Present:
Yvan Muller, Citroën Total WTCC, first position
José María López, Citroën Total WTCC, second position
Sébastien Loeb, Citroën Total WTCC, third position
Hugo Valente, Campos Racing fastest Yokohama Drivers’ Trophy competitor
Néstor Girolami, Honda Racing team Sweden, WTCC rookie

Q:
Congratulations Yvan following a very dramatic qualifying session. Your third pole of the season puts you equal with your team-mate José María López in terms of number of poles this season. Please talk us through your lap and that fantastic performance?

YM:
It was a good lap and I was very pleased of course. I wasn’t very pleased with the balance of the car in Q1. But we progressed quite a lot in Q2 and did another step in Q3. In Q3 the car was just perfect. I could put my wheels where I wanted and I don’t think I could have been faster maybe except for Turn 11 where I lifted off a little bit but it was two or three hundredths.

Q:
Qualifying is one thing but the race is next. What’s your approach going to be?

YM:
Let me enjoy pole position first! The race will be tough. It’s a tough circuit especially with the weight penalty we have and the LADAs, that are lighter, will be fast as we could see in Moscow. It will be tough to keep them behind during all race but the target will be to do a good start and keep pole position into Turn 1 and then push as much as I can.

Q:
Ultimately you’ve closed the gap to José in the championship so it’s already looking very exciting for tomorrow…

YM:
We are still too far in the championship so we take it one race after the other.

Q:
Congratulations on second place José but not quite enough for pole position. Can you describe how qualifying went from your perspective?

JML:
It was a good lap and a very nice fight with Yvan, honestly, like in the last race. Yvan was the best today and it’s like this. I can’t find any excuse. He did a fantastic lap and is very strong. We were struggling a bit in Free Practice 1 and Free Practice 2 and we didn’t really know the potential of the car until Qualifying. I felt very good in Q1 and also in Q2 and I felt great in Q3. I hoped it would be enough because I improved my lap – it was the best of the weekend. The only thing I could see was sector one, which was probably my weak point and I need to check why. But I’m quite happy with my lap. I’m starting in a good position tomorrow and I’m looking forward. I’m not disappointed because it’s always nicer to be in front but I think this is normal to have Yvan there. He’s a four-time world champion and when he’s not there it’s not normal. I’m very happy to have a fight like this with him, my team-mate and the other guys. They were very quick today so it’s going to be very interesting tomorrow and what will happen.

Q:
We’ve seen some great battles between you and Yvan already this season so how excited are you at the prospect of another big battle tomorrow?

JML:
It’s very exciting. For the moment Yvan has been more performance in the last two races but it’s like this. I started very strong the year and he is now stronger. There is still a long way to go so I need to do two good races. But the important thing is the team managed to be the quickest. They did a fantastic job. Friday wasn’t great for us but we worked hard and I’m very proud of this amazing work.

Q:
Completing a Citroën top-three here in Slovakia and after a couple of slightly off-form races you’re now right back up there. How satisfied are you with that performance?

SL:
For sure I’m happy to be back in Q3. I was also happy with the car and the setting in Q3 because my car was really good. I made a little mistake in Turn 3 and Turn 6 when I had a little bit of understeer on the exit. After that I did a good lap but you can see my team-mates are a bit stronger at the moment. But third is not bad. I was a bit disappointed after Moscow and the Nürburgring, where I had a lot of understeer. But we fix it now and the feeling of the car is good so we’re looking forward to the race.

Q:
You mentioned some set-up changes but have you done anything differently this weekend?

SL:
I didn’t feel very well in my car in Moscow. I made a lot of mistakes in Qualifying and the race. I didn’t change so much my driving, I just feel better in the car.

Q:
Turning to Hugo Valente and our top Yokohama Drivers’ Trophy contender. Talk us through your qualifying?

HV:
First I would like to congratulate the Citroën boys. They all did a great job today, especially to Yvan. People were thinking he was a bit rusty but he’s proving them wrong and congratulations to him. For me Q2 was good, Q1 was good but I made a little mistake in my Q2 and that meant we qualified sixth instead of fighting for Q3. It’s the way the game goes. We’ve made a little change in Q2 and I had more understeer than in Q1. It’s so tight that when you’re fighting for Q3 you can end up fourth or eighth or ninth. I’m sixth, which is the worst place for tomorrow but I’m still pleased to be the top independent. We will see for tomorrow and the start of the race will be interesting.

Q:
You’ve had a couple of tough starts in some of the races this season. Is there anything you can do differently?

HV:
We’ve made some good improvements. This morning I had the best start since last year so I am quite confident tomorrow will be very different from what we have seen recently. We had a problem with the car at the Nürburgring and we tried some settings in Moscow that weren’t improving. But now we’ve changed everything and we’ll do some resets for tomorrow. The straight is very long to the first corner and I’m hoping to make a similar start as I made today and get a good position.

Q:
Welcome to the WTCC Néstor. Can you explain why you didn’t make it as far in Qualifying as some people expected?

NG:
First of all I would like to thank everybody who has made it possible for me to be here today. It’s my debut in WTCC. Qualifying was not so good. Yesterday was very good for my first contact with a new car and new track. Today began well but in Qualifying I was not so good. The lap was with some mistakes in Turn 3 but tomorrow we are working to be better of course. It’s a pleasure to be racing in WTCC against Loeb, Muller, López, Tarquini, Monteiro, drivers like this.

Q:
What do you think of the WTCC – is it proving to be a tough experience?

NG:
Of course. It’s the best opportunity of my career. The WTCC is very professional and I am very happy to be here. I was the champion last year in Argentina and I fight with Pechito in a lot of races in Argentina. Now this is a good opportunity for my debut here in the Honda and I want to do the maximum. I learn lap-by-lap but I need to learn and improve lap-by-lap.

Q:
What’s the strategy for tomorrow – push flat-out or try to learn more?

NG:
The races tomorrow we are working with the team and I hope to complete the races for my first time. I need to learn the starts, all the things in the WTCC that are new to me. I hope to arrive in the points positions. There are a lot of things new to me and I hope to arrive in the final in 10 or 12 position. They would be the best possibility for me.

Q:
Finally to Yvan, you mentioned on Eurosport that you had a “small problem” with the car this morning. What was that problem and how did you fix it for Qualifying?

YM:
It was just balance. My balance was a bit too much towards understeer in Q1. It was surprising because we were expecting something different. But then we made a change to the car and Q2 was better. We did another step in Q3.