Present:
Thed Björk, Polestar Cyan Racing, first position, Opening Race
Norbert Michelisz, Honda Racing Team JAS, second position, Opening Race
Yvan Muller, Citroën Total WTCC, third position, Opening Race, second position, Main Race
José María López, Citroën Total WTCC, first position, Main Race
Mehdi Bennani, Sébastien Loeb Racing, third position, Main Race, WTCC Trophy winner, Main Race, WTCC Trophy provisional champion
Tom Coronel, ROAL Motorsport, WTCC Trophy winner, Opening Race

Q:
As we have a new WTCC champion today, we’ll start with him! Congratulations Mehdi Bennani, provisional WTCC Trophy champion of 2016. A fantastic achievement after a fantastic season for you. Please can you describe your feelings right now?

MB:
For sure it’s been a tough weekend because when you know you can be champion by scoring points it’s very nice but also very bad because you don’t want to crash the car in the first race, even though it was very close. I wanted to do well and my engineer was explaining to me ‘now you are two points ahead’. It’s very tough and also because my team-mate [Tom Chilton] is a very strong driver and has been for this whole championship. He was fast and a winner in the same car and nearly the same set-up so it was really tough to score the points I needed. He retired in the first race, which was a shame for him but it gave me the opportunity to fight and be the champion. It was my main goal for this season, also last year I was very close to winning, I was four points from Norbert Michelisz. But this year was my year and I’m very happy.

Q:
It’s not just the WTCC Trophy but another overall podium at a track you have gone very well at in the past. What’s your secret around here?

MB:
I don’t know! Often the races in Asia are good for me and it also happened when I was in Formula BMW. It’s all the time working for me but I don’t know why. Maybe because it’s a track that’s far away and no one can practice much so maybe we are more on the same level here and it’s not such an advantage for the top drivers.

Q:
Turning next to Thed, your first win in the World Touring Car Championship, the first win for Volvo and the first win for Polestar Cyan Racing. What a great day and what a great race out there. Please could you talk us through your race and that dramatic final lap, particularly your pass on Norbert Michelisz?

TB:
I just have to start by saying it’s absolutely amazing for the team to get the first win here in China, in front of all the people and all the guests. It was completely the right place, sorry Norbert, and the last lap was really, really nice. I decided if he was going to the inside I was going to get him on the outside and it worked. It was so nice feeling. It’s the first victory in the WTCC and it feels very special. I am so happy.

Q:
What does this result say about the potential of this project because year one was meant to be a learning year but now you’ve won a race so what’s next?

TB:
We were working really hard for this podium but a win in the first year was really more than we could ask for so it’s absolutely fantastic to get the victory here. Like everybody else in the other teams the mechanics are working really hard for this. It just brings a lot of joy and we can be very happy to continue like this next year.

Q:
Now there were two winners here in Shanghai José and you won the Main Race after a dominated driver. Easy is the wrong word because it's never easy in the WTCC but how was the race from your point of view, leading from the front?

JML:
I have to congratulate Mehdi for his championship, he did an amazing job and helped us a lot with his team for Citroën to win the WTCC Manufacturers’ championship*. I also congratulate Thed for his first victory. My weekend was very nice. I had a good pace from the beginning. After a tough first race like always then, yeah, I really had less pressure this weekend, especially in the Main Race. The LADA did not have the potential for the start and that takes a bit of pressure off. I managed to have a clean start and from then I just tried to make a gap and enjoy the last laps and the last races I have in this series, in this car and with this amazing team. You never get a chance like this because you need to take care of the tyres, which is very difficult because it’s a difficult track for that. But I didn’t care because I wanted to race, to have a nice feeling and I’m very happy for this victory.

Q:
Now after your victory in Argentina we saw some crowd surfing from you. This time your Citroën team greeted you with fireworks. What did it feel like to join in those celebrations?

JML:
It’s amazing. I’m lucky to be involved in this fantastic team with these fantastic people. They are fantastic professionals and it was also very nice to hear my anthem on the podium. We work hard for this and I keep saying everybody works really hard but we got what we wanted for this year and now we need to try to finish a good year and move onto the next job.

Q:
Turning to Norbert Michelisz, now Norbi, as Thed eluded to earlier, it was quite a battle between you in the Opening Race. You looked very disappointed after losing out in that last-lap pass. Second place is still second place but how are you feeling now you’ve had a bit of time to reflect?

NM:
Of course it’s a huge disappointment because if you are leading the race for 98 per cent and you come second it’s just not what you want. But in the end at a circuit like this after qualifying especially I was hoping for a podium finish. I was hoping for a race win after the first two or three laps but after the safety car came in just knew making again a gap of one and a half second I have to ask more from the front tyres. In the end I think it was this which compromised my pace for the last couple of laps. Regarding the battle, Thed was doing his best to overtake me and I was doing my best to defend. It’s just disappointing to finish second.

Q:
Turning to Yvan next, two more podiums to add to your amazing tally in the World Touring Car Championship. Could you explain how your day went from your point of view?

YM:
First of all, let me start by congratulating Thed on his first WTCC victory with Volvo, which is very important for them so well done. For me it was not a bad day, two podium in a row. Of course it’s not a victory but I guess for my age to be twice on the podium is not bad and the good thing of the weekend and the thing to take the most satisfaction from is the fact Citroën won the Manufacturers’ championship and that is important and I am very proud to be part of this team. And secondly I take some points advantage from Tiago [Monteiro] in second place in the championship and that is another important target for Citroën so it looks good in the next round but let’s see what happens in Qatar.

Q:
Turning next to Tom Coronel, WTCC Trophy winner in the Opening Race. But after the Main Race we saw you with a pile of ice inside your overalls. How tough was it out there in the heat?

TC:
It was tough but it was more comfortable with the ice. I saw [James] Thompson completely dead on the floor with the ice so I said ‘please give me some, it helps’. It was a good race but I think I had a lot of luck, especially to win the privateer one in the first race. It was good to see. I had a good row, seven or eight and I saw everything happening in front. It was good, sorry Norbert, to see the blue one [of Thed Björk], I like the colour, and I saw the blue one trying to attack and I said ‘come on, come on’ and I kept looking after the hairpin to see if they would take the win. It was a good show for everybody. I saw it from behind so I was lucky everybody fell off. I had a small fight with Mehdi. I just dived to the inside and he gave me the gap and I didn’t see him any more. And Chilly [Tom Chilton] had a puncture or something and that gave me the lead.

Q:
And a final word to Mehdi Bennani. Mehdi, the final round of the WTCC is in Qatar and with your Arabic heritage, how important is this event going to be for you as your celebrate your WTCC Trophy victory and potentially go for an even higher place in the championship?

MB:
For sure Morocco and Qatar are very close, the people are very close because there are a lot of partnerships between both countries. And when I race in Qatar it’s really like Marrakech so I hope to have a fantastic race. It could be a bit more special now I am already world champion. And I think I will be even stronger because I will have nothing to lose and nothing to win and in the end it could good so I will do my best to do two strong races and get some good points overall because I need to think about this overall championship. I hope to score more points to be close to the top six or top five.

*Citroën is the provisional FIA World Touring Car Manufacturers champion for 2016 subject to official FIA confirmation. This is because the WTCC promoter, Eurosport Events, has made a request to the FIA Touring Car Commission to cancel WTCC Race of Thailand, which will mean the championship will run over 11 events rather than 12, subject to final ratification by the FIA World Motor Sport Council.