Tour de Corse: Alessandro Bettega summary

Bettega impresses on WRC debut

2006 Fiesta SportingTrophy Champion Alessandro Bettega has impressed on his first FIA World Rally Championship outing in a world rally car at this weekend's Rallye de France - Tour de Corse. The Italian set a multitude of top-ten stage times and despite retiring from the opening leg, still managed to finish an incredible eleventh overall. Prior to his retirement on the 16.6 kilometre Belvedere -- Bocca Albitrina the 26-year-old was running ninth and hunting down a Drivers' Championship point position.

Bettega's drive here was made possible thanks to his win in last year's Fiesta SportingTrophy International series. The prize was structured to give this young talent the opportunity to experience a full WRC event with top level equipment and expert guidance. This performance saw him come home as tenth WRC finisher out of 24 entered world rally cars, an amazing result for his first time out in the Ford Focus RS WRC06. Also on this event, Bettega's co-driver Simone Scattolin was competing on his 100th rally.

2006 Fiesta SportingTrophy Champion Alessandro Bettega said:

"For me, this was one of my best events by far. We had so much expectation at the start and I just wanted to drive at a comfortable pace; I wasn't pushing hard. It was a shame about our problem on Friday but my times on all three days have really pleased me and to finish eleventh overall is a fantastic personal result for myself and Simone. There are many people that have helped make this opportunity possible for me and I must thank Malcolm Wilson, John Steele and everyone at M-Sport for making me feel so welcome within their team. I must also offer my thanks Walter at my team, TRT La Scuderia, for his support throughout this season and for this event."

M-Sport Managing Director Malcolm Wilson said:

"This has been a great drive by Alessandro and he has shown that the experience gained in the Fiesta ST in 2006 has provided a great basis for the step up into a world rally car. He drove with his head and put in a very solid performance and impressed many people with his stage times over all three days. We look forward to seeing how future generations of Fiesta graduates perform."

-credit: m-sport.co.uk.