France's round of the World Rally Championship will be in Corsica or Alsace next year, with a decision set to be made on October 28.
Four events had been in the running to take up France's October 2010 date and while the outright announcement had been deferred for three weeks, two of those events – the Limousin Rally and Rallye de Bourgogne – have been ruled out.
A source close to French governing body the FFSA has confirmed that the Tour de Corse has enjoyed a resurgence in favor recently.
"It's fair to say Corsica was an outsider to retain France's favor for the WRC, but the Corsica team have been working hard to turn that around," the source said. "Now we need to wait and see between the two."
The Tour de Corse has an enormous heritage in the WRC. It was one of the founding rounds and in the 36 years the championship has been running, it has only missed one season – in 1996, when it formed part of the WRC's rotational policy - prior to this year.
The rival Alsace Vosges Rally has never been included in the WRC, but it is felt it runs in a more favorable location, within reach of a vastly greater number of spectators. It also has the advantage of running out of the home region of France's record-breaking World Rally star Sebastien Loeb.