Present:
Sébastien Loeb, Citroën Total WTCC, first position
Yvan Muller, Citroën Total WTCC, second position
José María López, Citroën Total WTCC, third position
Tom Chilton, ROAL Motorsport, fastest Yokohama Drivers’ Trophy competitor
Mehdi Bennani, Sébastien Loeb, starts race two from pole position

Q:
A dramatic qualifying session, how intense was it in the car to produce that stunning lap time?

SL:
It was really intense for sure because we saw already from the start of the Qualifying and knowing from before that here it would be very, very tight and you have to be nearly over the limit all of the time, not to make any mistakes but you have to take some risks, which is what I did. Finally I made a clean lap, just a little mistake in corner nine but finally maybe I gained some time because of that because I pushed really hard into the entry, lost a bit the car but I could keep the line. I see I made the difference in the last sector so maybe it was good to do it like this. For sure I had to try on the limit and see.

Q:
What was going through your mind when you had this moment – did you think it would be over for you?

SL:
Finally when I saw that I can still reach the apex I knew I didn’t lose so much so I tried hard to the end. I didn’t know what would happen and finally at this point of the lap it’s only one corner and I prefer to wait and see the time and it was P1. I thought great, nothing else.

Q:
Your first pole of the season against your very illustrious Citroën team-mates. How much of an achievement is that for you?

SL:
For sure I am really happy to achieve that in France especially. It’s always difficult for me since the start of the season and last year to fight with my two team-mates in the qualifying because they are always able to put everything together and I am struggling. But today I was able to do it and I’m really happy for that. I hope I can continue like that in the race.

Q:
When you woke up this morning did you think you could do this?

SL:
I was thinking to my first espresso, no the qualifying when I woke up!

Q:
It’s been a run of pole positions for you recently but today you’ve not quite made it to P1. Is there a sense of disappointment or have you been beaten by a better driver today?

YM:
Of course I would prefer to be on pole but today Seb was faster than me especially in the last sector. The first and second sector were very close but he drive better than me in the last sector and I knew that was my downfall. I tried to find a solution since yesterday but I didn’t and that’s why he’s on pole and it’s well deserved.

Q:
You mentioned a few problems in Free Practice with your set-up. Did anything hold you back in your efforts o get pole position?

YM:
We all have a problem with the set-up. But finally for Qualifying I didn’t change anything. I left the car as it was because I didn’t know what to do. You can have a better car but you can also have a worse car. I was 99 per cent pleased with my car but again I didn’t get the pole position because in the last two corners my way to drive was not as good as Seb.

Q:
Not quite pole position again for you – is anything going wrong, is there anything that needs to be improved or are you still satisfied with your performance – third place is still a very good result after all…

JML:
First I want to congratulate Seb and Yvan and Tom. It’s very important for Seb and Yvan to be like this in their home race. I feel at home because I am in the team and I feel French as well so I am very happy. I want to congratulate them because they’ve been very good this weekend and I have been trying to catch up all the time. Again I feel like I did my best in Q3 but somehow my weakest point was sector one. I managed to do a good sector one in Q3 but then not a good sector three. I hoped I was okay because until that point I was quite confused in the car, difficult to manage and I could not find the confidence. You need confidence in Q3 and they have been better. It’s like this. I will try to catch up. That’s the way we fight all the time inside the team. Sometimes quicker is Yvan, sometimes quicker Seb, sometimes me. It’s a very good feeling because we don’t realise but we learn a lot in every race. We push ourselves to our limits and that’s what’s helping the team in the end, we pushing the Citroëns further away from the others.

Q:
What about the heat out there today – how difficult was it and did it impact on your performance?

JML:
Not physically, especially in Qualifying because you don’t do many laps. You can feel the heat but the car is taking the worst part. The car and the tyres are warming up a little bit more and it would be very interesting to see what happens in the race tomorrow because it’s longer and you’re behind another car and that makes things more difficult for the driver and also for the car.

Q:
Was the car performing consistently between the three Qualifying sections despite the heat?

JML:
For one lap it’s okay. We need to adapt the tyres and the way to work a bit because we need to get the best out of the car and the tyres in one lap so it’s a different approach. Every race is different, the weather, the way of driving, the circuit but it wasn’t a problem today.

Q:
What’s better: being in Q3 or topping the Yokohama Drivers’ Trophy?

TC:
Being in Q3. It was pretty special. To be honest all weekend I thought we were struggling and I actually got in the car nervous before Qualifying thinking there was a chance I could be P11. But they said: ‘Tom, you’re third fastest’. And I was like: ‘what?’ And they said: ‘you’re all within one tenth of a second of each other. I hadn’t put new tyres on then because they’re always a second faster. The circuit got a lot hotter and I think the circuit came towards my car. I did an actually perfect lap in Q2 and in Q3 I thought I had nothing to lose and had to absolutely go flat out because there was a chance I could get pole if it stayed his close. Unfortunately Sébastien did a blinding lap. I tried to improve everywhere but I was on the limit of my car and I couldn’t go an ounce faster. I actually overdrove and went two-tenths slower. I was completely on the limit of my car. These boys are doing a fantastic job and I feel we’re doing a good job because I feel like we’re the best of the rest: there are no other Chevrolets, Hondas or LADAs in front of me. I am very happy with myself and my team for our performance but obviously our goal is to beat the Citroëns. It’s the best car and we’re still trying to do everything we can to get close to them.

Q:
What can you put the performance in Qualifying down to – any changes from you or to the car?

TC:
I always drive 100 per cent or 102 per cent. I haven’t changed. The car has the same parts on it for the last two rounds. It’s all about getting the balance right on the car. You have a lot of things to change in the chassis and you have understeer and oversteer on the high and low-speed corners. As much as I loved the car in Free Practice it wasn’t the fastest. I decided in my heart that the balance felt perfect but I was only sixth in FP2. I knew I wasn’t as fast as the guys in front. I knew I wasn’t as fast but we actually left it, went into Qualifying and we were at the front again. The circuit came to me, put it that way.

Q:
Pole position for Race 2 Mehdi, please can you explain your Q2 performance?

MB:
For sure it was not the strategy because we started the weekend trying to improve a lot with the driving and set-up. At the end in Q1 I was fighting and I had almost the perfect car because I was P6 around three-tenths to the pole. So we decide not to fight for P5 but eight, nine or 10. In my first run I do a mistake in sector one and this mistake was around one second but made me P10. When we were going for another run my engineer told me it’s better to stay on P10 because the other drivers stay in the pit and it was the perfect thing to start on the podium in Race 2.

Q:
There was about one thousandth of a second between you and Grégoire Demouster for P10. It’s so close out there…

MB:
It’s always close in WTCC. When you see every time we are fighting for tenths. At the end I was very happy to see my mistake makes me in a good position for P10 and I don’t have to do another run.

Q:
And what about tomorrow’s second race: how much pressure are you under or is it just an exciting feeling?

MB:
For sure we’re going to push. I have a good team and a good reference with the Citroën drivers and I will do my best to have a good start and to fight. Tomorrow is another day. Today we had a good chance to be on pole for the second race.

Q:
José mentioned about the heat. What about tomorrow and the two races – how tough will it be?

SL:
For sure it will be hot for the cars, the tyres and the drivers. Qualifying was not a problem because we do only one pushing lap. But tomorrow during the race it will be hot in the car and we have to cope with it. It won’t be the first time so it should be okay.