Q:
One very recent change for the 2008 campaign is that Anderstorp in Sweden has gone, and Imola has come into replace it. How are you looking forward to that round?
AP:
I think it’s really good. I love Imola – it’s a great circuit, it’s really emotional and there’s a good feeling there. Anderstorp was good, but it just didn’t have the same atmosphere as Imola. I think it’s all good; it’s a little bit late to be changing the calendar, but luckily I haven’t booked my flights yet!
Q:
Is it a circuit that may play to BMW’s strengths do you feel?
AP:
I would say if Alfa Romeo were still in the championship then they’d be looking at a red podium, but I think to be honest it’s not a circuit-by-circuit thing. Mexico for sure wasn’t the best place for
BMW with the altitude and the nature of the circuit, but I think at the moment most circuits are suiting the SEAT.
If you’ve got good straight-line speed, it helps you everywhere. The SEAT is well-sorted and they are quick in the corners too – they’re just too fast for us at the moment. The problem is not just that the engine is strong; it’s really a number of things working against us – Chevrolet, for example, being front wheel-drive have minus 20 kilos.
It’s all strange at the moment, and it’s very easy to be tenth, twelfth or 14th on the grid, because Chevrolet are really fast, SEAT are really quick, Honda now coming into the championship are going to be really quick too…whilst we’re still carrying 20 kilos more than the front wheel-drive cars, plus we’re only allowed a five-speed gearbox rather than a sequential gearbox. It’s quite a strange situation to be in really.
Q:
Finally, you spoke earlier about fighting for the championship – which obviously you have won for the past three years. How tough is that going to be, given that you are as you say generally starting further down the grid this season?
AP:
All the championships I’ve ever won have always been hard-fought right to the end of the season. Equally there have been many years where I’ve had some good race performances and really been winning a lot of races and driving the championship from the front, but that means carrying more ballast. If you start well, you end up having to pay the price in the second half of the season, so I hope that if we’re not so good in the beginning maybe we won’t have the weight later on and we’ll be able to have a good finish to the season. We’ll see...
