Corsican rally driver Pierre Campana battled through a series of set-backs during this weekend’s Rally San Remo, showing perseverance and determination to claim ninth place overall, having been down in 24^th after the opening day. 

Pierre, driving a Munaretto Sport engineered Peugeot 207 S2000 car equipped with Michelin tyres, showed flashes of his talent throughout the two-day, ten-stage rally, but ultimately could not fulfil his pre-event hopes of challenging for the podium.

From the very initial stages of the rally, the trio of Coldirodi, Apricale and Bignore stages, Pierre felt uncomfortable with the handling of the car in the damp conditions. He lacked the confidence to attack, a situation compounded by an incorrect tyre choice for that first leg. Some key set-up changes to the car at the first service allowed Pierre to begin the long fourth stage, the 44km Ronde, with the car precisely as he wanted it and a competitive first split time was testament to that. Pierre was on the pace of the front runners but was cruelly denied the chance of posting a competitive time as he endured a front driveshaft problem after 12km. The Corsican lost over five minutes of time and ended Friday uncharacteristically low on the timesheets.

Starting Saturday in the knowledge that the podium was out of reach, Pierre nonetheless gave it his all to reclaim those lost places. Unfortunately problems with the rear brakes lost him time on the first loop but he was still climbing the classification. The final three stages of the rally gave Pierre the chance to show his true pace, claiming the fourth, third and fourth best times respectively in SS8, SS9 and SS10. However, the San Remo event was a weekend to forget for Pierre and he’ll be looking to bounce back from this disappointment.

Pierre Campana said: “I came to San Remo with the aim and expectation of challenging for the podium but things definitely conspired against me this weekend. I cannot express just how disappointed I am. Things were not right from the very first stage. I thought I had picked up a puncture in the difficult conditions and I didn’t have any confidence to push. We made an incorrect tyre choice in the first leg, which compounded the difficulties, but we made some set-up changes at the first service which helped a lot and I was definitely quick. The driveshaft problem then occurred which effectively ended our hopes of a good result. On Saturday, in the first stages we had some problems with the brakes, as well as no intercom in SS7 and SS8, but in the second loop we were able to demonstrate a more representative performance. Even so, it was a tough event for me and I am looking forward to bouncing back. I’d like to thank Peugeot, Munaretto and Perin for the support this weekend and Michelin for their good tyres."