RALLYING Champion's chance

RALLYING

Didier Auriol, the world rally champion, hopes finally to jump-start his season this week with the Frenchman's favourite race, the Tour de Corse, starting tomorrow.

Five of Auriol's 16 career victories have been won on this scenic but treacherous Mediterranean island, and a sixth could not come at a better time.

Lying sixth in the world championship, with 16 points from the first three races, Auriol is well behind the pacesetters - Carlos Sainz (40pts) and his Toyota teammate Juha Kankkunen (37pts). Kankkunen has a record four world titles to his name but he has never won in Corsica.

Sainz, who won this rally in 1991 and came second last year, is confident about how his Subaru Impreza will handle the twisting ashpalt roads. "The Impreza is very precise and easy to steer," he said. "but there are many things which can win or lose a rally."

The Spaniard is on the crest of a wave, having started the season by winning the Monte Carlo Rally and continued in March with a victory at the Portuguese Rally. His Scottish team-mate, Colin McRae, will be grateful just for a few more points.

"Third place in Portugal has at least got my name on the championship table," McRae said. "Corsica is a specialist event and although I've been here twice before I'm still learning."

Ford's charge in the Escort Cosworth will be led by Franois Delecour, the 1993 winner.

The "Island of Beauty", as the French call Corsica, may be an idyllic setting for a rally but it has been the scene of two deaths in this event; the Italian Attilio Bettega , in 1985, and the Finn, Henry Toivonen, the following year.

The "Race of a 1,000 Bends" is a helter-skelter of steep drops following equally steep climbs that require immense skill. The race finishes on Friday after a series of stages covering about 770 miles.