Feb 262 min read

Edition 2024: the Lancia 037 in the spotlight

A not-to-be-missed event on the classic racing calendar, the next Tour de Corse Historique will pay tribute to one of the legends of Group B, the Lancia Rally 037, whose history remains intimately linked to that of the rally of 10,000 corners.

2024 will be the year of the Lancia 037! The star of the film Race for Glory (currently showing in cinemas), the legendary Group B car was also one of the big attractions at the last Rétromobile show. Its presence on the Tour de Corse Historique stand was a reminder that 40 years ago, this model won in France what remains to this day the last victory of a rear-wheel drive car in the World Rally Championship (WRC).

"We wanted to celebrate the Lancia double win in 1984 and Markku Alén's victory." [Marie-Ange Dini, organiser]

Its display also set the tone - blue and red of Martini Racing - for the next edition of the island rally. "We wanted to celebrate the Lancia double win in 1984 and Markku Alén's victory by bringing together several examples of the Lancia 037," explained Marie-Ange Dini to the large number of visitors in Paris. "We therefore decided to offer special conditions to owners of this model, of which there are only 200 in the world". This privilege can be considered exceptional coming from an organizer who, in a desire for fairness, has never practiced the selection of competitors based on applications, preferring the natural method based on speed.

Sold out!

For other candidates, it was essential not to miss the appointment on Saturday, January 13th at midnight, the date set for the online registration form to be available. And many of them stayed up late... too late, in fact! Delayed by an hour due to a faulty hosting server, the availability of the 380 places generated such enthusiasm that they were all assigned in just half a day.

Now we must wait until June for the final entry list to be revealed, along with details of the unprecedented 1,000 km route, of which the stage cities are already known (see below). What is also known is that cars from the VHRS and Legend classes will start before those registered in VHC during the first four stages (out of five), a choice made to highlight the wide variety of models entered in regularity.