CAMPANA TO COMPETE ON RALLYE DU VAR

Campana1 CAMPANA TO COMPETE ON RALLYE DU VAR

French driver Pierre Campana, who is managed by Quadra Sports, will compete on the Rallye du Var from November 27-29: the final round of the French Rally Championship.

Campana, aged 24, will once more drive the latest-specification Renault Clio R3 run by well-known Italian team Munaretto. This is the same car that he drove to category victory and 19th overall on the Sanremo Rally back in September, defeating 26 other Renault Clio R3s.

The Rallye du Var marks the final round of the West European Clio Trophy, and after Sanremo this will be only Pierre's second participation in the Renault-backed series this year. Nonetheless, he still stands a chance of finishing on the final championship podium with a strong result in the south of France.

The Frenchman shot to fame when he finished on the podium of the Junior category at the Tour de Corse last year; France's round of the World Rally Championship. He also won three out of six rallies on the French Suzuki Cup this year. However, this will be his first attempt at the Rallye du Var, one of the most challenging rounds of the French Rally Championship.

The 55th Rallye du Var will take place over the final weekend of November, on asphalt roads around the seaside resort of Sainte Maxime on the renowned Cote d'Azur. Amongst the star entries are six-time World Rally Champion Sebastien Loeb in a Citroen C4 WRC, and Renault's new Formula 1 signing Robert Kubica - who will be at the wheel of a Renault Clio R3, just like Pierre.

Pierre will be co-driven by his fellow Corsican Sabrina de Castelli, who has been by his side throughout the season. Despite the strength of his rivals and his own inexperience on the Rallye du Var, Pierre is determined to push hard for class victory once more. Pierre's car will run on BFGoodrich tyres and be backed by Yacco, just as was the case on his last successful Clio outing in Sanremo.

"This is a great opportunity for me and I'm very pleased to be taking part in such a well-known and prestigious event," said Pierre. "I have to be realistic though: this is the first time that I am competing on the Rallye du Var and the opposition will be extremely tough, with better knowledge of the car. Still, I have been in this sort of situation before and I know that if things go well for us, we have the possibility of getting a good result. So my plan is to push as much as I can, concentrate hard, and maximise every opportunity that comes our way. Whatever happens, I know we're going to have a lot of fun. If we can manage to get a podium in the West European Clio Trophy with only two participations, that would be a great result. I'd like to thank Yacco for their continued support and the Munaretto team for giving me another excellent car. Now it's down to us to get the job done."