Q:
Is that one of the beauties of the Fiesta series, the fact it is so cost effective?
SH:
Definitely, there is no other way you would get into the World Rally Championship and get anywhere close to the budget you need for the Fiesta. To a certain extent the rallies are harder for the smaller Group N cars and you do have to bear that in mind when you are driving the car. But no rally car is indestructible and it is not a bad trait to have to be able to get a car through a rally. For me the most important thing isn’t driving as fast as I can on the stages, obviously competition does come into it, but what I am trying to do is gain experience of the stages, the events and the Fiestas have definitely made that possible for us this year.
Q:
You are here at the Rally GB doing some PR work, what is it like to be on the other side of the fence?
SH:
It is frustrating at times. I did the recce for the event with the MSA Rally Academy - the guys there, managed to arrange for all the guys that weren’t competing on the event to be involved with the recce and do some work with the WRC teams over the course of the weekend. So it has been good, but equally it has been frustrating when you see the cars coming in and out of service and you just wish you were in one of them. But we weren’t able to compete on this rally, so we have been trying to make the most of the opportunity of having the WRC in my home country.
Q:
How useful was it just doing the recce? I suppose that could pay dividends in the years to come for you…
SH:
Yeah definitely – second to actually competing on the event, getting over the stages is one of the most important things. A couple of the Rally Elite members did the recce last year and have done the recce this year and they are saying what they learnt last year has been invaluable. It has put them almost a year ahead with regard to learning the rally.
Q:
Can you tell us anything about your plans for 2007? Is anything confirmed as yet?
SH:
Unfortunately nothing is confirmed. We are working very hard at the moment trying to get together a programme. Obviously we are aiming for a world championship programme and like we have spoken about, the Fiesta is, financially, the best option for us - and our experience of the car, the teams and the guys who co-ordinate the championship, should help too. At the moment then that is what we are aiming for. The seven rounds of the European championship is the aim, whether we will get there by the time we need to, we don’t know, but we are putting a lot of effort in and it is at least moving forward.
Q:
Would that be like Barry Clark this year then, in that you will do the FSTi and the Junior WRC, or just the FSTi?
SH:
Again it will depend on budget. Obviously to be rated for the JWRC it takes a little bit more money just because the package available is more expensive. At the moment our first goal would be just to aim for the FSTi. Whether we will be able to take in the JWRC as well, we will just have to wait and see. But at the moment we are just working hard to get ourselves onto the world championship scene and currently the Fiesta is definitely the most feasible option for us.
Q:
With that all still to be confirmed then, does that mean you won’t have much time off over the Christmas-New Year period, to go to the pub or whatever?
![Simon Hughes [Pic credit: FST / M-Sport]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/219593.jpg)
