Jos after finishing Tour de Corse Historique: 'Big challenge, but we enjoyed it'

Published on 12 October 2024 by Misha van der Kroon

This week, Jos Verstappen took part in the 24th edition of the Tour de Corse Historique, which started and finished in Porto-Vecchio on the French island Corsica. Together with co-pilot Renaud Jamoul, Jos drove a Porsche 911 Carrera 3.0 RS from 1974. It is a 330 hp, 930 kg rear-wheel drive car without electronic aids such as ABS.

“It was a big challenge, but we enjoyed it a lot,” says Jos after the finish. “We learned a lot, also about the pace notes. These kinds of roads are completely new. It was really hard, especially with a Porsche, to drive over the bumps. It was also the first time that I drove a rally with a classic car, which is a big change from the cars I am used to drive.”

Jos continues: “In short, we gained a lot of experience. We reached the finish and that was important to us. It was enjoyable to do. It is a challenging rally, but we will probably come back next year.”

During the fifth and final day of the historic Rally of Corsica, Jos managed to score consistently. On all four special stages, Santa Maria di Figaniella – Olmeto (20.2 km), Sollacaro - Petreto Bicchisano (16.5 km), Petreto Bicchisano - Aullène – Zerubia (27.3 km), L'Ospedale – Palavese (10.3 km), Jos crossed the finish line as third in his class (H1). In the general classification, these were places P12, P9, P10 and P9.

Unfortunately, the team with starting number 33 was given a 10-minute time penalty on the eleventh stage, which was driven on Friday, because they were fifteen minutes late at the start. As a result, Verstappen and Jamoul eventually finished 21st overall and fifth in the H1 class. Julien Saunier, competing with his co-driver Frédéric Vauclare in a Porsche 911 3L RS, won the Tour de Corse Historique after a total of just under four hours of rally driving over 356 kilometres.