Post-event press conference - Rally Australia.

Drivers/Co-drivers: Marcus Gronholm (Peugeot), Timo Rautianen (Peugeot), Richard Burns (Subaru), Robert Reid (Subaru), Didier Auriol (Peugeot)Team personnel: Corrado Provera (Peugeot)Compere: Greg Strange

Greg Strange:
Well done, Marcus Gronholm, you have won your second Rally Australia in succession. Was it very easy to do?

Marcus Gronholm:
OK, yes, I was just doing my best and no attack today, so it was an easy day.

GS:
Presumably the orders that went out from the man behind you, Mr Provera, was maximum points?

MG:
Yes, I think he is happy. It is good for the manufacturers and we have to do the same in England.

GS:
Timo, any difficult moments today?

Timo Rautianen:
No, not really. Today, we hit a stone at the start of stage 20 and we still had 28 km to go, so it was a little frightening, but otherwise no problems.

GS:
Moving to Richard Burns - second and six points of course. It's game on now for the drivers' championship between you, Tommi [Makinen] and Colin [McRae]. I guess, if the three of you fail to score, then I suppose Carlos could still be in with a chance....

Richard Burns:
Yes, I spoke to Carlos before and he is already praying!

GS:
How was your day? Was there any chance of ever catching Marcus?

RB:
No, not really. Marcus beat us on every single stage yesterday. I thought, after the first one where I made a few mistakes in the beginning, that maybe I could keep trying, but then, the next stage, I drove as well as I could and Marcus was quicker again. Then we had a little gearbox problem on one of the stages in the afternoon, so we were basically always going to be half a minute behind. Today, there was nothing else we could do. We could try and keep the pressure on of course, so if Marcus spun or had a problem we would be there. But really he has been in control since the beginning of yesterday and today the best thing we could do was finish in second place and get those points.

GS:
And those points, of course, are all important. Three weeks to go until Network Q which takes place in Wales. You have won it for the last three years - are you going to win it for a fourth?

RB:
Yes, I am going to try of course. The good thing is that there will be a lot of talk, a lot of pressure from the outside, but when I am inside the car, the only way I can win this world championship is to win in Great Britain. So, it's an easy thing to focus on when I am driving.

GS:
Robert, you are in a rather similar position, in a funny kind of way, to last year. You were at Rally Australia last year with a similar result really. But, of course, you will be up for Network Q, and you're actually in the driving seat in most people's opinion. Do you accept that?
Robert Reid:
I think it's a different situation to last year, because last year we had to win and Marcus had to not finish in the top five wherever it was. At least this year if we win, we win. There are no grey areas.

GS:
Didier Auriol, are you pleased with your performance this afternoon? I think you justified your own opinion of yourself before the event - are you very happy?
Didier Auriol:
Of course, we are very, very happy. I think we have run a very good race. I have no chance to try to beat Richard or Marcus but, in my place, I have made good driving with third place in Corsica and third place here.

GS:
Do you think you have proved a point to Corrado [Provera]? Perhaps you should have been nominated to be the driver to score points?

DA:
No, Harri [Rovanpera] has done a very good race, Harri is a very, very good driver and we are very, very close together in all the rallies. I have nothing to prove to Mr Corrado. Harri is a very good driver anyway...

GS:
Didier, are we going to see you in a team car next year and, if so, whose?

DA:
That's a good question, maybe the answer is I don't know, that may be one answer.

GS:
Let's go to the man of the match, Corrado Provera. You have now leap-frogged Ford in the manufacturers' championship - you have 90 points, they have 86 - are you going to retain your championship?

Corrado Provera:
This is the target we are running for. If I just remember one year ago, we were in this very room and one rally before we had the world championship. Okay, two rallies ago, we were 46 points away from leading. I think we have done our job.

As far as your question to Didier, may I just comment, the fact is that we wanted really to give him the possibility of showing everybody how good he is, in order to allow him to drive as free of pressure as possible. Harri had to try to make points for the manufacturers and all of the drivers, including Gilles [Panizzi], did a very, very professional job in a very tight atmosphere. So of course we are delighted.

