Raphaël Astier And Denis Giraudet First-Time Winners
Raphaël Astier and Denis Giraudet have won the 26th edition of the Tour de Corse Historique in a Team Joffroy Porsche 911. Leading since the opening stage on Tuesday, the crew looked set to lose everything in the final test today when an engine problem forced them to crawl to the finish. The current French Rally Championship leader achieved the remarkable feat of winning the event at the first attempt.
Compétition
Raphaël Astier and Denis Giraudet built their victory in two phases. The first came at the start of the rally on Tuesday and Wednesday, when they crushed the opposition with a run of six consecutive fastest stage times. The second arrived on Thursday afternoon in the longest timed stage, Chiatra - Feo (40.8 km), where they put more than 40 seconds into the field. Managing their lead from Friday morning onwards, they would never have been threatened had an engine issue not appeared before the start of the rally’s final one of 19 special stages. Over 18 km, their advantage over the Pieri brothers' BMW shrank from 3 min 05 sec to 1 min 47 sec... Still enough to secure victory!
Tom Pieri once again finished second overall, just as he did in 2024, the year Julien Saunier claimed victory. Once again, the BMW M3 specialist found his path blocked by a Porsche 911. The Marseille driver was far from disgraced, setting a fastest stage time on Thursday morning and, above all, treating spectators to a series of spectacular drifts.
Third on his historic rally debut, Yoann Bonato achieved the remarkable feat of taking the Lancia Delta Integrale to the very highest level, a car rarely seen competing at the front in historic rallying. The driver from Les Deux Alpes took advantage of the rain and the extra traction offered by four-wheel drive in such conditions to set a fastest stage time. His team-mate, Didier Auriol, was also running inside the top ten before leaving the road on Thursday due to a brake problem.
The 26th edition of the Tour de Corse Historique remained dramatic right to the very end. After setting the fastest times in the first and third of the final day’s five special stages, Julien Saunier (Renault 5 Maxi Turbo) overtook Yoann Bonato (Lancia Delta Integrale) and then Tom Pieri (BMW M3) to move into second place overall. The celebration was short-lived. Adopting a cautious approach on the descent from Évisa to Porto, a section that did not particularly suit his car, the Lyon driver later admitted to "a lapse in concentration" with costly consequences: a brush with a wall that tore off the right-rear wheel, bringing his rally to an immediate end. Even so, Saunier finished as the rally’s second most prolific stage winner behind Raphaël Astier, with five fastest times to his name. One can only wonder what he might have achieved had drier conditions enabled him to exploit the full potential of his highly distinctive Renault 5 Maxi Turbo.
In the VHC category, the podium was completed by two husband-and-wife crews, both driving Porsche entries from the Belgian SG Racing team. Bertrand and Anne Penlae finished ahead of Jean-Marc and Patricia Bussolini, who were contesting their 17th Tour de Corse Historique. Finally, today’s fastest stage times were also recorded by François Delecour (BMW M3), Maxime Rizzo (Porsche 911) and Thomas Argenti (BMW M3).
Raphaël Astier, winner (Porsche 911 RS): “This was my first experience of this type of rally, which I would describe as an endurance event. I really enjoyed myself behind the wheel, even when the conditions were difficult. I genuinely thought we were going to lose everything today when the engine problem struck in the final stage. In the end, we made it. Thankfully, we had built up a decent lead. I hope to come back one day, perhaps with a different car.”
Tom Pieri, 2nd overall (BMW M3): “It’s a little hard to finish second again, considering all the sacrifices we had to make just to be on the start line. We came up against someone stronger than us. But we’re very happy to have reached the finish. Even without the puncture that cost us some time, the result would have been the same.”
Yoann Bonato, 3rd overall (Lancia Delta Integrale): “It’s an incredible event with unbelievable emotions. The length of the rally makes it truly unique. Five days of competition, plus scrutineering and recce runs. It’s magical. The car performed brilliantly and was reliable throughout. I hope to come back one day with a car capable of winning.”
VHC classification
Astier / Giraudet (Porsche 911 RS n°10) in 4h33'42''
Penlae / Penlae (Porsche 911 SC n°37) at 24'14''
Bussolini / Bussolini (Porsche 911 RSE n°31) at 32'37"
Outright classification
Astier / Giraudet (Porsche 911 RS n°10) in 3h32'44''
Pieri / Pieri (BMW M3 n°12) at 1'47''
Bonato / Boulloud (Lancia Delta HF Integrale n°6) at 2'31''
Regularity
Christophe Baillet claimed his eighth Regularity victory at the Tour de Corse Historique! Together with co-driver Jean-Marc Piret, he took the lead in the very first Regularity Zones (ZR) in the Balagne region and never relinquished it. While their closest rivals lost ground through mistakes or mechanical issues, the Franco-Belgian duo in a Porsche 911 negotiated the five stages with impressive consistency, particularly during Friday night’s special tests.
Behind the leaders, defending champions Yves Deflandre and Jennifer Hugo (Porsche 911) produced one of the most remarkable comebacks of this year's edition. Only 10th after the opening stage, they climbed back to second place the very next day thanks to a string of top-class performances. Remaining within striking distance of Baillet and Piret, they kept the pressure on until the final days before a minor off-road excursion during Stage 4 complicated their challenge. Third place went to Bruno Saby and Christophe Marques (Porsche 911 SC). The former Tour de Corse winner built momentum throughout the week, winning a ZR and steadily climbing the leaderboard before securing a place on the podium. His experience and knowledge of Corsica’s roads proved invaluable during the second half of the rally.
Christophe Baillet, winner (Porsche 911): “This was our main objective of the year. The Tour de Corse Historique has become THE event for the Europe's Regularity elite. The field was of an incredibly high standard. Our rally was largely trouble-free, apart from a small slide on Friday night in the dark. Today, Jean-Marc and I were a little nervous because our suspension was beginning to wear out, and the final regularity zone, Notre-Dame-de-la-Serra, is one of the roughest roads of the rally. The car was really taking a hammering through the loaded corners! Fortunately, everything worked out in the end. I’ll be back next year to try to secure a ninth victory.”
Regularity overall classification
Baillet / Piret (Porsche 911 n°332)
Deflandre / Hugo (Porsche 911 n°330)
Saby / Marques (Porsche 911 SC n°356)
Average category winners
Haute : Lacassagne / Lutran (Lancia Delta Integrale n°319)
Intermédiaire : Baillet / Piret (Porsche 911 n°332)
Modérée : Kashin / Kostyrko (Volkswagen Scirocco n°368)
Basse : Loens / Loens (Morris Cooper S n°487)
A Memorable Edition
This 26th edition will be remembered above all for the sheer number of participants: 446 cars set off from Calvi on Tuesday morning. The Tour de Corse Historique owes this success to the unwavering commitment of its organisers, Marie-Ange Dini and José Andreani, as well as their teams, officials, marshals, volunteers, partners, competitors and the Corsican public. The date is already set for 2027!
