Tour de Corse promises classic route for 2012 Intercontinental Rally Challenge round

Christian Leca, the President of Tour de Corse organising body ASACC, promised that this year's rally would be "a genuine, old-fashioned tour of Corsica."

In its final years as France's round of the World Rally Championship, before that moved to Alsace on the mainland two years ago, the Tour de Corse had run on a compact route around the island's capital of Ajaccio.

Last year the event made its debut in the IRC, returning to stages close to Calvi and Corte that had not been used since the 1990s. This year's route starts in Ajaccio and ends in Corsica's northernmost town of Bastia.

"What we're proposing is not just a Tour of Ajaccio; instead something to properly challenge all the crews," added Leca. "We want to give them a rally that they will all remember."

The rally will cover 319.94 competitive kilometres over three days from Thursday to Saturday, making a total combined distance of stage and road mileage equating to 1061.06 kilometres. Four service parks will be used over the three days and 14 special stages.

The IRC's first Tour de Corse last year was won by Thierry Neuville, who went on to secure a factory-backed drive with Citroen's satellite WRC team.