62. CORSICA Linea Tour de Corse 2019
28. 3. – 31. 3. 2019, Porto-Vecchio, Bastia, Calvi • asphalt 347.51 km • total distance including road sections - 1194.06 km • Other years • Other years
Info
SS14
"It's difficult to accept but okay, it happens. A similar thing maybe happened to Ott yesterday. It's the nature of the sport. I think it happened on a straight piece of road in the middle, a hole of piece or stone that had lifted. I felt it straightaway. Very unexpected. I tried to drive on it to see if we could minimise the time loss but it started to delaminate 6km before the end. At least we have the podium but it's not what I wanted."
"I'm really disappointed for Elfyn, who did a really good job, but I think we deserved it as well. We were pushing all the time. Never give up!"
front right puncture
"Not easy. I just wanted to finish. I knew I had no chance to do anything in the Power Stage so I didn't risk anything."
"The target was manufacturers' points. We were not so fast in some stages, so couldn't fight for the podium. Anyway, if we can finish like this it's interesting for the championship."
"I'm really happy for the pace. Still some work to do in the dirty corners but in the end a great result for me."
"In the end let's say it's disappointing, but now at the rally I didn't enjoy at all a couple of years ago we are on the pace. We've collected some points. The fight goes on."
"It was a very difficult weekend. We tried to make it as good as we could. A bit frustrating. We need to be better next time."
"A clean stage, no mistakes. I'm not looking for points - just trying to finish."
"I had a good run but Jari is not my target - there are a lot of quick guys behind. I gave it a go. I couldn't have done much more."
"You can make a good time here if you are taking risks and committed. If I can get one or two points I will be happy. It was okay but I am missing something - like I was all weekend. I now need to get a completely new energy for Argentina."
"We got safely through. We are happy to collect points. We try to improve on the next one."
"I'm really pleased because it was difficult here with overheated tyres and brakes. Now we wait for Andolfi. We'll see. But for sure we are at the finish of this challenge so it's a big celebration."
SS13
"I don't know. The car feels okay, but it's moving a lot. I couldn't go any faster."
"Okay. We had a good stage. I was pushing. Not perfect everywhere but it was okay."
"It's been okay. Once again I have a different set-up and hopefully now I know what to do for the Power Stage. You can count on me to try."
"I have a brake problem from the middle of the stage. From there I drive slow."
"It was a good run for us. I have had a monkey on my shoulder, telling me to calm down and relax and bring the car home. Now I have given him a banana, he's a nice guy and he's letting me drive."
"A good stage, a very fast one. Not perfect notes but we did all we could."
"Just coming safely through, to be honest. Manufacturer points are the target. I would like Power Stage points but I'm not so confident."
"We didn't try to push. Just go through the stage and wait to see what happens. In our position there is nothing more to play for."
"Not a habit I want to get into on Sunday morning. Let's see what we can do, hopefully collect a couple of points in he power stage."
"Beautiful conditions. A very beautiful stage. We took it relaxed because the Power Stage is now more important."
SS12
"No idea. It felt like a good stage. No idea. All to play for but that's disappointing."
"I tried. Obviously we have a mission not to make a mistake but I had a good feeling with the car. We raised it a bit since this morning and the handling was nicer so I was able to attack."
car burn out
accident
"Nothing wrong, the other drivers are just faster on the second pass, Ogier was really fast. It's like this."
"We lost some time. I think the reason is all clear for me..."
"I had an engine problem, no anti-lag for two or three kms. No anti-lag, then it came back suddenly and I nearly went off because I didn't expect to have the power."
"That's quite an okay time. We were not really pushing. We are here without any dramas. it is good to be here and now we have some nice stages tomorrow."
"It was a bit better. We adjusted the diffs and the feeling was quite correct. A good stage."
"I know that the car has potential, it's just the driver. I need to go to sleep and think about the driving more."
"I enjoyed driving this afternoon. A much stiffer setup seems to work better."
