1st - Sébastien Ogier, Volkswagen Motorsport

1st - Julien Ingrassia, Volkswagen Motorsport

2nd - Mads Østberg, Citroën Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team

2nd - Jonas Andersson, Citroën Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team 

3rd - Andreas Mikkelsen, Volkswagen Motorsport

3rd - Ola Floene, Volkswagen Motorsport

Jost Capito, Team Principal, Volkswagen Motorsport

 

Q:

An incredible performance this weekend and a great win for you in Mexico. Surely you did not expect three wins in a row at the start of the season Sébastien?

SO:

Yes, I mean what words can I say to describe this weekend. It was looking worse than what actually happened. It looked like it was going to be a difficult run. To be first on the road, on one of the most difficult rallies of the season, it all went perfectly  and we had a good tyre choice and a little luck when we took some risks. Julien and me, we were pushing hard without mistakes, and we were so surprised to be where we were on Friday. We realised we were in a fight for the victory.

 

Q:

Did you not feel any pressure at all?

SO:

It wasn’t pressure for me. Okay, I had to start first on the road, but I had the points on the board after the first two rallies and the pressure was not on my shoulders. I worked even harder than usual. Even at the test we worked very hard to find the set-up. The car was working better even in the slippery conditions. 

 

Q: 

You have a special feeling about this rally in Mexico?

SO:

I like this rally so much. It was here that I made my start in the WRC with victory in the Junior category a couple of years ago. It’s always a pleasure to be here. The roads suit me and I was able to control my pace and make a  good gap. I don’t want it to sound arrogant but I really did not push too hard at all. Maybe the roads are made for me. 

 

Q:

And the Power Stage win too!

SO:

I love this stage especially. But we must consider we have only done three of 13 rallies, so there is no time to relax. There is still a long way to go and a lot work ahead. There are five rallies on gravel in a row. Most of the time that can be an advantage, but it is not always like this weekend. So many things can and will happen. After three rallies, we are in a great position, but there is a long way to go. 

 

Q:

Julien, Seb has been showing the love for this event…

JI:

We are happy each time we are here in Mexico. It is a quite different challenge with the altitude and the speed you carry into each corner. This year,  I felt we were better prepared after the recce. Conditions have been quite rough but we have the pace notes from other years and that is paying off now. Maybe this is a reward for our work and experience in Mexico.

 

Q:

Julien, you have no time to relax after this event?

JI:

Yes, there are many corners before the end of the championship and many drivers who want to win rallies, so we have no time to relax. There is still a lot of  work to do. One famous French journalist was telling me anything can happen. At 20km/h, you can slide and hit a rock. You often see on the sporting news guys always winning but you need to keep this power to win. Once you come down off the cloud, you go down. 

 

Q:

Congratulations Mads. Second overall and a strong performance from you this weekend?

MO:

I am very happy. It was quite a lot of pressure coming into this event. It has not been a good start to the season and the pressure was even harder when Kris (Meeke) went off and we had no chance other than me to get to the end. I wanted to push and get to the end. I had never been able to get to the end before without problems, but I found a nice rhythm and had no big issues and am very pleased to be the meat (in the Volkswagen sandwich). After a couple of podiums, I feel I could push harder.

 

Q: 

You had issues on Friday. But then you recovered well?

MO:

Friday’s issues with the car were the same problems we had in Sweden. That’s the way it is with a new car. Some things were not working but we found the problems. I was angry and had to work with myself to go through the stages without making mistakes. Then, at service they fixed the car and it was working fine.

 

Q: 

The Ibarrilla stage is one that you had never finished before. Tell us your thoughts on that?

MO:

Yes it was. I was very nervous for this stage, even before the rally. I don’t know why. It’s a lovely stage and you can push and have fun. I was still nervous when we did the stage. Somehow the stage caught me out every year. This time we went round without a proiblem.

 

Q:

You made one mistake. Were you feeling the pressure?

MO:

Obviously I did a mistake and we lost 17 seconds. We had a gap, but then it was not so big any more and Andreas got the smell of the meat and he increased his speed a bit. We had to be clever. You really want to push to defend your lead. I think we managed our pace well to win. Andreas had the same approach.

 

Q:

Going into the long stage of 55 kilometres this morning, there was only 4.5 seconds between you boys?

JA:

It’s a very nice stage and we went into it thinking we would do our race and try and push and do the best we could. It is difficult to know if you are gaining and losing and we kept going at our pace and managed to gain a couple of seconds

 

Q:

You had a tough start to the season. How are you feeling now?

JA:

Monte was a good start for us and Sweden was not so good. We were very positive of getting a podiun when we came here. Now we have Argentina. It’s a nice rally and we hope to continue.

