Drivers: Simone Bertolotti, Alessandro Bettega
Press conference:Q:Every driver wants to do well at their home event, what are your hopes for this weekend?
Simone Bertolotti:We come here in Italy to do the best job we can do. We really don't know how is our position in the Championship. We are very unlucky, we have to do SupeRally. This is our first gravel rally of the year. We have to push and see what happens.
Q:This is your home event, but it's a really strong field. Will it be hard to get on the podium?
SB:For sure it will be very difficult. It's the first race when all nine drivers are in the race and anything can happen. For sure, Alessandro [Bettega], [Martin] Prokop and [Michal] Kosciuszko are the best now. But we will try to fight for the podium.
Q:Alessandro, you competed in Argentina in a S1600 and now it's back to the R3 for your home event…
Alessandro Bettega:Let's say I last drove a Super 1600 in 2007, so I had to change my mind-setting [for Argentina]. The S1600 is still quite different from the R3. In Argentina, we were quite unlucky: we had to stop from leading on the second day. But I am happy to be back here with the R3, we have a lot to try with the set-up. I am at home here. I have driven this rally five times. I hope we can find a good set-up with the car.
Q:After a field of just three drivers in Argentina, we are back to a strong field of competition. How tough will it be to fight for a win here against the likes of Prokop and Kosciuszko?
AB:I have to believe I can win. We were quite unlucky the first two rallies. The results are for Kosciuszko. We need a very good result, he [Kosciuszko] already has a lot of points. Last year, he and Martin Prokop were very strong on this rally. If they push, it will be quite hard for me. I will have to push harder. Usually, there are many things which can affect the rally. This time I want to do very well and I will try to push from the first stage.
Q:This rally is tough and deceptively rough; what will be the strategy this weekend?
AB:In the Junior Championship it's very difficult to have a strategy. Every time, somebody is starting like hell. You start and say, “Okay we'll go at 80 per cent”, but then at the end of the first stage you see you have 20 seconds to make up. I will have to start as fast as I can, but there are a few stages where you need concentration. For example the new one is full of big rocks and it will be full of ruts, there are a lot of long corners and this will make it hard to follow the lines of the World Rally Cars. This one will be very tough as a stage.
