Up-and-coming Frenchman Pierre Campana maintains second in the Clio R3 European Trophy standings after a frustrating outing on Barum Czech Rally Zlin in Czech Republic, where he was forced to retire on the final stage after going off the road in extremely difficult conditions.

The Corsican driver came into the all-asphalt event, which he was contesting for the first time, leading the prestigious one-make Renault series, but the ninth round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge soon turned into a weekend to forget for the talented 25-year-old.

From the beginning, conditions were extremely variable, which meant that he lost time on Friday night’s opening superspecial stage through running intermediate tyres, when slicks would have been the better choice after the stage surface dried out.

Pierre, driving a Clio R3 run by the Munaretto team and backed by French simulator company Ellip6, then tried his best to make time up on Saturday’s stages, but had to battle shock absorbers that were too hard. Nonetheless, despite some damage that the car sustained during a compression on the rough and broken roads, Pierre fought back to reclaim second in the Trophy standings after a fantastic effort in the afternoon.

On Sunday there was more rain, with even local hero and overall rally leader Jan Kopecky falling foul of the treacherous conditions. Lacking in local experience, Pierre and his co-driver Sabrina de Castelli planned simply to bring their Ellip6 car to the finish without taking any risks, in order to secure as many points as possible for the championship.

Sadly, it was not to be. Struggling for grip in heavy rain, Pierre went off on the final stage having come tantalising close to finishing in the points on his first trip to the specialised stages of southeast Czech Republic. Nonetheless, he maintains second in the Clio R3 European Trophy standings and is also still well-placed in the IRC 2WD Cup.

Thankfully for Pierre, he will not have much time to reflect on his bad luck, as next weekend he is already competing again on Rally Alpi Orientali: a round of the Italian championship that he is using as a warm-up for the next IRC encounter in Sanremo at the end of September.

Pierre said: “Barum Czech Rally Zlin did not work out as I had intended, but while this is obviously frustrating, the only thing I can do now is learn from the experience and put it behind me. I had never driven in conditions like this before and I’m glad that I had the chance to do so as the rally taught me a lot. Nothing is yet lost: up to now we’ve had a great season and we are still second in the Clio standings. After the Rally d’Alpi Orientali next weekend we then go on to Sanremo, where I won the category last year, so I’m feeling very optimistic. I’d like to thank Ellip6 and Munaretto for their continued support: the small setback we suffered in Czech Republic has only made me more determined for the future!”
 
For more information:    

www.pierrecampana.com
www.quadrasports.com
media@quadrasports.com
www.ellip6.com

Zlin, 29 August 2010