 

Q:

Andreas, third overall on your second time here in Mexico. You must be delighted with that result?

AM:

I am very happy I know last year was a tough event with two crashes in three days. We paid the price for that a bit this year. I knew I had to be a bit clever. In the future I want to win every rally. I tried to play it smart and enjoyed the stages. Third place is probably more than I expected. 

 

Q: 

There was a very small gap between you and Mads. Did you start to sniff the chance of second place?

AM:

When he made a mistake, I knew it was more possible but, at the same time, you realise you can take a different line and go faster. It wasn’t about pushing more. It was more about discovering the stages and using the information you knew about the stage. It was never about flat out. Just a tiny mistake could have cost me like last year. For me it was the first time through the 50 kilometre stage this morning. I knew that Mads would try and keep me behind him. I raised my pace more than I wanted and tried to push a little. I made a mistake and we had a spin. Now I thought the risk was too high after that. Saying that, second in the championship is great. We are very far from Seb, but the aim is to continue like this. I like Argentina and I hear there are new stages this year. It will be good to get a result in Argentina.

 

Q:

Another podium finish Ole. How are you feeling?

OF:

This is the first time here for me in Mexico and I am happy to be here. People were telling me about the smiling faces and the happy people. I think this is one of the hardest rallies I have done for a long time. I had to study more and make more preparations. I had to look at the notes of last year and convert them from English to Norwegian. It was not easy with some stages overlapping each other. I feel a little bit used sitting here now! 

 

Q:

Jost, another superb result for Volkswagen. Sum up your thoughts on the weekend here in Mexico?

JC:

It was a great weekend. It’s always great to win especially for the third time here. Volkswagen has an important engine and gearbox plant here and we are really happy to deliver this result for everyone.

 

Q:

It was not a good weekend for Jari-Matti Latvala. How is he feeling at the moment?

JC:

He is feeling bad about the result. Otherwise he would not be a race driver. We have no team orders at Volkswagen and we let them drive. You could see they were close and just two-tenths of a second apart after 25 kilometres of a stage at the split time. This shows the level at which they are driving and it is easy to make a mistake. We would like to see those fights in the future. Seb and Jari like this and Mads and Andreas are also close and enjoy the fight.

 

Q:

What are your thoughts on the drivers not being able to see the split times this season?

JC:

I don’t know. We see the splits! I don’t know if it makes it more exciting. We have a really good relationship between the manufacturers. We have a gentleman’s agreement and we are all working within the reglations and we accept the rule (about split times) and we trust each other. It is more exciting.

 

Q:

Once again, Sébastien Ogier has done an incredible job for you?

JC:

I think he did a brilliant peformance and the best pefomance of any rally so far. To get to the podium and with the clever tyre choice and driving to lead on day one and day two, it was outstanding. It just shows that he and Julien justify being World Champions. 

 

 

 

1st - Nasser Al-Attiyah

1st - Matthieu Baumel

 

Q:

Congratulations on the win here Nasser. How are you feeling?

NA-A:

I am so happy to win the WRC 2 here in Mexico. It was a really tough event and there were some very good drivers. You need to be clever for this race and it is very hard. My team was doing a great job all the weekend and we had a good strategy. Matthieu did a good job and we try to do the same for the next race. 

 

Q:

It was a great battle between you and Yurii Protasov for such a long time here in Mexico…

NA-A:

He had a very good speed and we were close to him for a long time. I did one mistake on a special stage and we had a spin and lose around 20 seconds after we decide to push in the afternoon. We were putting pressure on Protasov. This is a game. We are quite happy to win.

 

Q:

Were you on your limit on Friday?

NA-A:

No, actually we try to find a fast speed. if you push a lot some things will happen. If you feel good and stay on your pace, the other drivers will make a mistake. We are starting the year here on a good pace. We are quite happy to win.

 

Q:

Matthieu and you have won in Dakar, the Middle East and now here. That’s a great start to the season for the new partnership!

NA-A:

We have a good relationship together and it was good to give Matthieu a chance to go for the WRC as well. He is one of the best co-drivers in the world and has good skill. I am quite happy to have Matthieu with me.

 

Q:

Matthieu, those are nice words from Nasser. What are your thoughts?

MB:

From my side it was very good to come here and win in Mexico and to be here on a WRC event with Nasser is a pleasure for me. 

 

Q:

You are obviously used to more of the endurance-type events. How did this compare?

MB:

It’s not an easy rally at all. The stages are quite fast and narrow, tricky and technical. It’s competely different to cross-country and not easy to manage.