SS11
"The morning was really good but now in this stage we lost power steering a few seconds 5km ago and also before the finish. Let's see about the next stage but 47km without power steering is not possible in Corsica on tarmac."
"Happened somewhere near the middle. Now we change the wheel and continue."
"That's unlucky for him. Our pace wasn't that great by the look of it anyway. It felt okay, I pushed quite hard but didn't find the rhythm in places. It's a shame for Ott. We still have to fight, there's not such a gap behind. Let's see."
"Puncture. Very strange place. Okay."
puncture
changed a wheel
"So fast! I tried to do my best. Really high speed in some places. With the Toyotas its a little bit more difficult but we enjoy it."
"A good drive. Of course some places I could do better but it's my first time here in this car. It's okay."
"The feeling is better but the times are not good. I cannot say it's a big improvement."
"We are still far away. I am trying my best, for sure. It's frustrating when whatever you do you can't find the speed."
"A bit better I think, but still understeering. We tried to adjust the diff mapping. It's not perfect, but it's okay."
"I haven't been driving very well in this rally. I tried to push more and cut in. My mistake."
"It felt good. I changed the damper set-up, running the car a bit stiffer. I thought it was good but the time seems slow, we'll see."
changed a wheel
SS10
changed a wheel
"A good run. No dramas. Trying to be as smooth as possible but still pushing."
"I had a good run, all clean. Still a long way to go. This is not the last stage yet."
"It was a good stage. A really good one."
"The car is okay, but it was a bit difficult in the forest with this light. Difficult to see the corners in the sunlight through the trees."
"It was okay. A bit happier with the car. Thinking about how to save the tyres and get the fastest times."
"A little bit better. We're making changes every service The feeling is getting better, at least in the right direction."
"No difference. I'm on my maximum, for sure."
"We have a lot of understeer now. It is very difficult to drive the car. I lost six seconds compared to the morning. We will try and change something in the set-up but it's really not good."
"Kris was driving really well. It's an interesting stage, it was okay for us."
"Better grip than earlier with more rubber on the road and higher temperatures. A good run."
SS9
"I didn't start the best. I touched something on the rear after a dirty cut early on and it altered the handling ever so slightly. No big deal but it didn't help. We pushed hard. Very difficult to read the grip. We did what we could."
"This was a tricky stage and a new stage. I'm sure nobody is going on the limit but I had a good rhythm and my notes were quite okay so no worries."
"Not the stage I was looking for, and I don't know why to be honest. It was very tricky and there was a lot of gravel. Maybe I took it too careful."
"Good, but I'm surprised when I do a good time and also when I do a bad time. It'd hard to know how to drive. It's weird. Some places we are not on the limit and it is better. Anyway, we are happy with our time - that's the most important thing."
"It was an okay stage for us. Not a good rhythm, and too careful in cutting places. I was a bit too calm."
stopped
"I don't know how the guys behind will do but honestly I don't understand the time. My driving is not different to normal but the pace is not there. We need to find something."
"It's not possible to enjoy this stage. This was the most horrible so far."
"I understeered in a tightening corner. I couldn't turn, went into a ditch and lost time turning around. The car is okay."
stopped
"Quite okay. Different surfaces and surprisingly slippery, with gravel at the end. Generally okay."
"Incredibly slippery surface in places, some damp sections caught me by surprise. A huge challenge. The set up with the dampers wasn't perfect, the car is rolling about."
spin
SS8
Puncture
stopped
"I really enjoy this rally. It's going very well and I hope it will stay like that. We focus and continue."
"This stage is really nice fast and flowing. Sliding a lot. Good fun."
"It's much better. In the stage before this, comparing to the guys on new notes, it was quite good. Now I just need to learn how to drive faster!"
"Not the perfect run, but not that bad either. You can really harm you tyres here, so we were neat and tidy, let's see."
"We need to be on the limit, we need to push. There is no holding back. I'm enjoying the fight. The car is really good."
