Clark happy with day one in Corsica

World champ Sebastien Loeb dominated the opening day of the Rallye de France in Corsica winning all six stages to establish a 32.3-second lead over his World Rally Championship rival Mikko Hirvonen.

But while the Citroen ace, who leads Hirvonen’s Ford by 12 points with just three events remaining, was satisfied with his performance, Scot Barry Clark was equally pleased with his day’s work in the Stobart Ford Focus WRC.

“It’s been a fantastic day for me,” the 26-year-old from Ellon, contesting a full WRC tarmac event for the first time, explained today. 

“We started off cautiously as the first stage was very tricky with lots of gravel and they weren’t the best conditions for me to learn how to drive the car. But the next two went really well and I was able to begin to feel how the car was working. 

“At the first service we made a few changes, basically making the car a bit stiffer and that worked well. After that the afternoon loop was really good. Most people were slower on the second pass through the first stage in the loop but we were faster.

“That was positive improvement for me and I’m really happy with today’s driving. “The conditions were fantastic and the stages provide a real challenge so obviously I’m really looking forward to tomorrow.”

Clark, who has already completed the gravel events in Jordan and Turkey — and who won the Ford Fiesta International Championship last year — starts tomorrow’s six stages 16th, just two places behind his more experienced Stobart team-mate Matthew Wilson.

JM 

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