Present:
Kris Meeke, Abu Dhabi Total World Rally Team
Ott Tanak, DMACK World Rally Team
Thierry Neuville, Hyundai Motorsport
Jari-Matti Latvala, Volkswagen Motorsport

Q:
Kris, the last time you were on a WRC rally you were sat in the middle as the winner of Rally de Portugal, what can you do here this weekend in Finland?
KM:
Trying to do the best job I can again, but it’s always exciting at this time of year to get to Rally Finland. Like we know, I’m doing a limited programme this year and it’s nice to have Finland part of that because if there’s one event that keeps you sharp, it’s this one. What can I say? I’m just going to try my best. Over the last couple of years we’ve had good speed here but never really threatened, because to put time into guys like Jari-Matti is difficult here. You can go maximum a couple of stages and he might squeeze a couple of seconds on me, and by the time Saturday evening comes around you always find yourself maybe 10 seconds shy. It’s difficult, so we have to keep in mind the bigger picture, for sure. Next year Citroën are refocusing their efforts on the WRC and arriving with a new car. I know my limitations this weekend, I know the limitations of the car in certain places. We have to keep that in mind and that it’s not necessary to stick my neck out to do something special this weekend, I just have to get experience and arrive next year with a full package ready to challenge.

Q:
The famous Ouninpohja is run in the other direction this year, what challenge does that bring?
KM:
It’s always a challenge to go anywhere, Ouninpohja, no matter what direction. When you see new stages in Finland it’s normally more simple, because you see the roads for the first time and you anticipate the speed with your notes and you hope it’s correct. But when you do a stage like Ouninpohja in reverse, there are so many landmarks in your head, and you can anticipate the speed from the other direction but it’s never the same. There’s little bits that tighten up, there’s crests which in the opposite direction certainly aren’t the same. That’s the massive challenge: not to get sucked into anticipating the speed from the opposite direction, and you have to try your best to treat it like a new stage and commit to your notes. It’s going to be as fearsome in the opposite direction, for sure, and a lot, lot different I think. There’s potential to make differences there. If we do the same stages in the same direction every year, the margins just get so small. It is exciting but for me, it’s good that the organisers have mixed it up a bit and changed it around. We have some other new stages too, but Ouninpohja reversed is a challenge.

Q:
Ott, three weeks on from Rally Poland and again on similar roads, as in high speed; can we expect the same performance again here this weekend?
OT:
Basically the feeling is we have the package. I think the plan is to be in touch. Obviously Finland is always a lot more demanding compared to Poland. I would say maybe it’s just the speed is similar, but all the rest is different. It’s obviously up and down all the time and many blind corners and big jumps. This year we also have I think at least half of the stages new, so it will be big work first time through the stages. It should be all fine but at high speed you never know.

Q:
Rally Finland is always a close rally and with the teams and drivers really upping their game this season it seems it will be closer than ever, maybe even up to eight drivers have a real chance of a win. Is that how you see it?
OT:
I’m sure it will be tight because it’s fast and normally you won’t make a big difference here, but to be on the limit all the time you really need to have the right rhythm and the right feeling. Everything needs to be working. I’m sure it will be a big battle and if you want to be a bit faster than anyone else then obviously it needs to be on the limit.

Q:
Thierry, some very positive results recently, how are you feeling going into Rally Finland?
TN:
Not different than from before the last event, but it’s always an event where you are maybe slightly more nervous before the start of the first stage but once you are gone, the pressure releases and you just start enjoying what you are doing, and you focus on doing the best job you can. I have to say the feeling is pretty good.

Q:
The Hyundai seems more suited to the faster open roads, are you happy with how the car is coming along?
TN:
We had a good test a couple of days ago and I really felt comfortable like never before in the car. Obviously this morning the road was more slippy than our test road and we struggled with traction, so we tried to correct that. It was a bit better on the two last runs I did in shakedown but obviously the road had improved a bit as well. We have to see tomorrow. I’m pretty confident that we will be fast but hopefully there’s not too much rain on the line and the whole stage stays in good grip conditions, that our car can be fast, and fully confident ahead of the first stage.

Q:
Jari-Matti…back home and on a hat-trick of Rally Finland wins, how special is it to be back in front of your home fans and can you win again?
J-ML
It’s a very special event from me, for sure, we have a lot of spectators from Finland but also from other countries. I think everybody who is running in their home event has some extra motivation and the boost to try to win it and that’s the case for me also. I’m really getting good support from the fans and am really motivated, but at the same time you have more pressure, but I guess that’s just something you need to handle.

