Q:
Citroën still trails
BP Ford in the Manufacturers' standings, but could the second half of the season prove a stronger playing field for Citroën with the tarmac events?
SL:
We will try. Usually me and Dani (Sordo) are good on tarmac. This would be good for the Manufacturers' Championship. For me we have to try and score more points also on the gravel as well. We need to finish all of the rallies and not make mistakes. We need to score points everywhere. We look at the Championship now: we win five and we are second, it proves we need to be consistent.
Q:
Looking back over the first half of the season are you happy with what you have achieved?
Daniel Elena:
Yes, so far it's a very good first half season with five wins. Mikko has just two wins and he's leading. The rule with the points is not so easy. But it's the same for everybody.
Q:
A great result for the team, which puts you back in the lead of both Championships and Turkey marks your 100th point scoring event. It couldn't really have gone better could it?
Malcolm Wilson:
I have to say it's definitely one of my best days since running the team. To see the work put in back at base and here, it's great. Everybody knows we were expected to win in Greece. The guys and team have learned a lot since Greece. It's okay for people to say you have to do tactics, but we have to be brave - that was a big lead to throw away. This is the dream result, though. It's great to go into the second half of the season leading the Championship. It's also important for Ford to get the 100th point-scoring finish. This is something which started in Monte Carlo, 2002. To get the 100th finish is testament to the strength of the Focus.
Q:
The second half of the season is shaping up to be very interesting. We know from previous experience that Citroën is very strong on tarmac – with regard to team strategy, are you on course?
MW:
We are ahead of schedule. I didn't expect to be here at the mid-point. I always said the guys would be better in the second half of the season. It's a bonus to us and I guess we'll be sweeping the road in Finland.
Q:
How was the last stage for you?
MW:
After 11 kilometres it wasn't looking very good. I knew the guys were going to try and look after the tyres - Jari-Matti in particular, of course. But when we see Sébastien do the times he did, it was worrying. When they got to the 16 kilometre split and Seb had not taken more time out of them I relaxed a bit. I kept flashing back to the previous split on the first time through the stage to see that Mikko was on course. Then he dropped four seconds and Colin came on rally radio to say he'd had a puncture and we had no idea how much he'd lost in that last sector. That was all a bit worrying and a bit stressful then.
