Present:
Elfyn Evans, M-Sport World Rally Team
Dani Sordo, Hyundai Motorsport
Robert Kubica, RK World Rally Team
Andreas Mikkelsen, Volkswagen Motorsport II
Mads Østberg, Citroën Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team

Q:
Elfyn, you come here after a highly successful result in Corsica. What are your expectations in Spain?
EE:
Corsica relieved the pressure a bit; we’d had a fairly tough time before that. On the gravel, I’m not sure where we’ll be at – obviously we struggled in Australia and we haven't been on gravel since then. I’ll drive the best I can and see where we are.

Q:
You mentioned after Corsica that you still felt there was more improvement that could be found on tarmac with you and the car - what are those improvements?
EE:
It’s just in the consistency, which will come. There are areas to improve with the times, there was nothing drastic I did wrong in Corsica, just stuff we could do better and we could think about that through the event.

Q:
What do you think of the route here?
EE:
There’s a lot going on in the gravel stages, a lot going on on the inside of some of the corners. The Tarmac is really nice and smooth and enjoyable. For me, it’s the gravel that’s the tricky part.

Q:
The last time we saw you on gravel was in Australia, which was by your own admission one of your worst events. How do you get out of that mind-set on gravel?
EE:
Do the best I can; the road position is not bad. I’ll go out and drive. These are very different stages and they should suit us a bit better – they're a bit faster and more technical. Let’s wait and see.

Q:

Dani, you have great results at this event over the many years you have competed here. You showed strong pace in Corsica - can you bring that pace here this weekend?
DS:
Yeah of course I’m confident. In Corsica we had a puncture and lost two minutes, but after that the rally was good and the performance was good. From here we expect to do a good rally, we have a good car and everything is ready.

Q:
How many times have you done this event?
DS:
Er… I don't know. A lot.

Q:
You have good experience here, that should help you?
DS:
Experience is experience. After three years, it’s the same. There’s progress after some years and I try to improve… I try to do my best, but the others are really coming. It’s like the Finns in Finland. I try to do my best. Maybe [experience] will help me a little bit.

Q:
We have some new stages this time around - what are they like?
DS:
These are new stages for everybody, we have some on tarmac some on gravel – they’re nice, narrow gravel stages – in general, quite nice.

Q:
What will be your approach to this event?
DS:
I try to finish on the podium and try to do my best.

Q:
There is some pressure in the Manufacturers’ Championship?
DS:
I try to do the best and try take manufacturer points and try to keep Citroën and Ford (M-Sport World Rally Team) behind in the championship.

Q:
Robert, you have some good experience of this event now and we saw a strong opening day from you last year. What is your objective this year?
RK:
Last year was a good day on gravel except for the last stage when I had a spin and lost quite [a] lot of seconds. We were close on gravel last year, which was surprising because the year before I was very slow here. This year will be different, we’ve had no test at all and the last time I was on gravel was in Finland, which is a long time ago. Pirelli has changed the tyre for the drivers and it could be quite difficult to be straight away on top of everything – and tomorrow’s shakedown stage is not representative of the rally.

Q:
Over the course of the season what do you feel has improved the most in terms of your performance?
RK:
I think I feel much more confident in the car and confident things are getting better. I am coming from a completely different world, a world where I have everything under control. When I start rallies, I have very little under control – so many things are changing so much. It’s still new for me, it’s becoming more familiar, but there’s still a long way to go. This year has been quite difficult. There have been a few mistakes also a few failures, which have lost a lot of points and positions. Most surprising for me was Sweden and Finland, where I was pretty much on the pace to finish in the top five – unfortunately we had a failure in the car. In Corsica, we were strong and, for the first time, we were able to fight for the podium on pace and not wait for the other cars to retire – but most of the time I retire before them! It’s unfortunate, but true.

Q:
What do you think of the new stages?
RK:
They are very nice. The gravel is very characteristic and tricky here – it’s easy to get it wrong, especially on the new stages. You know what to expect, [but] then approach the new stages, it’s difficult to judge them all correctly. We are running quite behind, which is good on gravel – that’s an advantage for us, but also let’s see about the dust – three years ago it was quite bad.

Q:
Can you tell us anything about next year?
RK:
Yes and no… I don’t know exactly what I will be doing, I have something in my mind. I would be surprised to do WRC all season – there will be change. I don't know if I do it at all or not, for sure there will be something different.

Q:
Different from rallying?
RK:
Maybe yes, maybe not. I have changed a bit in my mind. Three years ago I came back after the accident and I was looking for a new challenge – rallying was a very big challenge. Next year is the time to have something different and I’ll probably end up doing some different things and maybe the rally as well.

