The Rally France is leaving the forests and mountains of Corsica behind for a new venue in Alsace, boyhood home of six-time world champion Sébastien Loeb. As the WRC heads in to unfamiliar territory, we ask the drivers what they expect to find waiting for them in the hilly countryside and asphalt roads around Strasbourg.
Winners in Japan, SÉBASTIEN OGIER and JULIEN INGRASSIA have limited knowledge of the route despite it being their home event. “I’ve not been back here since taking part in the Alsace-Vosges Rally three years ago,” said Sébastien. “That was just my second season in rallying… all that feels like an age ago now!
“With a new rally we start on an equal footing with everyone else in terms of experience. That was the case in Bulgaria earlier this year as well, where we managed to set some good stage times.”
For KIMI RAIKKONEN, it’s been nothing but new tracks, and new surfaces, this year. But like Ogier, the 2007 Formula One world champion has prospered when the field was levelled and everyone was getting used to a new track.
"It's not easy, that's for sure, but I'm hoping that we can have a good result. If we can show the same sort of pace that we did in Bulgaria, in the top five, then that would be really good.
“The problem is that it's always hard to predict a result when you don't know anything about the route.”
The Finn also had perhaps the best preparation by winning the Rallye Vosgien. “From what I have heard, the roads we have driven there will be very similar to what we will find on the Rally France itself.
“It was more useful than a straightforward test, as it allowed us to try out quite a variety of special stages. The level in the World Rally Championship now is so high that you cannot afford to lose a single second. You have to be completely ready from the very start.”
Sweden’s PATRICK SANDELL is one of the favourites in the SWRC after his victory in Germany. "The rally is new for everyone so I really don't know what to expect but, for sure, I am 100 per cent confident. It will be a big challenge but I know now that we are competitive on asphalt following our win in Germany."
© GEPA/McKlein/Red Bull Photofiles
Needing to finish ahead of Xevi Pons and Martin Prokop to keep his SWRC championship chances afloat, Sandell has also been hard at work preparing for the rally.
"It's still an open game and I believe I can win. We had a good run in Austria and covered more than 400 kilometres in Germany, and my team always support me with a very good car."
Regardless of category, everyone agrees that a good recce and first-rate pacenotes will be crucial to success. Sandell and co-driver Emil Axelsson also practised their pacenote preparation on public roads back home in Sweden. "I prepared brand-new pacenotes for Rally Deutschland and they were very good. I think it could be a key for victory in France, too."
HERMANN GASSNER JNR has also been preparing with test runs in Austria. "I like driving on gravel but I am faster on tarmac because most of the rallies in Germany are on tarmac.
"Being so close to Germany I would like to think some of the stages will be similar although I really won't know what they will look like properly until I start my recce."
Want more?
- Sébastien Loeb on Rally France and that seventh title
- The Rally France on Redbull.com
- Catch up interview with Kimi Raikkonen
- Look back at the Rally Deutschland
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