# Tour de Corse

The Tour de Corse is a rally first held in 1956 on the island of Corsica. It was the French round of the World Rally Championship from the inaugural 1973 season until 2008, was part of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge from 2011 to 2012, and finally returned to WRC in 2015. The name "Tour de Corse" refers to the fact that in the early days it was run around the island; nowadays it only features roads around Ajaccio. The rally is held on asphalt roads, and is known as the "Ten Thousand Turns Rally" because of the twisty mountain roads.
Several drivers have been killed during the event, including fatalities at 3 consecutive events. Attilio Bettega, driving a Lancia 037 Rally, died during the fourth special stage of the 1985 rally, Zérubia-Santa Giulia. On May 2 1986, exactly a year later, Henri Toivonen and his co-driver Sergio Cresto died in their Lancia Delta S4 during the 18th stage of the event, Corte-Taverna. Almost a year later in 1987, co-driver French Corsican Jean-Michel Argenti and driver Jean Marchini fatally crashed similarly to those before them.
The first running of the rally was won by the Belgian female driver Gilberte Thirion in a Renault Dauphine. Two drivers have won the event a record six times; Bernard Darniche (1970, 1975, 1977, 1978, 1979 and 1981) and Didier Auriol (1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1995). The only non-French drivers to win the event more than once are Sandro Munari, Markku Alén, Colin McRae and Thierry Neuville.
It has been largely popularized that Toivonen and Cresto's deaths sealed the fate of Group B rallying due to the realization that the cars had too much pure power and lack of containment, proving to be dangerous and potentially fatal to spectators.

