History 2000s

2001 Tour de Corse – Rallye de France (France)

Overview Route Results Cars Challenges

Overview

Event Name: 2001 Tour de Corse – Rallye de France (France)

Date: October 5–7, 2001

Start Location: Ajaccio, Corsica

Finish Location: Ajaccio, Corsica

Total Distance: ~1,000 km (estimated full route)

Competitive Stages: ~394 km

Surface: Asphalt

Known as the “Rally of 10,000 Corners,” the 2001 Tour de Corse delivered another intense tarmac challenge along Corsica’s narrow and twisting mountain roads. Jesús Puras was untouchable throughout the event, using his asphalt mastery to take a second straight win for Citroën and establish the Xsara WRC as a premier force on sealed surfaces.

Route

Vero–Sarrola: Tight rhythm sections with minimal runoff and lots of hidden apexes.
Pont de Casaglione: Fast descent into winding valley roads — favored drivers who could trail-brake and rotate quickly.
Murzo–Ambiegna: Classic Corsican test of concentration with varied surface grip and complex sequences of left–right transitions.

The rally featured long stages filled with blind crests, constant direction changes, and little margin for error. Key stages included:

Weather remained stable, allowing full attack on slick asphalt setups across all three days — perfect conditions for specialists like Puras to shine.

🏆 Results

Overall Winner
Jesús Puras & Marc Martí · Citroën Xsara WRC
2nd Place
Philippe Bugalski & Jean-Paul Chiaroni · Citroën Xsara WRC
3rd Place
François Delecour & Daniel Grataloup · Ford Focus WRC

Puras led from stage one and was never challenged, while Bugalski made it a Citroën 1–2 with his own elegant display of tarmac speed. Delecour delivered a consistent and safe drive to round out the podium on a rally filled with retirements and small errors.

Navigation & Challenges

  • Corner Density: Corsica’s stage layouts demanded exceptional pacenote delivery — one late call could cost an entire loop.
  • Braking Technique: Trail-braking and tight rotation were essential — the Xsara’s platform allowed deep braking with fast directional change.
  • Driver Patience: Success required precise aggression — pushing too early in a stage often led to tire fade or errors later in the loop.

Jesús Puras’s victory in Corsica capped a perfect run on the asphalt, proving his supremacy on twisty roads and solidifying Citroën’s arrival as a serious WRC force — a sign of even greater success to come.

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