Present:
Sebastien Ogier, M-Sport World Rally Team
Stéphane Lefebvre, Citroën Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team
Hayden Paddon, Hyundai Motorsport 
Tommi Mäkinen, Toyota GAZOO Racing World Rally Team

Q:
It was just six months ago that we were here in Corsica and some fond memories for you! Good to be back Seb?
SO:
It’s very fresh. Only six months ago, it’s not such a long time and the route is very similar. We had only seven or eight kilometres of road where we had to take notes and we had a very relaxed week I have to say. That doesn’t mean the race is going to be easy, still it’s a challenging event. At least the forecast at the moment looks good and so we should have an enjoyable rally with good grip conditions and good pleasure behind the wheel because for me it’s enjoyable to drive here. Obviously six months ago I had a really good race here and the target is to try to repeat this. Even if I’m in a new car, I feel really good on tarmac in the Fiesta so let’s see what we can do.

Q:
There are lots of things which are similar in terms of the route but what’s very different is the car that you’re in. How different is that going to be out there this weekend?
SO:
I think the time will not necessarily be very much faster than before because as we’ve seen on shakedown this morning I was only a second faster than last year which is not so much over 5 kilometres. I think it will be more demanding for tyres. The stages are a bit shorter but with more power you put more load on the tyres and the only new section we have on the rally is very demanding for the tyres and that’s the start of the rally. We’ll have to see but I’m sure it should be manageable.

Q:
The weather is beautiful at the moment, maybe a bit warmer than we would expect at this time of year. There is a possibility of rain on Sunday, how much does that affect things when it rains here? 
SO:
To be really honest I didn’t ask about the weather on Sunday as the weather changes so quickly on this island that it’s already very hard to know what will happen tomorrow. So far I’ve seen more sunshine in the forecast than rain but it can very quickly happen. It makes a big difference then if you do not have the right tyres - let’s see how we manage that. Obviously I hope to have the right information to be able to fight at the front on the good tyres.

Q:
We’ve had an exciting season so far with three different drivers on the top of the podium and three different manufacturers. We just don’t know who is going to win next which is fantastic. How do you feel being part of a championship which is so open at the moment?
SO:
It’s very exciting for the fans first of all, but also for us because a few drivers have proved that they can really challenge on the top. Every car, every team have proved that they have a fast car and are able to win. Only Hyundai have not so far but they have scored the most fastest times so for sure it’s exciting and I’m looking forward to this weekend again. I expect a close fight, especially as we all know the stages so it might reduce the gap between drivers. Like always, if you want to win you have to push from the start.

Q:
Stéphane, we see all three Citroën C3’s in competition this weekend in Corsica. What are your hopes on this event?
SL:
For me this weekend it’s a bit different compared to the other drivers. Last year I missed this rally so for Kris and Craig I think they are ready for the fight for the victory and for me I hope for a top six or seven.

Q:
As you say, it’s very different from the rest of the drivers as you were not here last year and so you had to start from scratch with your pace notes so you’ve had a very busy recce. In terms of confidence on tarmac, how are you feeling?
SL:
Very nice with the car. It’s much better compared with Monte-Carlo. For me the recce was a tough recce, it’s more of a holiday for Seb or the others but for me it was very long. We have 900 corners in the long one.

Q:
In terms of looking ahead across the season and the events you’ll be competing on, what are you hoping to achieve personally this year?
SL:
For me it’s an important year for my future. I take experience in every rally. For this rally I hope for a nice result and no small mistakes like in Mexico.     

Q:
Hayden, before we chat about Corsica you were competing in San Remo last week in the Hyundai R5. Congratulations on your second position, has it got you in the tarmac mind-set? Was it a useful exercise?
HP:
Yes, I think spending last week on tarmac I felt very comfortable, it felt good. I feel like I’m making some improvements to my driving on tarmac but you come back to the WRC car here on shakedown and you are hanging on because the power difference between the cars is huge. I’m feeling good and hopefully we can have a clean rally.