And, as far as the next rally is concerned - which will be the last of the season, we will be entering it with the same report as we have entered this one, which is we will just try to do our best and then we will see. In any case, the slight difference between Australia and Great Britain is that we will be leading.

GS:
Okay, that is the formal part of the proceedings over. Can we have questions from the floor....

Q:
Can we have a comment from each [driver] about the starting order, and how it worked for you?

MG:
I think, for us, it was good. There were no tactics, But, for the small teams who came here without any points, it was very difficult for them to show anything because they were first on the road. But, generally, I think it was good for us.

RB:
You have to have a certain amount of sympathy for Hyundai. I think that both Kenneth [Eriksson] and Alister [McRae] did a very good job, and didn't complain so much because they were on a bit of a hiding to nothing. And Colin didn't complain yesterday. But the fact is, we had a very good, straight fight and the people you see up here are the people you would maybe expect to see up here at the end of the rally under normal circumstances. Maybe it is not perfect, but I think it is better like this without having to explain to the public why we go slowly on Friday and a little bit slowly on Saturday as well.

CP:
Last year, a lot of nasty comments had been made on the Australian rally, and I think that this year nobody can complain. It is obvious that drivers first on the road are not in the best position. But, on the other hand, I would think that in this sport you must have every type of effort and try to do your best. As far as this rally is concerned, the fight started from the very first stage and went right up to the last stage and I think that this is interesting for the sport.

Q:
Didier, you don't have a drive next year, did you feel some pressure in this rally? You did a good drive in this rally, do you have a drive for next year?

DA:
Not at all

GS:
You do want to drive next year?

DA:
Of course!

Q:
Richard, I am sure you all have some sympathy for what happened to Colin, but do you think it was handled correctly?

RB:
It is difficult, because there are rules for everything in rallying and sometimes you trip up if you don't read everything that you have to, but every team here is professional. It was a mistake. If you made this mistake, it was written down what the penalty was, and I think the organisers were left with no other option but to put Colin first car on the road because, if they put him anywhere else, then maybe 14 drivers wouldn't turn up the next night because there's no point to choose [starting position]. The stewards could just do it for us! I think maybe the fact that, every evening, the drivers chose the reverse order shows there is probably no need for this... whatever you call it. I don't think it is much of a show, because it is not very interesting.

Q:
On the first night, Peugeot did choose a different order....

RB:
Yeah, but not really such a big difference. They were doing that for their benefit, which maybe helped Marcus, maybe it didn't. He probably would have done a good job anyway. The fact is, everybody will automatically choose - if they are not on the same team - they will automatically choose to run reverse, and it is maybe wasting a lot of time down on Langley Park when there could maybe be some more fireworks or something....

Q:
Richard, heading into Network Q, there is going to be a lot of attention on you and Colin and the battle - the rivalry between you two - particularly in Britain. Can we expect a good old slanging match?

RB:
He can try, but I'm going on holiday tomorrow for a week-and-a-half. He can try and get hold of me, but he can't. So he can slang off as much as he likes, but there won't be any response from me.

Q:
Marcus, is it difficult for you, not fighting to keep your title?

MG:
Maybe it is not the same incentive, but we are still fighting for the manufacturers' title, so I have to go fast. That's how we get manufacturers' points.

Q:
Richard, do you think that Marcus could influence the title race this year?

RB:
I think Marcus was very, very fast last year in Great Britain, and I think it is quite possible because the pressure on Marcus is fairly slim, to be quite honest. He has two very good team-mates to back him up, I think it is quite possible Marcus could spoil mine or Colin's party ... only joking of course!

Q:
People say it is not possible to beat a Finn in Finland. What about Didier, who beat a Finn in Finland. Didier, do you think you can beat a Brit in Britain?

DA:
No chance, but we will see.

RB:
It is possible of course - we know Tommi can do very fast times, but has not done so consistently. Marcus didn't have to win last year, so he drove for championship points. We can wait and see. I think there is a very good chance that they can challenge us. But, of course, we have a very big goal in front of us, which means we have to win and that's what we'll try and do.