MEDIA INFORMATION

2019 FIA Round 4/14: Linea

The MICHELIN Pilot Sport H5 and S6 ready to tackle Corsica’s asphalt

The beautiful Mediterranean island of Corsica and its twisty mountain roads will be the focus of attention once again when the FIA World Rally Championship reconvenes on March 28-31 for the first ‘pure’ asphalt round of the 2019 calendar.

With two wins from a possible three to their name so far (Monte Carlo, Mexico), Sébastien Ogier and return to the island behind the wheel of a Citroën C3 WRC. Between them, the French pair and Sébastien Loeb/ (Hyundai i20 WRC) account for 15 Drivers’ world titles (Loeb/Elena nine, Ogier/Ingrassia six) and clearly figure amongst the favourites for the win on their home round.

This year’s Tour de Corse features a revamped itinerary, with only two stages carried over from 2018. Thursday evening’s start ceremony will be held in Porto Vecchio, while Sunday afternoon’s finish will be hosted by Calvi, but the service park will still be next to Airport.

The total route length of 1,194.06 kilometres will include 347.51km divided into 14 special stages. Leg 1, on Friday, will focus on the Alta Rocca region in southern Corsica where two loops of two stages are scheduled with no opportunity to service until crews return to Bastia later that evening. Stage 1 ends at an altitude of 1,218 metres above sea level after the twisty run up to Col de Bavella. Saturday’s action promises to be particularly tough since it packs more than half of the event’s competitive distance into a single day before crews head to the island’s west coast for the last leg near Calvi.

If the weather is dry, Michelin’s WRC partners will be able to choose between the hard-compound MICHELIN Pilot Sport H5 and the softer MICHELIN Pilot Sport S6. The S6, which made its debut on the 2018 Rallye Monte-Carlo, is designed for relatively cold or damp conditions thanks to its fast warm-up and grip performance which drivers particularly appreciate on twisty roads. The MICHELIN Pilot H5 promises to be the chief choice for Corsica’s mild, early-spring temperatures, however. Should the week bring heavy rain instead, crews will be able to fit the MICHELIN Pilot Sport FW3 (FW = Full Wet).

Michelin’s WRC2 runners will have a choice between the MICHELIN Pilot Sport RH3 (hard compound), the MICHELIN Pilot Sport RS (soft) and the MICHELIN Pilot Sport FW3 (heavy rain).

“If you don’t count the Rallye Monte-Carlo, which is usually classed as a winter round, the Tour de Corse is the year’s first pure asphalt fixture,” says Arnaud Rémy, the manager of Michelin’s rally programmes. “Given the many different parts of the island it visits, this year’s event really lives up to its name and promises to be very interesting”.

Didier Laurent – [email protected] – Phone: +33.6.75.60.50.62 Alessandro Barlozzi – [email protected] – Phone: +33.6.42.23.55.93

“The stages are likely to be hard-wearing because the roads are still very abrasive, even though they are now much smoother than before. The durability of our WRC asphalt tyres is sure to play a decisive role again, whether you’re talking about the H5, which is the hardest compound we have, or the softer S6 which performed well in Corsica in 2018. This year’s longest stage is Castagniccia [47.18km]. It is almost eight kilometres shorter than last season’s Vero-Sarrola-Carcopino which was 55.17 kilometres long. Given that our tyres were up to the job then, we are confident for Castagniccia. Our technicians and notably our fitters face another, more logistical and human challenge this time around, though, because they will need to cater to the needs of a large proportion of the 96 crews entered for this ever-popular event.”

The individual allocation for each WRC crew on the 2019 Tour de Corse (including shakedown) is 28 MICHELIN Pilot Sport H5s, 20 Pilot Sport S6s and eight Pilot Sport FW3s, of which up to 28 may be used. WRC2 drivers may use up to 26 tyres from an overall choice of 26 MICHELIN Pilot Sport RH3s, 18 Pilot Sport RSs and eight 8 Pilot Sport FW3s. Michelin will have 1,893 tyres for the 2019 Tour de Corse: WRC: 854 / WRC: 860 / RGT: 180.

Michelin’s staff for the 2019 Tour de Corse

Michelin will have a staff of 14 in Corsica:

 Arnaud Rémy (manager of Michelin’s rally programmes)  2 coordinators  4 technical team advisors (CTEs)  6 fitters  1 Press officer

Didier Laurent – [email protected] – Phone: +33.6.75.60.50.62 Alessandro Barlozzi – [email protected] – Phone: +33.6.42.23.55.93