Q:
Was the purpose of doing that rally just to get you into tarmac mode or were there other reasons behind it? It was the first rally with the man who will step into the co-driving seat alongside you from Germany this year, Seb Marshall - did it work well?
HP:
I’m just trying to get more time on tarmac. Growing up at home we don’t rally on tarmac. I’ve done I think maybe 15 rallies in my life on it so I’m trying to learn the surface whilst at the very highest level of the sport so it puts pressure on and the only way I’m going to improve is by spending more time on it to help it feel more natural. So the more rallies we can do and the better feeling I can get then hopefully in the future we can fight for podiums on tarmac.

Q:
What was the event like sitting with Seb? I know that you’ve been testing together but in competition mode, it’s all very different. Did that relationship start to work?
HP:
Yes, working with Seb is going very, very good. We’ve been working together for 12 months and then the rally was perfect. I’ve got great confidence that it’s going to be a very good partnership in the future. 

Q:
What is the expectation for you here this weekend? You’ve played down your chances of fighting at the front of the field, why is that?
HP:
Because I’m not fast enough on tarmac yet. I think the pace is going to be very hot this weekend. If we can be around the top five somewhere I’d be quite happy. But we have to think about the team as well and make sure we get to the finish to help score manufacturer points. 

Q:
Tommi, it’s Toyota’s first year back in the WRC and I think it’s fair to say that it’s got off to an incredible start. You’ve had some strong results and already picked up a win. What’s the likelihood of another win coming shortly? Or are you not thinking in that vein?
TM:
Of course we are still learning and keep improving ourselves, we keep testing and keep finding a better setup for different conditions. Tarmac is a condition where we have not done a massive amount of kilometres. Last week we spent all week in a test and I understood that our drivers were pretty confident about that, with the latest changes we are improving our car again. Our target, race after race we try to be a bit stronger.

Q:
What’s it been like Tommi, having Jari-Matti as part of the team but also having his feedback from testing? He has so much experience across many different cars in the championship. Is it good to be getting his feedback and are things moving on a little quicker because of him?
TM:
It is very important. That’s one of the targets of him driving with us is that he can help us to learn after every rally and bring in some ideas from his past. I think it’s very important. He is being a big help for us. 

Q:
Are there definite areas which you would say still need a lot more work or is it general?
TM:
One of the more important things we reached very well was reliability, which was important for us. It’s one of the priorities, we have to have a reliable car, because of Toyota’s philosophy they always have made reliable cars. I think one of the things at the moment is that we need to find the car a diet and that is one of the things we are working at and that can make our car quicker. At the moment we are not able to carry so much ballast which makes cars a bit better. We are working on these little areas, we are happy that we know we have something to improve and we know areas where we can do better.

Q:
Are we going to see a third Toyota coming in shortly?
TM:
Yes, I hope so! I feel confident we can bring a third car soon. 

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q:
Stephane, you say you counted 900 corners on the long stage, do you know how many pages of pace notes that makes?
SL:
About 85.
SO:
Close to 100 but I’m not sure.
HP:
John has 47. He has small writing. But Seb with the same system would be about 120 pages - different co-driving styles.
TM:
I remember we had about double of that when we were competing.

FIA WRC 2 CHAMPIONSHIP
 
Present:
Pierre-Louis Loubet
Yohan Rossel

Q:
Pierre-Louis, Corsica is such an iconic event and your family has such a great history at the event as well. What is it like for you to compete here?
P-LL:
For me it’s really special because my family is from Porto-Vecchio in the south of the island. I would like to do my best here for all my supporters and my family.

Q:
Has your dad given you any advice?
P-LL:
Yes of course a lot. He is behind me to support and he is a really good adviser for me.

Q:
How do you think this year is going to go for you? You are in a new car, we see you with a different team; how is the season ahead going to be? Are you confident?
P-LL:
I am confident, for sure it’s a new team, a new car, all is different but my objective is the same. I have to do my best and for sure the car is perfect to improve and to do what I have to do, my best.

Q:
There is a really strong field in WRC 2, some strong drivers all year, how do you think you are going to compete against them? What is your hope for the season?
P-LL:
I don’t exactly know what is my hope, but just to do my best in every rally, to work hard, to be as fast as possible and after we see where I am.

