Present:
Alessandro Mariani, Honda, first position
Victor Shapovalov, LADA, second position
Yves Matton, Citroën, not classified (provisional WTCC Manufacturers champion*)

Q:
We’ll cover the performance in WTCC MAC3 shortly but it’s fair to say qualifying didn’t quite go to plan for Honda. Was there a particular problem?

AM:
The pace was not good since the beginning. But our target was to put the three cars into the top 12, knowing it would not be easy. Unfortunately, in the last lap Tiago lost three tenths in the final two corners through a mistake and then the final result was not really good for us. Then in the second qualifying session our target, understanding it would be difficult to get one of the top five positions for Q3, was to start in front as much as possible for the opening race so we aborted the last lap so Norby could start the first row of the grid. It’s not how we like to play but this was our potential. We knew before Shanghai was not our best track for our cars.

Q:
And a word on WTCC MAC3, a fifth outright victory for Honda of course…

AM:
On the contrary MAC3 was pretty good. We started with a good pace, the drivers did the usual good job so it was a small satisfaction today even though I would have preferred to have kept Citroën without their problem.

Q:
Turning next to Victor Shapovalov on a great day for LADA in terms of Nicky Catsburg’s qualifying performance. How satisfied are you with that?

VS:
This circuit is quite good for our car because last year we were third and this year the performance was exactly the same and Nicky did a nice lap in Q3 so this track for our car is okay. In MAC3 it was the usual performance. Our time was close to Honda in some sectors and in other sectors we were better but we only lose by two-tenths to Honda. In one place Hugo [Valente] made a mistake in the first corner of the second lap and we lose five tenths, which was the key in losing the opportunity to fight for position one.

Q:
Turning finally to Yves Matton on a very successful day for Citroën, provisional winner of the FIA World Touring Car Championship for Manufacturers for a third time*. Can you explain want went into this success and how pleased are you to be celebrating this triumph here in China, a very important market for Citroën of course?

YM:
For sure we win the championship for a third time in a row and for the third time in China, which is an important market for Citroën. A lot of things have helped us to achieve this result. First of all, it’s an incredible driver line-up and also the drivers from Sébastien Loeb Racing have helped us to achieve this title. But also the work the team did since the first days we were involved in the WTCC. It was completely new for us. Never before did we go outside the dusty roads of the rally. We had a lot of things to learn and it was really interesting for all the team to find some new ways to work around the car and achieve success.

Q:
You spoke about the contribution of your drivers but there’s one driver in particular, Yvan Muller, who has announced his retirement from the WTCC at the end of the season. What contribution has he made to the success of the programme?

YM:
For sure Yvan was the first driver who joined us. We say the choice was simple because he was the most successful driver when he joined us and he joined us nearly nine months before the first race. He helped us a lot, not just with the setting up of the car, which he developed a lot, but also with the set-up of the team because, like I said, we knew nothing about the way to work in touring car. With his experience from a lot of professional teams he was able to explain and help us a lot of times to set up the team. But I must say I was also really happy in three years to have such professional drivers always working together. And for sure it’s not easy for them because they all wanted to win and it was not easy to manage three world champions at one moment. Okay, I wouldn’t say difficult, but it was a huge experience for me and Citroën Racing.

Q:
Now unfortunately Citroën leaves the WTCC as an official manufacturer at the end of this season but the future looks very exciting. How’s the new project going?

YM:
For sure it’s a big challenge because everybody is waiting for us. It’s a completely new regulation. It’s a really hard job and we are working like hell for the moment to set up the new car. We are testing each two or three weeks and I can tell you three or four months before Monte Carlo was far away but now we are four months from Monte Carlo and it seems tomorrow. But, okay, the only thing I can hope is we can do is as good as what we have done in touring car.

*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.