Pierre Campana continued his impressive debut with the MINI John Cooper Works WRC car and Team Drive-Pro by securing victory in the 63rd Rallye Mont-Blanc Morzine this weekend.
The 26-year-old Corsican, with his long-time co-driver Sabrina de Castelli, can now boast two victories out of the three rallies he has contested in the MINI.
The 12-stage Rallye Mont-Blanc Morzine is one of the most prestigious events in the national championship. Campana’s victory reinforces the outright competitiveness and reliability of the MINI John Cooper Works WRC, as well as the increasing confidence that he has with the car after just three events.
After a solid day of action on Friday, which saw Campana conclude the opening five stages in a close fourth place after a combined distance of 109.80km, the rising rally sensation made his way up the order on Saturday and, after an eventful end to the morning, he found himself leading overall at the start of the tenth special stage just after lunch. Campana got off to a tough start in the day’s first stage, the 22.30km Morzine-Montriand stage, which saw Campana suffer a slow puncture some 6km before the end and lose over one minute of time, but better fortunes were to follow.
Campana once again showed how quickly he can learn and adapt to new stages by posting the quickest time in SS9, the 21.21km Samoens-Morzine stage, and following that up with two further stage wins in SS10, a repeat of the morning’s 16.15km Samoens-Marillon stage, and SS11, a repeat of SS9. Those performances cemented his position at the head of the classification and a second place in the rally’s twelfth and final stage was more than enough to guarantee Campana overall victory.
Campana’s participation in this event is all part of his continued learning curve with Drive-Pro and with the MINI John Cooper Works WRC, as he prepares for this second WRC event at Rallye de France Alsace later this month.