The battle of the FIA Junior World Rally Championship Frenchmen continues at this weekend’s Tour de Corse – Jean-Baptiste Franceschi and Terry Folb fighting for a coveted victory on home soil.
Winning all of today’s six stages, Franceschi was the man to beat through the second day of competition – transforming a 10.9 second deficit into a 17.9 second advantage at the end of the day.
With 71.42 kilometres left to contest, there remains all to play for and a strong drive through the longest stage of the rally could see either driver claim the spoils.
In the battle for the final podium position, Ireland’s Callum Devine has the advantage over Emil Bergkvist and Dennis Radstrom – 7.3 seconds clear of the Swedish pairing at the end of the day.
Elsewhere in the field, Tom Williams suffered a puncture on SS5. Losing more than four minutes to the leading pack, the young Brit fell outside of what had been a creditable top-ten standing.
David Holder had been running a commendable seventh overall before losing close to fifteen minutes off the road on SS6. But thanks to the help of the spectators, he was able to rejoin the stage and finish the day.
TOP-THREE DRIVER QUOTES Jean-Baptiste Franceschi (1st): said: « Today was perfect for us – with six fastest times from six stages we couldn’t have expected anything better. The car was perfect, the pacenotes also, and we are now leading the rally. But we need to stay focused because tomorrow will be a long day. »
Terry Folb (2nd) said: « We’ve not had a bad day, but we lost the lead which was a big disappointment. Jean Baptiste has done a very good job and it was difficult to match him today. I had a good feeling with the car and the tyres, so let’s see what we can do tomorrow. My objective is still to win this rally – 18 seconds is a lot, but I will push hard and try my best. »
Callum Devine (3rd) said: « We had some real good times today, but lost a little bit on the final stage. We were looking to try and see where we lost it, but honestly I’m not too sure – maybe that stage just didn’t suit us and it was as simple as that. We want to keep this position so we just need to keep going the way we’re going and bring it home tomorrow. »
CLASSIFICATION AFTER SECTION TWO 1. Jean-Baptiste Franceschi / Romain Courbon 2:53:54.0 2. Terry Folb / Christopher Guieu +17.9 3. Callum Devine / Keith Moriarty +2:30.8 4. Emil Bergkvist / Ola Fløene +2:38.1 5. Dennis Rådström / Johan Johansson +3:02.4 6. Ken Torn / Ken Järveoja +5:30.9 7. Luca Bottarelli / Manuel Fenoli +6:27.1 8. Bugra Banaz / Burak Erdener +8:00.9 9. Emilio Fernández / Joaquin Riquelme +9:26.2 10. Julius Tannert / Jürgen Heigl +12:19.8 11. Enrico Oldrati / Danilo Fappani +12:36.7 12. Tom Williams / Phil Hall +13:24.1 13. Umberto Accornero / Barone Maurizio +16:55.1 14. David Holder / Jason Farmer +21:48.6
Press release Junior WRC
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