Present:
1st - Ott Tänak, M-Sport World Rally Team
1st - Martin Järveoja, M-Sport World Rally Team
2nd - Jari-Matti Latvala, Toyota GAZOO Racing World Rally Team
2nd - Miikka Anttila, Toyota GAZOO Racing World Rally Team
3rd - Thierry Neuville, Hyundai Motorsport
3rd - Nicolas Gilsoul, Hyundai Motorsport
Malcolm Wilson, Team Principal, M-Sport World Rally Team

Q:
It has been many years since we have seen an Estonian driver on the top step of the podium; we have to look back to 2004 for that and now in 2017 you picked up your first WRC win Ott, congratulations! How do you feel about this? 
OT:
Obviously it is a nice feeling. Everybody is asking about the feeling all the time, to be truthful,  after the finish line there were really not so many emotions as it has been tough, a lot of hard work, long stages and not an easy job to do. The feeling is like the job has been done, there’s a big release and I am happy also for the team. We are still a private team as you can see and we have so many podiums and victories already in the Championship. It feels strong at the moment. 

Q:
You are now third in the Championship which is great! 
OT:
Not so good, I was really hoping of getting some more points from the Power Stage that I would start fourth in Poland so this makes my life harder for Poland, but okay we still keep pushing like we have done from the beginning of the season. The job has been quite good and consistent, always gaining some points. It is important to keep going at the same pace and I think it can get quite interesting at the end of the season.

Q:
We saw a mistake this morning, was that pressure, or the dust? what was that all about?
OT.
It is quite rare to see a mistake (laughing) from myself. I kind of missed a junction, I went straight and there was really bad dust in the car at the beginning of the stage that was distracting me quite a lot. I was struggling to understand why it was happening, the visibility in the car got really bad and we lost some time, but after this I really concentrated hard, kept pushing and after the next stage it was under control and no drama anymore.

Q:
Markko Martin was the last Estonian on the podium in 2004. What did he say to you when he won?
OT:    
Nothing… congratulations! You know how Markko is. He said he would come to the airport tomorrow, but he has to go to his hairstylist so he is busy!

Q:
Martin you have come into the WRC this season, you jumped alongside Ott and your first rally in a world rally car was in Monte Carlo and now we see you on the top step of the podium. It’s a challenge on every event for you and this is really a huge event. Are you feeling that? 
MJ:
The feeling is quite the same as Ott; the weekend has been quite tough with early wake ups and late to bed so it is quite hard to show big emotions. But inside the feeling is great so it was a good weekend.

Q:
What was the feeling this morning, especially after that opening stage when things have not gone as planned. Were you worried?
MJ:
No there was no stress. Okay we made a mistake but after that we kept going in a normal way; no pushing over so it was ok.

Q:
Jari-Matti, second position for you. Ott wanted to get a few more points on the Power Stage so you would have remained third in the Championship but there is just a point between you right? 
J-ML:
Yes only one point, we are in fourth position. The main important thing this weekend is that we would be closer to Ogier who is in the lead, even if the points to the lead are less. I drove hard on the Power Stage and it was going really well but there is a really narrow left where the ruts got really bigger. I remember that last year I had some difficulties and this year I tried to take a different approach, but it did not work out. The speed stopped, I almost got stuck and had to go towards the bushes and lost valuable time there and that is where the points were gone. I was looking for more points but that is the way it is.

Q:
We saw a very frustrated Jari-Matti because of that, it is so important at the moment and this is why we see those emotions coming out from you because of the Championship…
J-ML:
When you have done 170 Rally Championship event and you are 17 years old your dream is to win the title and you start to get frustrated now having been around here a long time and never having won the title. I start to feel then in a different way than when I was younger, where I was thinking that I had the next year but now I am getting closer to forty and I can't think anymore that I have a next year. 

Q:
Poland next up and the Toyota team have done exceptionally well here; do you think that you can go to Poland and challenge for the win there?
J-ML:
We did really important steps before Portugal, we were not competitive in Mexico or Argentina and we have understood other things in other areas so the car was really competitive here. It is looking very positive for all the team. Lappi was driving very well, also Hanninen was driving well before the power steering problems but we do have one problem because I said on the interview on Saturday that I would stop my driving if I did not get the time benefit. I did not get it and I am a person that stands behind my words. The situation is this; I am in the middle of the season and have never been so close to the championship leader, even if I am in forth position. I would not really want to stop now when things are looking good. I must apologise for my words but you have to understand that there is lots of passion for this sport and I want to do well so this is why I was a bit frustrated. Sorry about that. 