## Winners

| Season | Driver | Co-driver | Car | Series | Event report |
| 1956 | Gilberte Thirion | Nadège Ferrier | Renault Dauphine | Non Championship | Report |
| 1957 | Michel Nicol | Roger de la Geneste | Alfa Romeo Giulietta | Non Championship | Report |
| 1958 | Guy Monraisse | Jacques Feret | Renault Dauphine | Non Championship | Report |
| 1959 | Pierre Orsini | Jean-Baptiste Canocini | Renault Dauphine | Non Championship | Report |
| 1960 | Herbert Linge | Paul-Ernst Strähle | Porsche SC 90 | Non Championship | Report |
| 1961 | René Trautmann | Jean-Claude Ogier | Citroën DS19 | Non Championship | Report |
| 1962 | Pierre Orsini | Jean-Baptiste Canocini | Renault Dauphine | Non Championship | Report |
| 1963 | René Trautmann | Jean-Claude Ogier | Citroën DS19 | Non Championship | Report |
| 1964 | Jean Vinatier | Roger Masson | Renault 8 Gordini | Non Championship | Report |
| 1965 | Pierre Orsini | Jean-Baptiste Canocini | Renault 8 Gordini | Non Championship | Report |
| 1966 | Jean-François Piot | Jean-François Jacob | Renault 8 Gordini | Non Championship | Report |
| 1967 | Sandro Munari | Luciano Lombardini | Lancia Fulvia HF Coupé | Non Championship | Report |
| 1968 | Jean-Claude Andruet | Maurice Gelin | Alpine-Renault A110 | Non Championship | Report |
| 1969 | Gérard Larrousse | Maurice Gelin | Porsche 911 R | Non Championship | Report |
| 1970 | Bernard Darniche | Bernard Demange | Alpine-Renault A110 1800 | ERC | Report |
| 1971 | Rally cancelled | Rally cancelled | Rally cancelled | Rally cancelled | Rally cancelled |
| 1972 | Jean-Claude Andruet | Michèle 'Biche' Espinosi-Petit | Alpine-Renault A110 1800 | ERC | Report |
| 1973 | Jean-Pierre Nicolas | Michel Vial | Alpine-Renault A110 1800 | WRC | Report |
| 1974 | Jean-Claude Andruet | Michèle 'Biche' Espinosi-Petit | Lancia Stratos HF | WRC | Report |
| 1975 | Bernard Darniche | Alain Mahé | Lancia Stratos HF | WRC | Report |
| 1976 | Sandro Munari | Silvio Maiga | Lancia Stratos HF | WRC | Report |
| 1977 | Bernard Darniche | Alain Mahé | Fiat 131 Abarth | WRC | Report |
| 1978 | Bernard Darniche | Alain Mahé | Fiat 131 Abarth | WRC | Report |
| 1979 | Bernard Darniche | Alain Mahé | Lancia Stratos HF | WRC | Report |
| 1980 | Jean-Luc Thérier | Michel Vial | Porsche 911 SC | WRC | Report |
| 1981 | Bernard Darniche | Alain Mahé | Lancia Stratos HF | WRC | Report |
| 1982 | Jean Ragnotti | Jean-Marc Andrié | Renault 5 Turbo | WRC | Report |
| 1983 | Markku Alén | Ilkka Kivimäki | Lancia 037 Rally | WRC | Report |
| 1984 | Markku Alén | Ilkka Kivimäki | Lancia 037 Rally | WRC | Report |
| 1985 | Jean Ragnotti | Pierre Thimonier | Renault R5 Maxi Turbo | WRC | Report |
| 1986 | Bruno Saby | Jean-François Fauchille | Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 E2 | WRC | Report |
| 1987 | Bernard Béguin | Jean-Jacques Lenne | BMW M3 | WRC | Report |
| 1988 | Didier Auriol | Bernard Occelli | Ford Sierra RS Cosworth | WRC | Report |
| 1989 | Didier Auriol | Bernard Occelli | Lancia Delta Integrale | WRC | Report |
| 1990 | Didier Auriol | Bernard Occelli | Lancia Delta Integrale 16V | WRC | Report |
| 1991 | Carlos Sainz | Luís Moya | Toyota Celica GT-Four ST165 | WRC | Report |
| 1992 | Didier Auriol | Bernard Occelli | Lancia Delta HF Integrale | WRC | Report |
| 1993 | François Delecour | Daniel Grataloup | Ford Escort RS Cosworth | WRC | Report |
| 1994 | Didier Auriol | Bernard Occelli | Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD | WRC | Report |
| 1995 | Didier Auriol | Denis Giraudet | Toyota Celica GT-Four ST205 | WRC | Report |
| 1996 | Philippe Bugalski | Jean-Paul Chiaroni | Renault Mégane Maxi | 2-Litre World Rally Cup | Report |
| 1997 | Colin McRae | Nicky Grist | Subaru Impreza WRC 97 | WRC | Report |
| 1998 | Colin McRae | Nicky Grist | Subaru Impreza WRC 98 | WRC | Report |
| 1999 | Philippe Bugalski | Jean-Paul Chiaroni | Citroën Xsara Kit Car | WRC | Report |
| 2000 | Gilles Panizzi | Hervé Panizzi | Peugeot 206 WRC | WRC | Report |
| 2001 | Jesús Puras | Marc Martí | Citroën Xsara WRC | WRC | Report |
| 2002 | Gilles Panizzi | Hervé Panizzi | Peugeot 206 WRC | WRC | Report |
| 2003 | Petter Solberg | Phil Mills | Subaru Impreza WRC2003 | WRC | Report |
| 2004 | Markko Märtin | Michael Park | Ford Focus RS WRC 04 | WRC | Report |
| 2005 | Sébastien Loeb | Daniel Elena | Citroën Xsara WRC | WRC | Report |
| 2006 | Sébastien Loeb | Daniel Elena | Citroën Xsara WRC | WRC | Report |
| 2007 | Sébastien Loeb | Daniel Elena | Citroën C4 WRC | WRC | Report |
| 2008 | Sébastien Loeb | Daniel Elena | Citroën C4 WRC | WRC | Report |
| 2009 | Pascal Trojani | Francis Mazotti | Peugeot 307 WRC | France Cup | Report |
| 2010 | Rally cancelled | Rally cancelled | Rally cancelled | Rally cancelled | Rally cancelled |
| 2011 | Thierry Neuville | Nicolas Gilsoul | Peugeot 207 S2000 | IRC | Report |
| 2012 | Dani Sordo | Carlos del Barrio | Mini Cooper S2000 | IRC | Report |
| 2013 | Bryan Bouffier | Xavier Panseri | Peugeot 207 S2000 | ERC | Report |
| 2014 | Stéphane Sarrazin | Jacques-Julien Renucci | Ford Fiesta RRC | ERC | Report |
| 2015 | Jari-Matti Latvala | Miikka Anttila | Volkswagen Polo R WRC | WRC | Report |
| 2016 | Sébastien Ogier | Julien Ingrassia | Volkswagen Polo R WRC | WRC | Report |
| 2017 | Thierry Neuville | Nicolas Gilsoul | Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC | WRC | Report |
| 2018 | Sébastien Ogier | Julien Ingrassia | Ford Fiesta WRC | WRC | Report |
| 2019 | Thierry Neuville | Nicolas Gilsoul | Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC | WRC | Report |
| 2020 | Rally not held | Rally not held | Rally not held | Rally not held | Rally not held |

### Multiple winners

| Wins | Driver | Years won |
| 6 | Bernard Darniche | 1970, 1975, 1977–1979, 1981 |
| 6 | Didier Auriol | 1988–1990, 1992, 1994–1995 |
| 4 | Sébastien Loeb | 2005–2008 |
| 3 | Pierre Orsini | 1959, 1962, 1969 |
| 3 | Jean-Claude Andruet | 1968, 1972, 1974 |
| 3 | Thierry Neuville | 2011, 2017, 2019 |
| 2 | René Trautmann | 1961, 1963 |
| 2 | Sandro Munari | 1967, 1976 |
| 2 | Jean Ragnotti | 1982, 1985 |
| 2 | Markku Alén | 1983–1984 |
| 2 | Philippe Bugalski | 1996, 1999 |
| 2 | Colin McRae | 1997–1998 |
| 2 | Gilles Panizzi | 2000, 2002 |
| 2 | Sébastien Ogier | 2016, 2018 |