Only a few days after finishing third in the 6 Hours of Shanghai with the official Porsche 919 Hybrid, Romain Dumas was at the start of the Tour de Corse behind the wheel of a Porsche 911 GT3 RS 4.0l RGT developed and run by his own team. On challenging and tough roads, the Alès native finished the European Rally Championship last round in the top five. It was a perfect way to conclude the rally season before heading to Bahrain for the penultimate round of the FIA World Endurance Championship.
« We showed that the R-GT has its place in ERC »
Following an acclimatation during Thursday’s qualifying, Romain Dumas began the Tour de Course in a positive manner, with the fourth overall time in the only R-GT entered car for the rally. Under difficult conditions, and with a surface that was still wet, Romain remained in attack mode, reaching the Porto Vecchio stage and ending the day in sixth place, with a notable finish of third in the fourth stage of the day.
The following day, Romain was looking to maintain a quick pace. Still in the top 10 for the 11 specials, running in both 6th and 7th positions during the second day, run around Ajaccio, he finally reached the top five of the rally in the 10th stage. It woud be in this position that he would finish in the Corsica Rally. After a class win in the Rallye de France, but also victories in VHC in the Critérieum des Cévennes, the factory Porsche driver ended his rally program on a good note.
« Following a good first appearance at the Rallye de France, we wanted to confirm our performance in the Porsche 911 GT3 RS 4,0l RGT. That mission is now accomplished » underlines Romain Dumas. « The roads of Corsica are magnificent but, honestly they don’t like to make it easy for us. They are rough, dangerous and it’s not easy with the Porsche. We knew this before coming here, so planned for it. The final score of the rally is rather positive : the car had no issues whatsoever and we took the fight with the fastest severel times. It’s good to finish in the top 5 but I’m disappointed for Julien Maurin who made a really great rally. I think that the R-GT has shown it’s value in the ERC, finishing in the top class for two-wheeled motoring in Alsace. The team likes this kind of international of international events. The guys begin to be used to it. With a double win at Pikes Peak, the great performance of our R-GT and several successes in different types of racing, the team shown its abilities. It’s nice. As each year, we have taken a step forward. »
Romain Dumas will now race in the two last rounds of the FIA World Endurance Championship. He will drive one of the two 919 Hybrid entered by Porsche Team.