Q:
We are very happy that you will continue on! It is a strong result for your championship challenge Miikka and every single point counts now…
MA:
It has been a long time since the championship was so close, all the cars now have potential and every car is a winning cars, maybe never before we had five winners for the World Rally in seven events and this is really good for the championship. Today we lost some points for the Power Stage and that gives us a penalty for Poland starting fourth car on the road but it is not so bad. 

Q:
Jari-Matti said there was a little stress in the car as he was getting a little agitated. How did you manage to calm him down this weekend?
MA:
If I remember well it was the other crews who were having problems, we were almost trouble free crew. Okay, despite the dust that we had from Ostberg in one stage where we lost seconds that we wanted back, but I have to say that the days are so long here we are so exhausted. This morning when we left from the service area we felt that the atmosphere was so relieved. Okay everybody was expecting that we did well and got good results, but we were more happy that we had eight hours to sleep, that was our happiness!

Q:
Third position overall Thierry, you are still devastated by that brake issue, but good points for the championship as you finished ahead of Sebastien Ogier, which is crucial.
TN:
A bit disappointed about the issues, at the same time my main goal was to finish ahead of Ogier this weekend. I tried to finish on the podium and that's been achieved. I am pleased with that, but I knew I could have been very involved in the fight for the win. We fought with Latvala and at that time with Hayden [Paddon] but we have to accept that sometimes there are some issues, this is why now I am looking forward to the next race and hope we can achieve a similar result.

Q:
Brake issues aside, how did you find the car this weekend?
TN:
Overall, I think it was a great weekend for us. We have been really strong on the first day. Coming here I said to myself I have to take more risk on the first day and it is what I did, but I kept all four wheels on the ground, even while pushing very hard, just a small mistake where I lost five seconds, but I feel like we have done an incredibly good first day, increasing the gap from Ogier to more than 30 seconds. So it was an amazing performance, I’m really proud of that. Then things went a little bit wrong, we kept pushing, we kept our motivation, the team worked really well to fix it so at the end I think I can go home with a smile.

Q:

Preparations for Poland, what's happening in the next few weeks?
TN:
I will be very busy, to be honest.

Q:
Ah, you will have Ypres [Rally].
TN:
I have much more than that, we have a couple of days testing this week as well as Poland and then I will be heading straight to Ypres, I will have a day of testing and then the race in front of all our fans, our home country, so it will be enjoyable but still we will go for the win. Hopefully I can achieve that. Then we will go straight to Poland. We will be busy but I will be sure I'll be very prepared to fight for another podium position.

Q:
Congratulations Nicolas, as Thierry said it's important to stay ahead of Ogier. You've done what you came here to achieve, how are you feeling at the end of the weekend?
NG:
It’s a very positive weekend for us. Thierry showed an amazing drive, especially on Friday. We have been very committed and focused, it was unbelievable to go from position nine to P2 at the end of the day. It is definitively the key to be very strong on the first day with road position for the second day. Okay, technical issues, it's part of the game, we know it, but the goal is reached, we can be happy.

Q:
Poland it is such a challenging event, high speed, how much are you looking forward to that?
NG:
I enjoy it a lot because it is a very fast rally, hopefully we will be well prepared, so nothing special but we are looking forward to it.

Q:
Malcolm, the first WRC win is really special, Ott has done that today and I am sure there were some tears there at M-Sport. You are an emotional man, even if he is not an emotional driver, how did you feel when he crossed the line to take the win?
MW:
You can imagine, yes, a lot of emotion. When you have worked for so long and there have been so many ups and downs it is a fantastic feeling, it's great for me to see the way how these guys develop, evolve, not just in the driving. We all know that Ott had the pace, the way he has evolved in the past eighteen months, it was a big step last year. I really believe bringing Sebastien into the team made everybody, the drivers, co-drivers and the team as well, look at everything. This is the success that we have seen from all our guys.

Q:
It’s been a really successful start to the season, we are halfway, we've seen Ogier on the top of the podium and now Ott as well and move up in the championship. What are you thinking about his championship chances?
MW:
It is incredible at this point in time in the WRC, it's fantastic to have four drivers realistically all in with the chance to win the championship, but I really think that the key-factor of it is going to be reliability. We all had small issues, nobody had major issues and I think that is going to decide the championship.

