Driver / co-driver: Lambros Athanassoulas and Nikolaos Zakheos (Skoda Fabia S2000).


Press conference.



Q:
Lambros – what a weekend! You take the win in PWRC as a wild card entry at your home event. What does this result mean to you?

Lambros Athanassoulas:
It was a really difficult battle on the third day. We started eight seconds back from Nasser [Al-Attiyah] in the morning. This was because we had an electrical problem on the second day. It was very tense. We pushed a lot. We don't have such experience of fighting with the World Champion. We are very happy, that's why we were so emotional – it's our first win.

Q:
A fantastic battle this weekend between you and some of the top PWRC drivers; Al Attiyah, Araújo and Sandell. What was it like to be up against those drivers?

LA:
I was expecting to be in the top five in times on the stages. Last year we did the PWRC here and we set good times and won a stage. In the Skoda I expected to be a bit faster and we were, we had the reliability and it worked.

Q:
You were in the S2000 Skoda – we believe Patrik Sandell gave you some advice on how to drive it, was that the case?

LA:
Yes. He helped us a lot in the set-up on Monday, when we first drove the car; we only did 30km in the test. During the rally, he told us what we could do and before the stage he helped to fix it. He was willing to help us and we have to say a big thank you. But also, we helped him reduce the points of Nasser in the Championship.

Q:
Tell us about the second day of the event.

LA:
We were 50 seconds ahead and we went to the next loop of stages, planning to be a little bit more cautious, maybe to reduce the gap to 30 seconds. In the first stage and into the next one [in the afternoon] I started to think it's not accelerating as it should. At the end of the stage it started to misfire. I started swearing thinking that's it again and I lose everything. The next stage first gear, second gear, it was okay, we lost only 50 seconds and today we were able to make it.

Q:
What do you think of the car?

LA:
It's fantastic. It's a dream. It's much better than driving a Group N car, I don't have much experience. It's more like a Group A car, I would say. It's very well built with no reliability problems. We had a small problem with a standard part, it's very strong.

Q:
Do you think this event was a success being based in Loutraki?

LA:
I think so, but I didn't have time to see when I'm on the rallies – maybe you have to ask the teams and everybody who works in the service park. For me, Loutraki is a very good place, it combines everything: the stages, the service and it's very close to Athens; it's the perfect place for the rally.

Q:
How much will this win help you with getting funding for a bigger programme?

Nikolaos Zakheos:
That would be perfect in a perfect world. We know it's very hard to follow the whole PWRC. What you need is a big sponsor. This is something hard for Greek drivers. It would be a dream to follow the whole Championship, maybe someone here would like to help us now we have won the Acropolis!

Q:
Nikolaos – emotional scenes at the stage end. What was the feeling like in the car when you knew you had won?

NZ:
The feeling was exhilarating. Three days of very hard racing. Nasser is very fast and he fought to the end, and we knew he would not wait on the last stage, so we should drive quickly. We should avoid making any mistakes because the difference was very narrow. We could lose the race. When we crossed the flying finish we burst into tears when we saw the time at the control, we stood on the roof and everything was perfect.