Sebastien Ogier fastest in the Tour de Corse shakedown

Sebastien Ogier was fastest in the Tour de Corse shakedown. The M-Sport driver’s time was 0,6sec better than the one of Hayden Paddon. Kris Meeke was third fastest.

“I was really happy during our pre-event test and now in shakedown. The feeling in the first run wasn’t fantastic but we did some small adjustments and I have to say I have a good feeling with the Fiesta on asphalt, at the moment better than on gravel,” said Ogier, quoted by wrc.com.

Nice to see the Fiesta WRC at the top of the times sheets again. Here are the times from Shakedown but the real battles start tomorrow! #WRC pic.twitter.com/YrEFwaX98E

— M-Sport (@MSportLtd) 6 April 2017

The four-time world champion combined work with time at home during the weeks after Rally Mexico. He enjoyed some skiing, but also had a good test to find the best set-up for the Corsica stages.

“We’re back to asphalt and I had a good feeling with the Fiesta in Monte-Carlo, but this event offers a completely different surface which demands a slightly different approach. Working with the team, we were able to explore a lot of different settings with the dampers and centre-differential which I hope will see us well placed to challenge for another strong result”, Ogier explained.

“We’ve seen some very close battles this year, and I expect that to continue. We’ll certainly be doing our best to be in the battle, and the ultimate goal will be to come out on top. It won’t be easy, but the Tour de Corse never is. Even if the route remains very similar to last year, this rally is always a big challenge!”

“I write one corner per page in Corsica… only joking!”, Ogier’s co-driver Julien Ingrassia said. “Okay, we might not have to write that much, but it is a lot. The number of pages is influenced by the size of each co-driver’s writing and the amount of detail each crew includes in their pacenotes but, as an example, I use 94 pages for stage nine alone!”

“The most important thing when delivering so much information is to keep the rhythm. The easiest way to explain it is to think of it like a piece of music. All the notes have to be there, and the tune has to be there, but we have to play it faster.”

Meeke was pleased with his shakedown speed. However, he pointed out that that the shakedown is pretty different to what the crews will experience during the rally.

“The stages are long and tyre management is going to be critical. I still can’t wait to get started. Everyone who was here last year knows the stages well and it’ll be close. It looks like the weather is going to be pretty mild, so that’s a good thing!”, Kris added.

Shakedown results