Q:
Andreas, how do you approach this rally?
AM:
This rally, the first objective for me – I want to come to Wales and be free from thinking about the championship, so I have to make sure of the top three. At the same time, I have to see what Jari-Matti is doing; second is not impossible. But I do need some help from him. The points gap to him is too much for me to do on my own, so I will need help. If he does a mistake, maybe I will change my objective – if he is stuck in a ditch somewhere then maybe it will change. But third in the championship is the objective. Let’s see how things develop. I will start on a good pace and be in the area where I can attack if something happens…

Q:
It took you a while to get into your stride in Corsica, was that purely down to a lack of testing? Are you feeling differently heading here?
AM:
It didn’t help, so it could be a bit difficult. But we’re not far from Corsica, so we can get a feeling for the rally quite quickly.

Q:
Things improved once you got into the event in Corsica?
AM:
It got better, but not to the point where I was fully happy. I’m sure we can make the necessary changes to the car so I can push. In Corsica I was trying to be fast, but I wasn’t really able to get comfortable.

Q:
You have a lot going on this weekend…
AM:
It’s not so difficult plan. I will start on a good pace, nothing too crazy. I want to be in a position to change the attack if something happens.

Q:
And you’re still looking for that first win…
AM:
If I get the top three guaranteed [in the championship] then I will give it everything in Wales. Then again, I tried that last year but only made it through two stages! Let’s hope it lasts a bit longer than that this time.

Q:
Are you feeling confident ahead of this one, Mads?
MO:
Yeah definitely. I’m feeling very good. Everything is back to normal. Everything is back to normal in the body – I’m ready to fight.

Q:
There are no ‘arghs…’ in the car after the injuries from your crash in Australia?
MO:
There are no ‘arghs’ at all!

Q:
Tell us about your preparation for a mixed surface event.
MO:
If you do the proper preparation, you have to do two tests in different surfaces, but I don’t think anybody does this. We did Corsica and then some driving on gravel, so we are as prepared as we can be. Of course it’s a bit different doing the recce when you are going from gravel to asphalt. The stages are narrow and tricky – you don’t make completely different notes, but they are slightly different [from gravel to asphalt]. It’s some challenge.

Q:
But a good challenge?
MO:
Definitely! I’m happy – we have at least one day of gravel, which is good for me.

Q:
Friday’s a big day for you, then?
MO:
On Friday, we need a good start – this is very important. We have a good fight with Hyundai and we need to take as many points as we can. Friday’s very important, but we have been fast on Tarmac here before, so I’m not too worried about that.

Q:
Any news on next year?
MO:
Not a lot really. I need to focus on the events. At the moment I am fourth in the championship and I feel very confident I can stay there. I have to make sure I do a good end to the year. Even with no Australia, it’s possible to stay fourth. OK, it’s not top of the world, but it’s the best after Volkswagen.

Q:
So you can still focus on events?
MO:
I’m not that worried [about next year] to be honest. I feel quite good about next year. I can focus on the event.

FIA WRC 2 CHAMPIONSHIP

Present:
Nasser Al-Attiyah
Nil Solans
Jari Ketomaa

Q:
Nasser, firstly congratulations on securing the FIA World Cup for Cross Country Rallies as well as the FIA Middle East Rally Championship titles in the past few weeks! You have the opportunity to seal the FIA WRC 2 Championship here but you must win the event. How are you feeling ahead of the rally?
NA-A:
The first thing to say is hello. We are here in Spain and we are leading WRC 2, but it looks like a lot of drivers compete in this race. I won last year and I always have good results in Spain, I will try to do my best, but it’s not an easy race. We will try to make our strategy and if we can win, it would be good. If no, we try to finish behind our competitor Lappi…

Q:
You have some tough competition this weekend Nasser, what is your strategy?
NA-A:
It will be hard weekend, all the boys are here and everybody can win this race. The race is really difficult, we try to do our best without any mistakes or problems and we try to make maximum feeling to win this race.

Q:
What’s the strategy for the mixed surface?
NA-A:
It’s OK. We start day one on gravel – I will try to push. We can make a good time on the gravel. On Tarmac there are a lot of good drivers, we try to improve and have a good feeling on all three days.

Q:
Any news on next year for you?
NA-A:
We start from Dakar, after that the first three races in the Middle East [Rally Championship] and then the plan is to start in WRC 2. We do Mexico and Argentina and after that we need to stop for a training camp until August for the Olympic Games. If I come back, I’m back in September. It’s a very busy year!

Q:
Jari, welcome back to the championship! It’s been a while since we have seen you compete due to injury. Is everything now OK with your eye?
JK:
I see completely fine. All is fine now. It’s been frustrating to follow from the sidelines, and, of course, missing my home event in Finland was a shame – especially as we did well last year and it could have been be good. That’s how it is. I have been driving many years and not having had anything bad. We survived with good safety in WRC 2, there is nothing broken.