"It was okay but a little bit of understeer. I enjoyed this stage, it's the first time we enjoyed this one - last year it was a disaster."
"Not a bad time. I'm trying to be clean. It's more like a circuit road here and the car was good. The speed you can carry in the corners is unbelievable."
"We were able to change something with the... It's better now."
"Yes, no problem. We have done some changes since yesterday but obviously we are not really getting faster."
"It felt even more horrible than the first one. The time is a surprise, or the first runners have been bad as well, i don't know. It was not good at all. I don't have enough grip at the front. I could go much faster but I can't trust. That's it. We have tried many, many things here but we just don't find a solution."
"This is a very fast and wide stage. The feeling is okay, but maybe not so good in this type of stage. Not our favourite place with this car but it's okay, not so bad."
"I knew I would lose time, I had a good rhythm but I did this stage only once last year before I crashed and still my notes were not precise enough. I was braking far too much in the corners."
"This one is like a race circuit, a different character to the rest. I wasn't so good here last year so I made some subtle changes. I'm just exploring today."
SS7
changed a wheel
"Really difficult, narrow and tricky. I wasn't confident enough."
"The set-up is a bit better now and it starts to feel good. Now I have to learn how to drive here, it's a very difficult rally, hopefully we can be at better speed today."
"A good run but there were a few hesitations in a few areas - not as good as it could have been."
"It's a good battle. I think it will be tight today so we need to do well."
"Towards the end I struggled a bit, sliding too much and a bit too careful on the brakes. The car feels good, a bit of movement but it gives us the grip we need."
"The feeling in the car is good but the time is not so nice. Not fast enough in some places but it's hard to understand why."
"A terrible stage for us. We need to try and fix things."
"We made a lot of changes, and in that way it's a bit better but the speed is not there yet."
"Quite similar. Maybe slightly better but not enough for sure."
"At the moment things are working well. I tried to push. We adjusted the set-up yesterday and I am feeling well with the car. I'm trying to be awake in the morning - we did a good stage."
"Nothing special. I crashed on this stage last year so I didn't do the second part properly and my pace notes needed a bit of fine tuning."
"I was annoyed with myself yesterday, I make a mistake in the recce which caused the problem. I have to improve. I have to dig deeper and deeper if I want to challenge for a championship. I'll learn."
SS6
"We made some set-up changes and it is now quite good. Now it's much more enjoyable to drive."
"I try to do my best. This morning I didn't understand the times because I was driving normal. Now I'm trying and it's difficult, the speed is not there."
"A disappointing day. I was expecting a bit more. One bad driving stage, and then the puncture. That one stage [Valinco] has been causing problems for us, otherwise not so bad."
"It's going better and better but for sure we lost a lot in the morning. Now I am quite confident in the car."
"I've tried to do my best all day but the pace is not there. We are too slow all the time. It's very frustrating, but that's how it is."
"I had a conversation with [co-driver] Seb in stage and he said hopefully Elfyn would have a three-minute gap. It doesn't look like the organisers gave it. I wasn't expecting him to come. I've sorry for Elfyn."
"I know Kris well, he wouldn't do that intentionally. I hope it gets resolved in the way it should."
"It was okay. I felt good in the car but I'm missing a bit of grip to go faster. Some corners I hesitate a bit. A big attack, for sure. I would like to go faster."
"I have to find a solution to make this car turning. The car is not turning and it has been a very difficult day."
"A very consistent day. For the second loop we had to be a bit careful - we had a damper issue at the front. But in the end it didn't change the behaviour too much."
SS5
"I was not really pushing on this one. Trying to keep similar good pace as before and maybe improve a bit."
"After 2km we got a slow puncture. There was gravel at the start and perhaps we got a sharp stone in the tread. Nothing special, just one of those unfortunate things."
"The feeling is okay, but it's not fast. I can't tell you why. I'm driving as fast as I can."
changed a wheel
"No problem. It was okay. No mistakes. I tried to push. The feeling with the car is okay."
