WEC and Formula E racer Sarrazin to make Corsica WRC return

The former factory Subaru WRC driver has continued to dabble in rallying alongside his main programme in sportscars in recent years, and won last season's Corsica event when it was part of the European Rally Championship.

He will return in a First Motorsport-run Ford Fiesta World Rally Car when France's round of the WRC moves back to Corsica next month.

"I'm happy to be at the start of the Tour de Corse, it's a rally that I particularly appreciate," said Sarrazin.

"I'm also very pleased to return to the world championship.

"Of course my objectives aren't the same as last year. WRC contenders are very high quality drivers.

"We're going to fight with what we've got: a certain knowledge of the area, a perfect harmony with the team and a good understanding of the car on that type of road."

Sarrazin has contested two national rallies in France and Italy this year, winning the Monte Blanc event recently.

"Obviously I'll have to find the right pace again but that's the reason why I took part in two other rallies those last couple of weeks," he said.

"We want to rely on consistency, our aim is to avoid the several pitfalls that we could encounter.

"We'll do the math at the end, with the idea of 'rocking the boat' somewhere in our minds!"

The 39-year-old Frenchman is also part of Toyota's WRC test programme ahead of its return to top-level rallying in 2017.

A long-time F1 test driver - who made a single grand prix start with Minardi in Brazil in 1999 - Sarrazin focused on the WRC from 2004-06 with Subaru.

He was limited to part-time asphalt-leaning programmes and took two fourth places as his best results.