Q:
What are your thoughts about Poland where we saw Ott almost win last time around? Obviously you want a success for Ogier as well, how is the team feeling moving on to next event?
MW:
Certainly we are not standing still. On this event Toyota has been really strong, but I think it is really great that everybody is so close and competitive, that is keeping everybody on their toes. I see my guys working, they are so hungry for victory as well, I am sure all the other teams are doing the same, but I do know that my guys are definitely more committed, more than they have ever been to try to pull it off this year.

Q:
Something Jari-Matti Latava told us yesterday at the Meet the Crews session is that you told him many years ago that when you have the first win you can jump on the roof, but don't you dare to do it a second time, it's too expensive! Is that still valid for Ott?
MW:
Since then we have managed to find a reasonable budget for that!

FIA WRC 2 CHAMPIONSHIP

Present:
1st - Jan Kopecky, Škoda Motorsport II
1st - Pavel Dresler, Škoda Motorsport II

Q:
Great win for you here in Sardinia Jan, well done, but you didn’t have a huge battle in WRC 2. How are you feeling, are you happy with the result?
JK:
Hello, thank you very much. We are very happy to be here because basically we should do only two rallies in WRC 2, so thanks a lot to Škoda Motorsport that I got a chance to be here. For sure it is not easy, on this rally, on gravel, it’s difficult to find the pace from the beginning and we decided to improve the pace all the time. Congratulations to Eric Camilli who was quickest in P2 though. We are happy we scored the maximum points for Škoda for the Championship. This rally is not easy, the stages are very rough and especially the Power Stage, big rocks and deep ruts, but we managed and we have maximum points.

Q:
You said it was not easy but you did make it look easy out there, Veiby could not touch you and it was the battle outside of the Championship with Camilli you were focusing on. Did you have any moments or issues at all this weekend?
JK:
No moments and no issues. I tried to be really cleaver in the car I did not push a hundred  per cent so when I saw Veiby was losing time I said okay we have to stay on the road and not make any mistake.

Q:
We don't see you on many events, are we going to see you more in the second half of the season? 
JK:
For sure I would like to start, ok next rally in Poland we will miss it because we have a Czech rally. But we will see.

Q:
Pavel what about your weekend, how was it out there for you?
PD:
The weekend was nice, I feel a little bit tired with the long days and early wake ups, and long road sections, but it was nice. We did not do any mistakes, no punctures, everything was correct and nice and I enjoyed it. 

Q:
As I mentioned before, you were not in the battle with Championship contenders but you were battling with Camilli so that was exciting for you guys to be part of.
PD:
Yes it was really nice because you have to be really concentrated and it helps you to improve on gravel roads. It was nice that Camilli had the same speed.

FIA JUNIOR WRC / WRC 3 CHAMPIONSHIP

Present:
1st - Nil Solans
1st - Miguel Ibáñez

Q:
It’s a great result for you, how are you feeling Nil?
NS
Hello everybody, thank you. It was amazing because it is what we wanted to do at the beginning, everybody wants to win too so it is difficult to do it. We did Corsica and this rally without mistakes. This is a very difficult event because the roads are full of lots of stones and so it is difficult for the cars to pass over the stages. D-MACK and M-Sport made really good work with the car and tyres and for this reason we are here happy for the win. Miguel did a very good job so congratulations for his good job. 

Q:
With these two wins you get some prize drives in WRC 2 for next year so that is a big bonus.
NS:
The good thing is that we won the rally, but we can do more scratches (fastest times), that is not what we expected. Sardinia is really difficult, really rough, and we just wanted to take many points for the Championship, but we can do as well many scratches and it is very good for that. 

Q: 
We were watching the live coverage of the final stage and that looked really tough for an R2 car, was it?
NS:
It was crazy, I was scared in the second pass because I didn’t know if I could go up the one hundred metres and when we arrived the car was completely stopped. We had to go in and out of the road two times to continue with the stage but it was really difficult for an R2 car.

Q: 
Miguel congratulations as well. How are you feeling at the end of the rally?
MI: 
Thank you, the feeling is good. The problem was the big stones, these cars are only 2 wheel drive so it’s very difficult when in front all the cars were four-wheel drive.

Q: 
Tough role for co-drivers here as well. Talk to me about the challenge for co-drivers.
MI: 
The pace notes were okay but it is difficult because the corners change a lot and the problems with the stones, so the feeling is not so easy.