Our big spring trip of 2018 brought us to the island of Corse this year carrying with it the longest arrival journey we ever had. Most Ravys family members decided to have an intermediate stop in the south of Germany or in Switzerland to avoid getting into trouble on Saturday when we would have to check-in for ferry boarding at 7PM. But back to that later.

Friday evening brought six of nine cars together at a hotel in Freiburg and gave the drivers the possibility of starting endless discussions on the advantages of all-wheel-drive vs. rear-wheel drive, turbo-charging vs. supercharging and natural aspiration, four cylinders vs. six inline or flat and having the engine where it belongs or in the front or back of a sports car. A couple of beers and one or two bottles of wine helped remaining completely objective during the arguments.

Saturday morning gave us a relaxed start after having breakfast together and shopping for dinner on the ferry later that evening. However we began becoming a bit nervous checking the traffic situation direction south that forecasted some two hours of traffic jams which would make arriving in time for ferry check-in a bit questionable and made the Audi TT, BMW M2, Ford Focus RS and Hyundai i30N set off very quickly around 10.30AM. In the meantime we also heard of the Jag F-Type going south from Switzerland. The Ravys staff took a bit longer and got away around 11AM from the supermarket. What followed was a trip more exciting than we wished for but unfortunatley not due to winding roads but due to the worst traffic jam in 19 years having us stuck in front of Gotthard tunnel for more than two hours and letting time slip away for checking-in on time. The Mazda RX-8 was in even worse trouble coming from Austria and the Ravys headquarters started making nervous phone calls and researching the internet for later ferries in case we’d miss our planned one. Luckily the Italian highways allowed us gaining some time back and at the end everybody made it on time to board the ferry towards Corse that cruised the Mediterranean Sea from Genua to Bastia during the night from Saturday to Sunday.

We left the ferry on Sunday morning having to jump start the 911 (Porsche and batteries, a never-ending story) and parking the whole bunch on the roof of a parking garage under a blue sky having all nine cars and 2800 horses waiting impatiently for the curves to come. And Corse did not disappoint, beautiful coastal scenery and tight and winding country roads through blooming fields made everybody forget the worries of the traffic packed day before. This is sports cars heaven! The beautiful city of Calvi with its picturesque port welcomed us in the evening for dinner.

Monday took the family from Calvi to Ajacchio through the mountains of Corse’s very centre giving us the chance to meet some of its natural inhabitants almost a bit to close and personal - talking about pigs and goats that occupied the roads being completely unimpressed even by the i30N’s exhaust pops and bangs. Later that evening we felt like Gunther Sachs in our sixties-style hotel facing the seaside only missing the young Brigitte Bardot here.

What followed on Tuesday was the rain-session that is mandatory in every Ravys trip and left us with the finding that all you need to go quick around those tight, wet roads is deep knowledge of the road layout, a small dose of madness and a Renault Kangoo with some 90 HP on the front - man, these Corsican minivan drivers know what they are doing! Anyway, having digested the shock of being slower with 300 horses more, we arrived for sunshine, dinner and some Cuba Libres in Propriano getting ready for the last driving day on the island.

Another change of scenery then on Wednesday going through the canyons and forests of Corses south with a longer lunch break in the beautiful middle of nowhere and the challenge of finding a replacement for the RX-8’s rear tire that took a puncture and did not want to keep pressure anymore. After fixing that we continued the trip and finished in a hotel in the mountains close to Bastia with a great view towards the island of Elba and a sunset as colorful as the four driving days before.

Thursday had us leaving Corse on the ferry, relaxing and reminscing about all the corners and adventures of Cars in Corse 2018 and giving us time to be grateful for another grow of the family and for looking forward to the next trip.

Thanks to Felix (911 Carrera 4S), Max (TT), Jan (Focus RS), Christian (RX-8), Alex (M2), Konstantin & Achim (F-Type) and Martin (i30N) from your Ravys crew:

Alin (Impreza WRX), Timo (Cayman S), Kamil and Ralph!