Tour de Corse

The Tour de Corse is a rally first held in 1956 on the island of Corsica. It was the French round of the World Rally Championship from the inaugural 1973 season until 2008, was part of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge from 2011 to 2012, and finally returned to WRC in 2015. The name "Tour de Corse" refers to the fact that in the early days it was run around the island; nowadays it only features roads around Ajaccio. The rally is held on asphalt roads, and is known as the "Ten Thousand Turns Rally" because of the twisty mountain roads.

Tour de Corse
Statusactive
Genremotorsporting event
Frequencyannual
Location(s)Corsica
CountryFrance
Inaugurated1956
Gareth Jones driving a Subaru Impreza WRC at the 2008 rally.

Several drivers have been killed during the event, including fatalities at 3 consecutive events. Attilio Bettega, driving a Lancia 037 Rally, died during the fourth special stage of the 1985 rally, Zérubia-Santa Giulia. In 1986, exactly a year later, Henri Toivonen and his co-driver Sergio Cresto died in their Lancia Delta S4 during the 18th stage of the event, Corte-Taverna. Almost a year later in 1987, co-driver French Corsican Jean-Michel Argenti and driver Jean Marchini fatally crashed similarly to those before them.

The first running of the rally was won by the Belgian female driver Gilberte Thirion in a Renault Dauphine. Two drivers have won the event a record six times; Bernard Darniche (1970, 1975, 1977, 1978, 1979 and 1981) and Didier Auriol (1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1995). The only non-French drivers to win the event more than once are Sandro Munari, Markku Alén, Colin McRae and Thierry Neuville.

It has been largely popularized that Toivonen and Cresto's deaths sealed the fate of Group B rallying due to the realization that the cars had too much pure power and lack of containment, proving to be dangerous and potentially fatal to spectators.

Winners
Season Driver Co-driver Car Event report
1956 Gilberte Thirion Nadège Ferrier Renault Dauphine Report
1957 Michel Nicol Roger de la Geneste Alfa Romeo Giulietta Report
1958 Guy Monraisse Jacques Feret Renault Dauphine Report
1959 Pierre Orsini Jean-Baptiste Canocini Renault Dauphine Report
1960 Herbert Linge Paul-Ernst Strähle Porsche SC 90 Report
1961 René Trautmann Jean-Claude Ogier Citroën DS19 Report
1962 Pierre Orsini Jean-Baptiste Canocini Renault Dauphine Report
1963 René Trautmann Jean-Claude Ogier Citroën DS19 Report
1964 Jean Vinatier Roger Masson Renault 8 Gordini Report
1965 Pierre Orsini Jean-Baptiste Canocini Renault 8 Gordini Report
1966 Jean-François Piot Jean-François Jacob Renault 8 Gordini Report
1967 Sandro Munari Luciano Lombardini Lancia Fulvia HF Coupé Report
1968 Jean-Claude Andruet Maurice Gelin Alpine-Renault A110 Report
1969 Gérard Larrousse Maurice Gelin Porsche 911 R Report
1970 Bernard Darniche Bernard Demange Alpine-Renault A110 1800 Report
1971 Rally cancelled
1972 Jean-Claude Andruet Michèle 'Biche' Espinosi-Petit Alpine-Renault A110 1800 Report
1973 Jean-Pierre Nicolas Michel Vial Alpine-Renault A110 1800 Report
1974 Jean-Claude Andruet Michèle 'Biche' Espinosi-Petit Lancia Stratos HF Report
1975 Bernard Darniche Alain Mahé Lancia Stratos HF Report
1976 Sandro Munari Silvio Maiga Lancia Stratos HF Report
1977 Bernard Darniche Alain Mahé Fiat 131 Abarth Report
1978 Bernard Darniche Alain Mahé Fiat 131 Abarth Report
1979 Bernard Darniche Alain Mahé Lancia Stratos HF Report
1980 Jean-Luc Thérier Michel Vial Porsche 911 SC Report
1981 Bernard Darniche Alain Mahé Lancia Stratos HF Report
1982 Jean Ragnotti Jean-Marc Andrié Renault 5 Turbo Report
1983 Markku Alén Ilkka Kivimäki Lancia 037 Rally Report
1984 Markku Alén Ilkka Kivimäki Lancia 037 Rally Report
1985 Jean Ragnotti Pierre Thimonier Renault R5 Maxi Turbo Report
1986 Bruno Saby Jean-François Fauchille Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2 Report
1987 Bernard Béguin Jean-Jacques Lenne BMW M3 Report
1988 Didier Auriol Bernard Occelli Ford Sierra RS Cosworth Report
1989 Didier Auriol Bernard Occelli Lancia Delta Integrale Report
1990 Didier Auriol Bernard Occelli Lancia Delta Integrale 16V Report
1991 Carlos Sainz Luís Moya Toyota Celica GT-Four ST165 Report
1992 Didier Auriol Bernard Occelli Lancia Delta HF Integrale Report
1993 François Delecour Daniel Grataloup Ford Escort RS Cosworth Report
1994 Didier Auriol Denis Giraudet Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD Report
1995 Didier Auriol Denis Giraudet Toyota Celica GT-Four ST205 Report
1996 Philippe Bugalski Jean-Paul Chiaroni Renault Mégane Maxi Report
1997 Colin McRae Nicky Grist Subaru Impreza WRC 97 Report
1998 Colin McRae Nicky Grist Subaru Impreza WRC 98 Report
1999 Philippe Bugalski Jean-Paul Chiaroni Citroën Xsara Kit Car Report
2000 Gilles Panizzi Hervé Panizzi Peugeot 206 WRC Report
2001 Jesús Puras Marc Martí Citroën Xsara WRC Report
2002 Gilles Panizzi Hervé Panizzi Peugeot 206 WRC Report
2003 Petter Solberg Phil Mills Subaru Impreza WRC2003 Report
2004 Markko Märtin Michael Park Ford Focus RS WRC 04 Report
2005 Sébastien Loeb Daniel Elena Citroën Xsara WRC Report
2006 Sébastien Loeb Daniel Elena Citroën Xsara WRC Report
2007 Sébastien Loeb Daniel Elena Citroën C4 WRC Report
2008 Sébastien Loeb Daniel Elena Citroën C4 WRC Report
2009* Pascal Trojani Francis Mazotti Peugeot 307 WRC Report
2010 Rally cancelled
2011* Thierry Neuville Nicolas Gilsoul Peugeot 207 S2000 Report
2012* Dani Sordo Carlos del Barrio Mini Cooper S2000 Report
2013* Bryan Bouffier[1] Xavier Panseri Peugeot 207 S2000 Report
2014* Stéphane Sarrazin Jacques-Julien Renucci Ford Fiesta RRC Report
2015 Jari-Matti Latvala Miikka Anttila Volkswagen Polo R WRC Report
2016 Sébastien Ogier Julien Ingrassia Volkswagen Polo R WRC Report
2017 Thierry Neuville Nicolas Gilsoul Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC Report
2018 Sébastien Ogier Julien Ingrassia Ford Fiesta WRC Report
2019 Thierry Neuville Nicolas Gilsoul Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC Report

In 1996, due to the World Rally Championship's event rotation system used from 1994–96, the rally counted only for the FIA 2-Litre World Championship for Manufacturers. The 2009 event was part of the France Cup.[2]

*, denotes years when Tour de Corse was not part of the World Rally Championship

Multiple winners
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