Vauxhall, with the new car, it could be a bit tricky to get that car developed as quickly as they want to at the beginning of the season, but Yvan Muller and Colin Turkington are two very very effective peddlers and I think the Team Dynamics Hondas, the Integras, should be very fast too with Matt Neal and Dan Eaves. The car will look slightly different to the Civic of course and if they can get rid of any new car niggles as quickly as possible then they’ll be right up there as well.
Crash.net:
Now one of the reasons why Dynamics have swapped to the Integra is the drag factor that there was with the Civic. Dan Eaves pointed out to us that Vauxhall have switched to the new Astra which is quite similar in shape to the Civic and might encounter the same problems compared to the Astra Coupe that it replaces. Do you think that’s something that could pull Vauxhall back this season rather than help push them forward?
Ben Edwards:
Well it’s quite possible and until we get the cars on track we won’t really know. Until they go to the press day I don’t think anybody will really know for sure because you know what it’s like in testing where everybody does a time at a different time of day on different tyres and with a different fuel load so until you get them all together on the same day it’s very, very hard to tell.
On the other hand, that Vauxhall team is a very aggressive and ambitious team and the fact that they have won a lot of races in recent years will not make them complacent. Ian Harrison, who runs that team, is one of the most competitive people that I know and his spirit goes right through the team, they all want to win so desperately and I think they will be right up there again.
Crash.net:
You commentated on some great racing in 2004, right from the start of the season at
Thruxton when Jason came out and took a very unexpected win for SEAT right up to the very last race, and indeed the very last lap, of the championship at
Donington Park where it was a case of ‘Can Yvan hold Jason off?’ and ‘Whose going to clinch the title?’
Do you think there is any way that 2005 can better the 2004 championship?
Ben Edwards:
I do because I think, although we were looking at Jason being very successful and winning more races than anyone else, he was never really a factor in the championship chase. Well he
was a factor, but he wasn’t ever quite there with James [Thompson] and Yvan. They had their private battle going all year long but it always looked like the champion would be one or the other, whereas I think this coming year I think the destiny of the championship may not just be between two people, it may be between three or four people.