Q:
Yohan, we see you compete in WRC 2 in the R5, how are you adapting to the car?
YR:
We adapt well but it’s a new car, a new challenge this year. There are a lot of good drivers but it’s good for the challenge. I am motivated.

Q:
Have you been testing at all?
YR:
Yes, we participated in the Rallye Pays d’Ajaccio, a regional rally and I won so it’s good. 

Q:
So you are having good confidence?
YR:
Yes but there are a lot of good drivers, but I have the support of Citroën and the Federation so it’s good.

Q:
Corsica is a difficult event. It’s a really tough challenge for the drivers but do you enjoy it? 
YR:
Yes, yes, we enjoy! But it’s strong. I enjoy it because we had two podiums on this event. Maybe to be in the top five would be good for me.

FIA WRC 3 CHAMPIONSHIP

Present:
Raphaël Astier

Q:
Raphaël we saw you in Rallye de Monte-Carlo and a fabulous result for you there. How confident are you feeling coming to Corsica?
RA:
Yes we did a good result but we have to know that here the competitors are stronger, especially with the Fords. It will probably be a little more complicated but we’ll do our best.

Q:
What have you been doing to prepare Raphaël in terms of testing, in terms of competing since Monte-Carlo? Have you been competing at all?
RA:
We had a good testing session, about 70 kilometres on asphalt and we did some slight modifications to the set-ups.

Q:
Are you happy with the set-up of your car? Are you confident that you can go out in Corsica and put on a display similar to Monte-Carlo?
RA:
I am happy with the set-up but here you need some specific power so it might be a bit difficult with the R2.

FIA JUNIOR WRC CHAMPIONSHIP

Present:
Robert Duggan
Nicolas Ciamin

Q:
This is your first WRC event outside of the UK. You have been in Rally GB but this is the first time you have travelled abroad to compete. It’s your first time in the Junior WRC Championship here so how are you feeling ahead of the Tour de Corse?
RD: 
Feeling very good with a good recce. Shakedown went well. Just looking forward to get going and seeing what we can do tomorrow on the stages. It will last three days so we will try to take good points for the championship and see how it goes.

Q:
Now you have a lot of experience obviously competing in the UK and in Ireland in particular. Tarmac is your specialty which is a good thing coming here, but you have never been competing on stages this length before. How difficult is that going to be for you?
RD:
It’s definitely going to be difficult to change to that. We’ve done about 30 kilometres max but there are so many corners here, there are no straights, not like Ireland but we’ll get into the swing of it and hope for the best.

Q: 
You won the British Rally Championship Junior Category last year and this is part of the prize for that. How are you feeling about your season ahead and the potential of getting a prize for WRC 2 next year?
RD:
Feeling very excited. Last year was a very good year. If we could have the luck we have had last year this year I would be delighted. Hopefully we will have a couple of WRC 2 drives.

Q:
Nicolas, we saw you as part of the Drive DMack Fiesta Trophy last year and now it’s the FIA Junior WRC Championship. How confident are you feeling with your ability to challenge for wins this year?
NC:
Of course I am more confident than last year because I have now one year of experience in the championship. Of course it’s more exciting to have the JWRC mark to it because at the end of the year I can be world champion so I try everything to be the world champion but it will be really difficult I think because we have really strong competitors with us. We have new tyres, I have been able to drive it for two rallies but we still don’t know how it will react on the 50 kilometre stage. We will see but yes, I am quite confident.

Q:
What have you been doing to prepare for this event in terms of testing, in terms of competing? Were you competing at the weekend?
NC:
No I have not been able to make a test but I have done two rallies with the new tyres so of course it’s a bit of an advantage and we have found I think good things to manage it. 

Q:
We saw your best result last year on gravel rather than tarmac. How do you feel you are as a tarmac driver?
NC:
No, I am faster on tarmac for the moment. I need to practice gravel to improve my skills on this surface but I am definitely fastest on tarmac for now.