Drivers: Sebastien Loeb (
Citroen Total WRT), Barry Clark (Munchi's Ford WRT),
Chris Atkinson (
Subaru WRT) and Per-Gunnar Andersson (
Suzuki WRT).
Press conference.
Q:
The last time this event took place you did not compete due to your shoulder injury, but you have won it twice in the past. So, is the fact that you missed a year going to make any difference?
Sebastien Loeb:
I don't know but I don't think so. Now we all have enough experience of the event to be fast even if you miss one rally. Maybe I have had to adapt my pace notes and do a little more modification than some of the other drivers but it shouldn't be a problem.
Q:
You are back in the lead of the Championship now by one point over
Mikko Hirvonen, how important will it be for you to hold the lead as we go into the mid-season break?
SL:
It would be good to go on holiday still in the lead. It's one point at the moment and that's nearly nothing. Also we will be cleaning the roads on the first day and the surface is very loose so I could lose a lot of time. We will see on Sunday.
Q:
In Greece we saw tactics come into play and also drivers conserving tyres, how much will that be a factor this weekend?
SL:
It wasn't a question of tactics but for sure on one stage I thought if I went very fast I would destroy everything on the car to I took it easy. Here I will try to go fast and not lose too much time on the first day.
Q:
This is the last rally before the WRC takes a break for five weeks - do you think it's a good idea to have a mid-season break or do you think the Championship loses momentum?
SL:
No, for me it is good to have a bit of a holiday in the summer and I see Chris [Atkinson] is smiling so I think he agrees with me! For me it is good.
