Post-event press conference - Sweden.

Sunday, 10th February 2008

Drivers / co-driver: Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila (BP Ford Abu Dhabi WRT), Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen (BP Ford Abu Dhabi WRT) and Gigi Galli and Giovanni Bernacchini (Stobart VK M-Sport Ford RT).

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MH:
Saturday morning. The plan was to attack, but then I couldn’t get the best out of myself on the first two stages. He drove so consistently. I thought: “Okay, let’s get to the finish and take eight points.”

Q:
How difficult was it to compete with the changing conditions this weekend?

MH:
It was not easy for anyone. It was so warm we had lots of gravel and mud, actually. Then there was slush and snow on the road, the grip was changing all of the time. It was a very difficult weekend.

Q:
Leading the Championship going into Mexico means you will be first on the road, a difficult road position again?

MH:
It will be tough. I haven’t tested the gravel tyre – that’s next week. There will be loose gravel and we will sweep the road. It’s going to be interesting – right through the year.

Q:
How did it feel battling with a team-mate, and was it frustrating not to be able to catch them?

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Jarmo Lehtinen:
We hate losing; it was frustrating. But soon we realised there was no point taking stupid risks. We thought that if Seb had no points, eight would be good for us.

Q:
Will you win next time? You need to win if you want the Championship…

JL:
If Seb keeps not finishing, then this is okay. But we will go to Mexico and hope to step up one place on the podium.

Q:
Gigi, congratulations on the second podium position of your career. It’s been a great start to the year with the Stobart team; did you think you would get on the podium so soon in the season?

Gigi Galli:
Of course I could not imagine that kind of result for us. As I told you before the start of Monte-Carlo, it was just for me to get used to the car. I could not imagine a result like this. We started with a good pace, with no big moments. We tried to drive as well as we can and after the second day, when Henning (Solberg) was stopped, we tried to arrive at the end. We were very consistent and just looked for Petter (Solberg) behind and nothing else. Today was just cruising. Pirelli also did a great job. We were a bit scared for this year without mousse, especially in this really rough condition. We had no punctures and the studs stayed on the tyre. It’s good and also it’s good to be the third car from Ford after a long stop (not competing) for me.