Q:
With the new stages, does being at home help, or is it a clean sheet of paper?
J-ML:
Basically nowadays when the itinerary is published, there is nobody of the WRC drivers who know those stages. I don’t have experience of them, except in 2008 we did it in this direction, the first 15 kilometres, but I can’t remember it and I couldn’t even find the onboard for that so I can’t say anything. I barely remember it. I did try to look at it but I couldn’t find it. It will be more equal for everybody when you have a new stage. Especially on this rally. If you have done the stages, maybe four or five times, and if you are a newcomer, you come for the first time, it will be always more difficult. But on the other hand, what is good with new stages is that if you have good confidence with them and you manage to do a good time, you are able to maybe get more time differences than the old classic stages.

Q:
You’re still only 31, but when you start SS1 tonight you become the most experienced Finnish rally driver in the WRC with 164 WRC starts, how does that feel?
J-ML
It feels like a big number. I don’t believe I have been so long in the World Rally Championship. But I started when I was 17 years old, now I’m 31. The years have been going faster than I expected but there is still a lot of things to achieve. I remember Kankkunen was around 42 when he retired and Carlos Sainz was 45, so if everything goes well you have chances to be in this sport until you are 40. It feels quite interesting this number but like I said, there are still things to achieve.

FIA WRC 2 CHAMPIONSHIP

Present:
Elfyn Evans, M-Sport World Rally Team
Teemu Suninen, Team Oreca

Q:
Elfyn, you’ve had good pace in Finland in the past, what are your expectations this year up against a very strong field of drivers, including Teemu?
EE:
For sure, it’s going to be tough but we’ve been here now a fair few years. Like you say, we’ve had some good times here in the past, so I think the aim is to win the category if we can. Obviously it’s ultra-competitive this year, but nonetheless we have to knuckle down and try to get the job done.

Q:
As far as the Championship is concerned, you have Finland and one more points-scoring round remaining. Your nearest rival, sitting alongside you, is one event behind you and with one more win in hand. What do you think your chances are up against the Finns this weekend?
EE:
I think it will be tough but we managed to do it in Sweden, to beat the Scandinavians on their home turf, so certainly that’s still the aim here this weekend, but it will be tough.

Q:
You’ve been here many times, but coming from a WRC car to the WRC 2 car you have now, are there big differences? Do you have to adapt the pace notes?
EE:
No, not so much to be honest. The speed is not massively, massively different. We saw in Poland already we were, certainly on some stages, within a second a kilometre to the fastest time, so the principles of driving are not massively different. Things don’t happen quite as quick as in a World Rally Car but nonetheless it’s not a dramatic change in pace notes or any other preparation from that side of things.

Q:
Teemu, three wins from four starts this season and now into your home event. What are your expectations?
TS:
My expectations are that the rally is going to be hard for me, even though I’m in my home country. The jumps and crests are a totally new thing with this car, so I have big, big challenges here. For sure, I think the fight between the four drivers, Evans, Tidemand, Lappi and me is going to be really tough.

Q:
If you ask any driver what rally they want to win, it’s always Rally Finland. Why is that?
TS:
Because it’s so high speed and so many big crests, it’s just an amazing feeling when you are going flat-out in the forests and you feel that you are part of the car, or the car is part of you.

FIA JUNIOR WRC / WRC 3 CHAMPIONSHIP

Present:
Juuso Nordgren
Andrea Crugnola

Q:
Juuso, to have won this fully-funded drive and be heralded as the Future Rally Star of Finland is quite some achievement; are you feeling a bit over-whelmed by your first outing on the world stage or just looking forward to it?
JN:
I’m really looking forward. This is a big opportunity for me. Of course I am very happy to achieve this prize drive. I’ve driven only six pace note rallies before this so I’m very overwhelmed, and I want to enjoy all the stages and finish the rally.

Q:
You say this is only your sixth rally with pace notes and even though it’s on home soil, this is still Rally Finland which is an enormous challenge even for those with experience. What is your strategy for the weekend?
JN:
My strategy is to start with my own speed and improve it through the whole weekend. The car is quite new for me and it’s my first WRC event. I think we will improve stage-by-stage, that’s my strategy.

Q:
Drivers are very, very competitive. You want to keep your own strategy but I’m sure it won’t take long to be looking at the times of other drivers?
JN:
Yes of course. I think we are aiming at least to the top three as a final result and I would also like to do a few fastest stage times. After that I would be quite happy but of course we are aiming for a good position also.

Q:
Andrea, you’ve had an unlucky start to the season and led Rally Poland before you were forced to retire. What can you do in Finland?
AC:
Yes, the start of the season wasn’t so good for me, I retired in Portugal and Poland. Of course I want to finish at least the race here in Finland. I saw from the recce that the stages are going to be very tough, very difficult and very tricky, so I want to start maybe not from the maximum speed, but try to improve stage by stage.

Q:
Rally Finland is very special. What do you think is the biggest challenge of this rally?
AC:
For sure the trickiest thing maybe for me is to have good pace notes. Because there’s plenty of jumps and crests and I think to have good pace notes will be the key to achieve a good result.