Road rallies – Walk on the Moto Tour de Corse route –

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Ride on the Moto Tour de Corse route

Road rallies - Walk on the Moto Tour de Corse route -

Despite the cancellation of the Moto Tour de Corse, the organizer Pierre-Jean Padovani, boss of MSO, wanted to show the route he reserved for the pilots involved in this fabulous rally unfortunately aborted for lack of fighters. Guided tour !

The International Road Rally Championship (IRC) 2009 was to crown its winners on the Isle of Beauty but for lack of combatants (read), no fight … except that of MSO (Moto Sport Organization) to try to revive the Tour de Corse, a superb rally that has disappeared !

Friday the 13th: stroll atmosphere

From Friday, November 13, at the date and time scheduled for the race, a dozen courageous gathered in Ajaccio to take the start of what should have been the first Dark Dog Tour of Corsica. Pierre-Jean Padovani, boss of MSO and organizer of the event, is motivated: the atmosphere is friendly, everything is in place to share a good ride despite everything and even the sun is there..

And as long as you do the course as if the race were taking place, you might as well do it in order: 427 km are scheduled today with two specials on the program.

The first link immediately sets the tone: very technical roads with varied surfaces, often degraded and sometimes even non-existent … We immediately see that it will not be a piece of cake and that it will be difficult to keep up to 60 km / h average: sustained cadence mandatory, but what is it beautiful !

The layout of the first special turns out to be technical: rally for real, where you have to move to get a beat! It rings, it shakes … Over nearly 5 km, the time differences would certainly have been very important between the competitors !

Then the driver resumes his tortuous course and it is time for the meal (yes, we are not in the race, the clock does not run!). Short break with Pierrot, owner of an inn in Corsica in Quenza. This is an interesting concept for this race, which today is not one and allows us to take the time to savor some Corsican treasures: it would have been a shame to miss such an address !

But time is not a compressible material – and Pierrot’s ham or Polenta really tastes like coming back to it – if you want to see the other special before dark, you will have to shorten the meanders of the route. original…

Pierre-Jean Padovani does not continue the ride: suffering from a sprained left knee, he prefers to pass the controls to Paulo who thus becomes our opener..

Our new guide knows the terrain perfectly and takes us to the second special of the day, without failing to make us cross the original route with landscapes all more magnificent than the others.

The second special of the day is just as technical as the first, but with a rather degraded surface. Once again, we would have had to spit in our hands to set a stopwatch !

Night begins to fall and the rally-hikers tire … The day’s walk therefore ends with a quiet return to Ajaccio via the national road. Tomorrow, a big chunk awaits us with stages 2 and 3, namely a total of nearly 560 km … And given what we experienced today, big fatigue in perspective !

Saturday 14: The big piece !

Today we are just over thirty bikers to start the stage. But given the pace given yesterday, which although very sustained during the taxiing (they drive hard these Corsicans!) Is slowed down by the many points of view or various breaks, some places will have to be cut to cover the maximum of the route.

Among those present is one of the most talented Corsican riders in the person of Thomas Garcin, here on the handlebars of the latest Aprilia RSV4, who came to enjoy the ride he was to take in race mode !

From 8:30 am, the caravan takes to the road: direction Bastia by tracing almost directly to take advantage of part of the technical route before being stranded in a good restaurant in the port.

This afternoon we take the only road that goes around Cap Corse, the route that was planned for the rally.

On the east side, it turns severe on a varied surface but not very clean and quite broken in places … And while we do, we have the third special of the rally that was scheduled: a treat !

We arrive at the Pointe du Cap, where again a stop is necessary as the landscape is so contrasted between the two sides. The road also elsewhere, because the asphalt strip of the west coast is nickel, clean, with perfect curves … It feels like on a circuit !

The sun is already starting to go down on the horizon, fatigue is reappearing and the troops are dwindling while Paulo, indefatigable and faithful to his position as opener, fully intends to give us the benefit of the night special. towards Calvi !

But the few survivors ask for mercy and Paulo, death in his soul, again shortens the program after another break in Saint-Florent: return to Ajaccio after crossing the Agriates desert.

Last break in an inn on the edge of the national road which takes us back to Ajaccio for a good meal at La Figatelle, then we return to the fold shortly after midnight … The three accomplices of the band of the Journal moto du Net – Moon, Steph and myself – won’t need a lullaby to find Morpheus tonight !

Sunday 15: short route

This morning, the option to sleep in is chosen! We saw what we wanted to see, no need to take this overview any further. But no regrets for this magnificent island trip: the hospitality of the Corsicans, the route and the weather, everything encourages you to make the trip.

In total, we will have done more than 700 km of the 1000 planned for the rally … Suffice to say that this event would not have been the easiest! The roads are rough, grueling and traveling them at an average of 60 km / h would have been tiring and selective. Which fits perfectly with the spirit that Pierre-Jean Padovani wanted to give to his ordeal !

Convinced that a rally should not be won only in a special, he wants to organize a Tour de Corse the hard way, where the most regular and enduring will have their chance. Supported by Veronique de Pereyras – the daughter of the late Antoine, creator of the Tour de Corse more than thirty years ago – and perfectly supervised by the passionate MSO team, Pierre-Jean was the last winner of the Tour de Corse Moto in 1987.

A truly exceptional rally that must absolutely be relived! So no hesitation to have: such a race only deserves to fill up with committed !

Site would like to thank Pierre-Jean for this extraordinary ride, Valerie for having supervised us "non-stop" from our disembarkation until our departure on Sunday evening, Paulo for having led the troops without failing until the end of the trip, MSO for their dedication and their passion, not to mention all those that we will not soon forget: Pierrot for his magic ham, Walter and Brigitte for having housed our machines in their garden and having us on the heights of Ajaccio in a more than preferential rate, etc. Stay connected: we’ll be back !

Marcus HIMSELF

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