Drivers: Khalid Al-Qassimi (
Subaru Impreza) and Nasser Al-Attiyah (Subaru Impreza WRX).
Press conference.
Q:
Hello Khalid, your first time here in the PCWRC. How difficult do you expect this rally to be, in front of all these extremely experienced competitors, like Nasser and Toshi Arai? You are a former Middle East Champion; do you think your experiences in the desert will help you? It is likely to be extremely hot inside the car, but I suppose you do not even notice it.
Khalid Al-Qassimi:
It looks like being a long and difficult rally and I am sure that the battle will carry on to the last few kilometres of the event. As a driver you need to control your driving and your balance. In the Middle East we have a couple of desert-type rallies and some hard gravel rallies. We can say that there is a similarity with the rocks and the roughness. But this rally is very technical. Everyone asks me the question about the heat, but I think that the hydration factor is more of a problem here than it is in the Middle East. Over there we have faster rallies and there is more air blowing inside the car. Here we have twisty rallies and the air flow is reduced.
Q:
Hello Nasser and welcome. You come to this rally effectively four points ahead of Fumio Nutahara, once all the dropped scores are taken into account. You've each got two wins. Is this the most critical rally of the year for you – the one that could maybe win you the Championship? Obviously you want to finish ahead of him so what will be your tactic? Do you think you will be able to go flat-out for the win, or will you be keeping a close eye on Fumio's times?
Nasser Al-Attiyah:
Actually this rally is our key. If we get a good result here in Cyprus we will be very close to the Championship. I will do my best, because I have a lot of experience of rallies in Cyprus and the hot temperatures. I don't have any problems with slow stages. We are here to do a good rally. We have worked well and are leading the Championship. Toshi is here and Nutahara is here and Aki. Everybody wants to win this race. Our experience will be the key, I think, for this Cyprus Rally. Sometimes you make a plan, but you change your tactics during the race. If someone is fast you try the same pace. We try and stay away from trouble and make no mistakes. This rally is not one stage, it is three days and very tough. We will do our best.
Q:
Nasser it's been a busy year for you. You have won the Asian Clay Target Championship and you have another championship in December. Is the target for you three championships in one year?
NA-A:
I hope so. I try and do my best. In shooting I was in Singapore last week for Clay Target. I was happy with the win. I had not planned to get a good result last week, because before this I was in Morocco with
BMW for a test for the Dakar Rally. We did around 6,000 kilometres. I was coming to Singapore very tired. The next day I competed. I was happy with the win, because the Asian Games in December is very important for me.
Q:
What do you think will be the key to success here? Tyres seem to be a major factor; are punctures going to decide this rally?
KA-Q:
The thing is there are a couple of stages where we will be following after the WRC cars and the tracks will be rutted. Suddenly there are two fast-flowing stages. The key is not to overdo the faster stages. The strategy is you and your co-driver building confidence and making your own pace on each stage. We will see how it goes. If you are competing for seconds in a stage a puncture is crucial. If you have to stop it is crucial and you will lose too much time.
