The Tour de Corse is one of the most important meetings of the first half of the season for Team Renault Sport Technologies. After the podium finishes they scored in Spain, much was expected of Germain Bonnefis and Robert Consani and their Megane Renaultsport N4s on the asphalt of a rally that has played a big part in the history of the discipline.

Germain Bonnefis was the first of the two in action, and began in fine style, moving to the top of the Production classification with fastest times in the opening two stages.
“The first special was typical of the Tour de Corse,” he said. “You didn’t need to fall asleep to drop off the pace. We made a very good tyre choice, and the first loop gave me the chance to show what the Megane Renaultsport N4 can do by moving into eighth place in the overall standings.”

Robert Consani also had good reason to be pleased with his start: “The changes we’ve made lately have given us a fantastic car. I could really feel the difference in the chassis and the engine.”

Germain set off on the second loop on tyres that were a little too soft: “We thought it was going to rain. The thing is, we haven’t been using the new range of Michelin tyres long enough to have a clear view on their performance. The conditions were very tricky but we managed to keep pace with Andreas Aigner throughout the day.”

Germain Bonnefis ended leg one just 4.5 seconds behind the leader in the Production class, while Robert Consani’s rally ended early when he was forced to retire: “I’m very disappointed because the opportunity was there for us to get a good result. I got ahead of myself. It was a simple mistake and it cost us dear.”

Pressing on, Bonnefis began day two determined to take control: “The weather was still making things difficult and we got our tyre choice wrong at the start of the day. We took a couple of risks to try and turn things around but they didn’t work out. We were very consistent and we didn’t make any mistakes. It’s great to have such a competitive and reliable car behind us.”

Second at the finish line, Germain Bonnefis and Olivier Fournier now lie third in the Production Cup drivers and co-drivers standings respectively, while Team Renault Sport Technologies scored 25 points for a win in the team standings.

Germain Bonnefis, Robert Consani and their Megane Renaultsport N4s will be in action again on 27-29 June, when the European Rally Championship reconvenes in Ypres, Belgium.

Tour de Corse: final classification
FIA European Rally Production Car Cup: Drivers
1. Aigner/Heigl (Stohl Racing/Subaru Impreza R4): 2:49:52.1
2. Bonnefis/Fournier (Team Renault Sport Technologies/Megane Renaultsport N4): +1:22.9
3. Orsak/Smeidler (GPD Mit Metal Racing Team/Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX-R4): +7:56.2
4. Tempestini/Pulpea (Napoca Rally Academy/Subaru Impreza R4): +13:56.9
5. Visin/Lsiros (Subaru Impreza R4): +14:46.8
6. Ayme/Ayme (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX-R4): +16:11.8
7. Marisca/Itu (Napoca Rally Academy/Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX-R4): +16:55.2

FIA European Rally Production Cup, overall standings:
Teams (5/12)
1 Napoca Rally Academy 119 points
2 Team Renault Sport Technologies 68 points

Drivers (5/12)
1. Andreas Aigner: 78 points
2. Jaroslav Orsak: 67
3. Germain Bonnefis: 60
4. Marco Tempestini: 43
5. Beppo Harrach: 38
11. Robert Consani: 24

Co-Drivers (5/12)
1. Jurgen Heigl: 78 points
2. David Smeidler: 67
3. Olivier Fournier: 60
4. Dorin Pulpea: 43
5. Leop Welsersheimb: 38
11. Tibo Gorczyca: 24