now has 68 WRC podiums, which is fifth all-time and only one behind Mikko Hirvonen (69) for fourth-place all-time.
- Ogier shared the victory with co-driver Julien Ingrassi; together, they have 43 victories.
- France has claimed 188 WRC driver victories, 10 more than the country of Finland.
- Ott Tanak and co-driver Martin Jarveoja finished second in the No. 8 Toyota Yaris WRC, the top-finishing Toyota. Tanak won two stages en route to his second podium of the season and first since the season-opening Rallye Monte-Carlo.
- Tanak leads all drivers this season with 17 stage victories, and is the only driver to win a stage in all four WRC events this season.
- Defending Tour de Corse winner Thierry Neuville, the only other driver to win a race this season (Rally Sweden), finished third in the No. 5 Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC, the top-finishing Hyundai. Neuville and co-driver Nicolas Gilsoul were 67.5 seconds in arrears of Ogier after the 12 stages.
- This was Neuville’s second podium of the season and the 29th of his career. He has finished on the podium in each of the last three Tour de Corse events.
- Dani Sordo and co-driver Carlos del Barrio were fourth in the No. 6 Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC. It marked Sordo’s second finish of fourth or better in three races this season; he had retired at Monte Carlo and did not run Rally Sweden.
- Elfyn Evans and co-driver Phil Mills were fifth in the No. 2 Ford Fiesta WRC, only three-and-a-half seconds behind Sordo’s Hyundai. It marked the best finish of the season for the Welsh driver and his best finish since a fifth-place effort in last year’s finale, Rally Australia.
- Esapekka Lappi and co-driver Janne Ferm finished second in the No. 9 Toyota Gazoo Racing Yaris WRC, the top-finishing Toyota. Lappi won an event-high four stages in earning his best finish of 2018, and also earned five bonus points after winning the 16.25-kilometer Power Stage at the end of the rally, 2.2 seconds ahead of Sebastien Loeb.
- Sebastien Loeb finished 14th overall and ninth in class after crashing in the second stage. However, he returned to action and earned three stage wins Saturday, boosting his all-time record mark to 912 stage wins.
- French drivers have combined to win 18 stages this season, one more than Estonia’s 17. Nine countries have been represented in stage wins in 2018.
- Toyota’s six stage wins led all manufacturers in the Tour de Corse. Toyota is the fourth manufacturer in as many rallies this season to lead a rally in stage victories. Ford had six in Monte Carlo, Hyundai had eight in Sweden and Citroen had eight in Mexico. Toyota also moved to the top of the season stage victory list with 24, with Hyundai – which went winless at Corsica
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2018 World Rally Championship Statistics
- Total Rallies Contested: 4
- Total Distance Covered: 1,386.96 kilometers (861.81 miles)
- Most Victories (Driver): Sebastien Ogier (3)
- Overall Winners (By Driver): Sebastien Ogier (3; Monte Carlo, Mexico, France), Thierry Neuville (1; Sweden)
- Overall Winners (By Manufacturer): Ford (3; Monte Carlo, Mexico, France), Hyundai (1; Sweden)
- Overall Winners (By Tire): Michelin (4; Monte Carlo, Sweden, Mexico, France)
- Overall Winners (By Country): France (3; Monte Carlo, Mexico, France), Belgium (1; Sweden)
- Most Podiums: Sebastien Ogier (3)
- Stage Winners (By Driver): Ott Tanak (17), Sebastien Ogier (12), Thierry Neuville (11), Kris Meeke (6), Esapekka Lappi (6), Sebastien Loeb (6), Craig Breen (3), Dani Sordo (3), Andreas Mikkelsen (3), Elfyn Evans (2), Hayden Paddon (2), Teemu Suninen (1), Jari-Matt Latvala (1)
- Stage Winners (By Manufacturer): Toyota (24), Hyundai (19), Citroen (15), Ford (15)
- Stage Winners (By Tire): Michelin (73)
- Stage Winners (By Country): France (18), Estonia (17), Belgium (11), United Kingdom (8), Finland (8), Ireland (3), Spain (3), Norway (3), New Zealand (2)
- Most Rallies with One Stage Win: Ott Tanak (4)
- Total Stages Contested: 70 (average of 17.5 per rally)
- Longest Stage: 55.17 kilometers/34.28 miles (Vero to Sarrola-Carcopino; won by Ott Tanak)
- Shortest Stage: 1.11 kilometers/.69 miles (Street Stage Leon – Rally Mexico; Teemu Suninen and Andreas Mikkelsen each won one of the two contested stages)
- Drivers to Lead Points Standings: 2 (Sebastien Ogier – 3; Thierry Neuville – 1)
- Longest Distance Covered, Single Rally: 394.74 kilometers/245.28 miles (Rally Monte-Carlo; won by Sebastien Ogier)
- Shortest Distance Covered, Single Rally: 314.25 kilometers/195.266 miles (Rally Sweden; won by Thierry Neuville)
- Most Stages in a Single Rally: 22 (Rally Mexico)
- Fewest Stages in a Single Rally: 12 (Tour de Corse)
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All-Time World Rally Championship Statistics
- Total Rallies Contested: 575
- Drivers With At Least One Win: 77 (First: Jean-Claude Andruet; 77th: Elfyn Evans)
- Manufacturers With At Least One Win: 21
- Nations With At Least One Win: 17
- Most Victories (Driver): Sebastien Loeb (78)
- Most Victories (Manufacturer): Citroen (98)
- Most Victories (Nation): France (188)
- Most Championships (Driver): Sebastien Loeb (9)
- Most Championships (Manufacturer): Lancia (10)
- Most Championships (Nation): France (15)
Notes of Interest
- The fifth round of the 2018 World Rally Championship is the 18-stage, 360.61 kilometer YPF Rally Argentina, based in Villa Carlos Paz, from April 26-29.
Sources
- Wikipedia: Tour de Corse; List of World Rally Championship Drivers’ championships
- World Rally Championship website: http://www.wrc.com
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