The previous problem in Mexico, again it was unfortunate. There was no particular reason why it should have happened on Petter’s car and not on Chris’ car. Petter has been unlucky
Clearly as we said at the start of the year, we have not put significant effort into development of the current car this year because all the focus is on the new one. But we have got to address those reliability issues and we are confident that we have done in both those specific cases. We have just got to look forward to the next events now and help Petter get to the end of the rallies and score the solid points we know he is capable of.
Crash.net:
How do you assess the form of your two drivers?
RT:
I think both of them have shown really good pace. It was quite obvious in Argentina that Petter was much more comfortable with the car and was going very strongly. Chris has obviously had a very good start to the season - and as you said, has had three podiums. Those are excellent results and it obviously helps to build his confidence. I think both of them are now really looking forward to getting the new car and to getting on with the season.
Crash.net:
In Argentina a lot was said about the tyres and with the weather abnormal many of the drivers’ were complaining that it was actually quite dangerous. Do you think the tyre regulations need to be amended so that all the runners are allowed to make cuts if the conditions are extreme enough?
RT:
The very positive thing is that the tyres work the same for everybody and it is equal. It is difficult to judge from a safety aspect. I think ok it is something that Pirelli and the
FIA could look at. But overall I think the one-make tyre this year has worked very, very well. It has been good for everybody and good for the championship. Pirelli have produced some tyres which have worked very well in pretty much all the conditions we have experienced so far.
Crash.net:
How are the teams’ preparations going for the next event in Jordan?
RT:
Obviously Petter did the recce last year and so he has a little bit of an advantage there. But otherwise preparations are very good. The next two events are paired because the cars won’t come back in between. We will be using the same cars [in Jordan and Sardinia]. The cars actually left here a week ago to go to Jordan because of the time it takes to get there. Preparations are fine and we are looking forward to that new event.
Crash.net:
How much more difficult is it to prepare for Jordan, in light of the fact this is the first time the WRC will go there?
RT:
It is not particularly more difficult than any other event. You can do a reasonable amount of research on it before. Petter did the recce last year - as I said a moment ago, and some of our team management went two years ago and got a feeling for the place and the roads. A lot of the roads are newly built and they are in a very, very good condition. I think it will be fairly smooth and very fast event. It is not difficult to prepare for new events when you have got a system in place to handle it.
Crash.net:
What can
Subaru do in Jordan?