Q:
You still have a chance of the championship title as we approach the final two rounds. What is your objective here?
JK:
It’s perfect when you have the possibility. We will just go and do the absolute best we can and do as well as we can. There is so much that can go wrong and so much that can go right. I don’t make the prediction, just go and have the fun.

Q:
Do you know what you’ll be doing next year?
JK:
There’s nothing sorted yet, let’s see. Hopefully I can drive and somebody likes me to do the rallies. Let’s see – let’s finish this year first and then see what happens.

Q:
Nil, we have seen you switch this season from the Fiesta R2 to the Peugeot 208. Do you think you have fully adapted to the car now?
NS:
For sure we start with Drive DMACK, which is a good championship with a lot of good drivers, but mid-season we continue with R5, which is a good option. It was good for us to move up all of the time. I try to do everything well for next season, everything is good.

Q:
Do you feel you have adapted to R5?
NS:
Yeah, I like it – it’s better than the other one: R2 is good to learn driving, it’s a school car, but R5 is more powerful and four-wheel drive; it suits my style of driving and I’m not doing too bad.

Q:
This is your home event, and you have been building toward this - what are you hoping for here? Do you feel slightly more nervous before this than the others?
NS:
No pressure. We are very happy. It’s home, it’s Catalunya. We want to do it well. It’s a good rally for us.

Q:
WRC 2 for you next year?
NS:
I hope so, at the moment I am not sure, but I want to continue with everything next year. It’s too early to say anything yet.

FIA JUNIOR / WRC 3 CHAMPIONSHIP

Present:
Simone Tempestini
Andrea Crugnola
Terry Folb

Q:
Simone, we saw you take a win at Rally Poland, a podium in Corsica this year and you are still in contention for the WRC 3 title. Looking back across your season have you been happy with your results?
ST:
Yes quite happy. It was not 100 per cent because at the start of the season I wanted to try to fight and finish in first position in JWRC, now the first position is already caught by Quentin [Gilbert] – congratulations to him. Now we are fighting for second position. We hope we shall be second at the end.

Q:
And what are your hopes for this event? On a mixed surface event do you feel a win is possible?
ST:
I am happy to be here, this is one of my favourite rallies. I normally love the gravel rallies but Tarmac is very beautiful here and it feels good. Normally I would like to do the same as this year – I would like to race the Citroens and finish in a good position with a good result.

Q:
How difficult is it going from gravel to asphalt?
ST:
I love gravel and it’s no problem to drive this. After that, you need to change the way of driving after a few kilometres, but it’s easy to come back to tarmac.

Q:
Next year, any news?
ST:
Yes, I hope to be back in the Junior WRC. If we find budget more than this year then I will try to do some events in an R5 car.

Q:
Andrea, how are you feeling about the rally ahead?
AC:
This is my first time competing here, although I did come for a Pirelli shootout event a few years ago and I was selected! Now it’s a different story. I saw the stages on the recce and I like both gravel and tarmac. My aim is to win this race which is why we are going to push a lot. It’s not easy, but I want to push from the first metre.

Q:
Have you been happy with this season or did you want to show more pace?
AC:
To be honest, I’m not really happy – we lost some points because of stupid things and I commit some mistakes during the season. My aim is for the top three and, for the moment, third position is on, but it’s going to be difficult in Wales. I need to score as much as I can here and not to finish the championship in fourth.

Q:
Friday’s going to be a long day and a big challenge?
AC:
It’s going to be a very big challenge. I like the type of rally like this, gravel to tarmac. It’s going to be good fun and for the spectators it’s a good idea. Friday will be very long with just changing the tyres [and no service], it will be not so easy. I have to manage the situation and be in the top at the end of the gravel

Q:
What about next year?
AC:
Maybe playing football… I don’t know yet. My dream is to continue with the family like the sport we have done well this year – we have developed the car well. We need to find a bit more speed. Sure, if we come back next year, we have a lot of chance to make some good results.

Q:
Terry, we've seen you compete in the Junior category and WRC 3 this year, with your stronger results coming in the second half of the season. Corsica must have given you confidence?
TF:
Yes. That is the only one on the podium. At the start of the year we went to Portugal, there was a little mistake and I cannot finish the rally. For sure it’s good to finish in a good position and to work on next year.

Q:
Have you been happy with your performance this season?
TF:
Yes, happy. It’s only my second year in rally, to stay here is crazy for me – we worked very hard to find the speed and we were looking to finish with some good positions. Second in Corsica was a very good result for us. We stay here, I like Spain and I will push hard to fight with Tempestini for the victory.

Q:
Next year?
TF:
More Juniors normally. For now, we work only on this season. The objective is to fight for the title next season.