Present:
Rob Huff, Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team, first position
Norbert Michelisz, Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team, second position
Tiago Monteiro, Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team, third position
Mehdi Bennani, Sébastien Loeb Racing, WTCC Trophy winner

Q:
WTCC win number 29 and heading a Honda 1-2-3 in what looked like very difficult conditions. How hard was that race and what are your emotions right now?

RH:
It’s absolutely incredible, I can’t thank the Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team enough. They were unbelievably tricky conditions and we truly deserved this. We’ve worked hard for it. We believed the circuit would suit our car and it truly has. It’s been an emotional roller-coaster this weekend. You just don't know what’s going to happen because we had sunshine and 30 degrees in the Opening Race and then for the Main Race you need a jet ski and it’s getting wetter and wetter. But in both wet and dry conditions the car handled superbly and I could not have asked for a better car. The start of that Main Race was always going to be difficult with a lot of painted surfaces that are hugely, hugely slippery. I got an amazing start and I was very clear into Turn 1. The first five or six laps were about exploring and allowing a lot of margin for error and I could see we were holding gaps between us. I could see Pechito was pushing hard but then he made a mistake, which is nice to see, his second mistake of the weekend and proves if you put the pressure on people can crack. To come away from this weekend with the results we’ve had from the positions we’ve started is really a hell of an achievement and I can’t thank Honda enough.

Q:
Second place for you Norbi, which is your best result of the season so far. How tough was it to follow the spray being thrown up by Rob’s car?

NM:
For me having someone in the front having a reference point for braking made it a bit easier, especially in the first two or three laps. But I have to say my car was performing really well from the first moment and I have to say in the end it didn’t really matter if I come first, second or third, the thing that really mattered is we had the 1-2-3 after qualifying. I was not scared but not too optimistic when we realised it was going to be wet. But we made the right decision with the tyres and we did a brilliant team job, especially settling for positions in the first couple of laps. Like Rob I just want to thank the Honda team for giving me the opportunity for letting me be a part of this dream and secondly for all the effort they have done. Just like you saw in qualifying and all the races, now we have race weekends where we can be the reference. I have said many times before this is the first step. Then the next step is to win the world championship.

Q:
Turning to Tiago, for a moment it looked like the Honda 1-2-3 wasn’t going to happen when José María López got ahead of you. What actually happened at the start and what did you think when you saw him run wide at that corner?

TM:
I did a pretty good start. I was able to pass Norbi at the first corner. I knew he was on the outside so I wanted to give him some room. I had a lot of wheelspin coming out of corner one and he retook his position and Pechito as well because he was able to have a much better run on the outside. It was always going to be a long race and although I wasn’t so happy about that I wasn’t that worried because anything could happen and 22 laps was very long in these conditions to be honest. I started to put pressure on him of course because he was making small mistakes but not enough to overtake. But then suddenly he made a bigger one and that was the opportunity. I had to jump for the inside and we came very, very close to each other but he was fair and nice. after that he kept the pressure, he was always there. But we had a very good rhythm and a similar pace. Sometimes one was faster than the other but it was really, really close. He was never going to let go because I know he wanted to retake that place. In the end we managed to do what we really wanted and what we were looking for for so long, a 1-2-3 with this car. It’s fantastic. Congratulations to Rob of course taking the Main Race win, Norbi a great race as well. I’m really happy for everybody. Castrol Honda deserves it. As we always said we wanted this and we’ve been working hard for it. And congratulations to Mehdi for a great recovery as well.

Q:
Before we turn to Mehdi we’ll just make a quick change to the usual format by inviting Alessandro Mariani, the Honda Racing Team JAS Team Principal on stage. Alessandro, congratulations on a great achievement for what was the 99th Honda/JAS podium in touring car racing. How happy are you right now?

AM:
Now I’m happy but I wish to thank all the guys who believed strongly in the project. We made a lot of changes since the end of last year, new drivers, new engineers, young people with the possibility to show their potential. We realised in the Valencia test we were pretty good but we didn’t know the level of the competition. Then in the first race we were very good but with less weight against Citroën. Finally, in Hungary with very similar conditions compared to Citroën we showed everyone we could fight with them. Thanks to the weight here and a very good track for us we could dominate the weekend. Since Free Practice 0 our goal was to take a 1-2-3 and we were able to do that. It was difficult because many things could happen but in the end everything was close to being perfect, also the communication with the drivers and I have to thank the drivers because to achieve the 1-2-3 in this way means the driver team is working very, very well.

Q:
Turning to Mehdi Benanni, WTCC Trophy winner here at home in Morocco. How much does this go towards making up for what was a frustrating qualifying by your high standards?

MB:
For sure it makes up for it. We had a lot of troubles yesterday in qualifying and that’s why we ended up in this position. It was important to recover because this is my home race. What the public want and what I want is to tell them many thanks and to tell them many thanks I need to finish all the races without crash. This is what I tried to do and to also try to overtake some drivers, this is what happened because in the Opening Race I finished P9 and in the Main Race I finished P8. I had one win in WTCC Trophy so in the end it’s not a bad weekend compared to yesterday after qualifying.

Q:
It’s the first time the new-look Circuit Moulay El Hassan was used – what do you think of the track at the completion of the weekend?

MB:
For sure we had two very different races because the first one was in dry conditions, the second one in wet conditions. We learn the circuit in both conditions and at the end it’s a tricky circuit. There are not too much opportunities to overtake but I hope we can find some solutions to overtake and find more speed.

Q:
You said before the race how much the ‘power’ of the fans helped you. What was it like racing in front of all those spectators today?

MB:
For sure it’s coming bigger and bigger every year. I am one of the best sportsman in Morocco so it’s something like a dream for me. For the public who are following me I want to tell them only thanks because they trust in me. I tried to do my best to give you a result and this is how I can say thanks.

Q:
And finally back to Rob, third in the championship now so what about the title this year?

RH:
It’s too early to think about that. The last few round we missed some points with the drive-through penalty in Hungary, which was potentially 25 points. But ultimately it’s a long season. We’re only at round four and we have a long way to go. All three of us are in good shape, Tiago especially and we’ll keep pushing. We won’t give up and we’ll keep going and going. With this car it seems everything is possible. We’re going to keep pushing and keep developing and hopefully we’re going to have a few more 1-2-3s during the year.

Questions from the floor:

Q:
Markus Lüttgens (Motorsport-Total.com, Germany) to Rob Huff: In the final stages of the race you had to lap the two Volvos. Were you concerned they might hold you up and cost you the win?

RH:
You are always concerned when you come across backmarkers but I have to say both drivers were ultimate professionals. I’m sure their teams let them know we were coming. They both looked like they were struggling but they got out of the way pretty quickly. I got on the radio making my team aware that I could see them and it was all pretty under control. In the last corner we got a bit close but it was no problem.

Q:
Pietro Casillo (TouringCarTimes, Sweden) to the Honda drivers: This is a very different track compared to most of the others. You were quick here but how do you think you can repeat this, if you think you can, because you made a lot of improvements but this is also a particular track?

RH:
Because we have a great car, great team and great drivers.

NM:
You have to see with similar weight with Citroën in Hungary we were very close to them in qualifying. Of course with wet races it was difficult to see the long-distance performance because it was not clear. Even with a lot of weight we are very close to Citroën and I expect to be fighting with them much often than we did in previous years. I think we will have at least one or two more possibilities to score a pole position and Main Race victory as well.