"I'm on my limit and that's it. We are crazy slow."
"A much, much better run. Everything is working really well."
damaged rear right suspension
"This car cannot be any faster at the moment. There is a lot of understeer and no way to be better. I'm not even sure we can do anything in service."
"A clean run, not pushing to the limit yet but going at a good rhythm."
SS4
"It's not been a great day for us so far, car is understeering a lot so we need to find some solution to it for tomorrow but my driving is getting better. Still a good learning experience"
"The feeling with the car is good. I should push but at the same time I should drive carefully and finish the rally."
"I tried to drive it like before. It went well but I think the others his morning were a bit slow."
"My notes have not been good but this was okay. Getting better."
"No mistakes, it was okay. The stage is quite clean."
"Too slow. I did a good stage but I guess the R5s will be faster."
"A pretty good run. Neat and tidy but still fairly on it."
What happened earlier has gone. I'm focused now on my driving. The car feels good. The gap is big but I'll nibble away."
"Looks like I didn't have the feeling. We're going to see in the next stage."
"Better than this morning but still not fantastic."
"Quite a bit more gravel in places now but generally still nice. I'm quite happy."
SS3
puncture
Off road
"After the puncture earlier we tried to improve but it's hard. I cannot find good confidence to push."
"A pretty okay morning. Difficult to manage the driving. An okay time here. I could go faster but only with higher risk."
"I didn't have a really good time now. I have a good feeling in the car but the road is very dirty with gravel."
"The pace notes are not good enough, they are too slow and I'm not driving fast enough. I tried to use notes from 2015 and you can see how they worked. Incredible."
"The car felt okay. The feeling is quite good now. Okay, we've lost a lot of time but we are still here driving."
"I spun on a hairpin. The feeling is actually okay in the car but not perfect from me. Now it's getting a bit better but yeah, the first time for me to make such a tight hairpin and I couldn't get it."
"A good clean run, nice and tidy. All okay."
"We have a job to do to try and get back as much time as possible."
"The feeling is a little bit better but my pace notes are sometimes too slow sometimes too fast. I don't want to take risks."
"Not the start we were hoping for. I have been struggling a lot with the car this morning. We made some changes and now it feels better."
"Not a very good morning but consistent. No issues but I believe my rhythm can improve. Generally the car is working well, I just need to understand these new stages. Generally I'm quite happy."
SS2
Off road
Puncture
"This one was quite okay, we managed to fix the car on the road section. I'm not so happy with my notes - too slow for these conditions."
"I don't understand. I felt pretty good but the time is not. Very, very strange. I didn't expect to be that slow. Perhaps the notes were too cautious."
"The car is okay after we tried to repair, but the mistake in the first stage means that's it now. We are far away."
"It felt a little bit better but the time is really bad. I have no chance to go any faster. It's not looking so good."
"I think I make a mistake on the recce - I had 'keep in' in my notes, I hit something and punctured immediately. We'll try our best to fight back."
"The profile of this stage was different [to the first] I could feel the limit of the car but I struggled with the front."
SS1
Puncture
"I spun in a hairpin and struggled to find reverse. I think the car is okay, there shouldn't be much damage."
"Not a great feeling. Struggling to carry the speed through some sections."
broken suspension
"I didn't get held up by Seb - but I was disturbed by the tyre marks I saw in the road."
"I slid wide into a corner and hit a kerb. It broke the suspension I think."
"The feeling is quite okay, but I'm not fully happy. We will try to adjust something. It's not crazy bad but it can be better and we can get better times."
"It was good. Not perfect but good."
"I don't know how it happened, something caught me in the corner, completely unseen."
front left puncture
"I'm surprised. I don't like the [car's] behaviour. I am pretty much on the edge and not 100 per cent comfortable."
"Car is not so bad. A new stage, we made new notes and they were too slow in places. We came across some cows in the road."