J-ML:
I have been talking to myself to finish in the top three; that is the aim for me. I know winning the rally is difficult and that’s not the main target, but it’s a bonus if I can do it, let’s see how we start.
Q:
Sébastien, you have won this event three times in a row so probably start as favourite, just one point behind Hirvonen in the Championship. At this early stage is it important for you to win here?
Sebastien Loeb:
It’s important to win but most important is to be in the lead of the Championship at the end of the season, so at the moment we just try to prepare for the rally. There are a lot of new things year and with the new tyres, hard tyres. It looks like very bad conditions so it will be very tricky and very difficult. We will see. The feeling with the car is okay so we will see tomorrow.
Q:
The
FIA announced yesterday that the new WRC car will be based on the current Super 2000 and Group N cars, fitted with a supplementary kit. What are your thoughts on the change and do you think it’s a good move for the Championship?
SL:
For sure Group N cannot take the place of a WRC car because I think it has to be interesting for the spectators, it has to impressive. I think in this case if it can reduce the cost and still have some horsepower and some good cars that permit the drivers to fight and to be impressive for the spectators, in this way, why not? I think at this moment there are only three or four manufacturers in the Championship. It’s important to reduce the cost and if everybody thinks it’s the right way, for me it’s not a problem.
Q:
I hear Diego Maradona was your co-driver for part of the morning. Are you a fan of his and what was it like to have him in the car? Did he enjoy the experience?
SL:
I am not a fan of football, but everybody knows Maradona. So it was good to have him in the car with me. It was difficult to communicate because he speaks only in Spanish and I don’t understand anything in Spanish, so we just try to speak a bit. But I think he had good fun and it was a good moment for him.
Q:
You had a test in Spain recently; what came from that?
SL:
I think for us it was important to test after Mexico because I was not really happy with the car in Mexico. The handling was good but the first day I couldn’t match the speed of Jari-Matti. I wanted to find a solution so we tested new suspension, new springs and okay we found a good compromise and we know it will be better. I think in these conditions it will be important to have good grip so we will see this weekend.
Q:
We are four rounds in to the season so far, have you been happy with your performance to this point?
SL:
Yes, it’s not so bad; we won Monte-Carlo, we won Mexico - it was a difficult fight but it is okay. I wait for this rally to see if we are able to fight for the victory.
