Present:
Gilles Panizzi - Mitsubishi
Alexandre Bengué - Skoda
Toni Gardemeister - Ford
Markko Märtin - Peugeot
Sébastien Loeb - Citroen

Interviewer
Welcome to the press conference. Joining us are Gilles Panizzi and Alexandre Bengué.
Alex, this is your first rally as works driver. What are your objectives?

Alexandre Bengué
This is indeed my first race for Skoda, and this is a great opportunity. I want to bring as much feedback to the team as possible, and this is to be looked as a life-size test. I want to build foundations on which to build in the future.

Interviewer
Gilles, Mitsubishi are back after an absence of a few months. What aspects of the car have been worked on?

Gilles Panizzi
It is hard to compare the car with the one we had a year ago. We’ve worked a lot, and we’ve found nice avenues of development that I feel are the right ones. I am very happy with the car as it is.

Interviewer
Alex, how much have you driven the Fabia during testing, and how does the car compare with the Peugeot you drove last year?

Alexandre Bengué
I drove between 500 and 600kms in the car, but that is not enough. The car is much more complex than the cars I drove until now, with more electronics. That said, it is not really that far from the 206 and I’ll try to learn more during the race.

Interviewer
Gilles, you finished the rally 6th last year, which was the best result for this car in the season. Is there something in this rally’s conditions which helps your team, or is this result down to your talent on tarmac?

Gilles Panizzi
This is always a difficult race with tricky choices to make regarding tyres. It is important to make sure your car is easy to drive. This does not mean that there is any difference between gravel and tarmac as far as I am concerned.

Interviewer
We welcome now Tony Gardemeister for Ford, and Markko Märtin for Peugeot.
Tony, is this the biggest chance of your career?

Tony Gardemeister
For sure this is one of the biggest chances of my career. I already was lucky last year, but this might be even better now.

Interviewer
Markko, this is a new team for you as well. The 307 has a reputation of being difficult to drive, but how do you find it so far?

Markko Märtin
The only real benchmark is the stage, so I’ll find out tomorrow.

Interviewer
What were your impressions in testing?

Markko Märtin
It is a good car, but a different one than the Ford. Hopefully, I will adapt well to it and reach the same level of confidence and push it just as much.

Interviewer
Tony, the Monte-Carlo has always been favourable to you. Do you think you can equal your best result ever, third place?

Tony Gardemeister
I will see during the race. It is true that I have been quite successful in this rally but it is also the first one of the year and I do not know the car well yet. We’ll try to be steady and fast.

 

Interviewer
You also have a new co-driver. How is the relationship going?

Tony Gardemeister.
We have no problems, and I hope this will not change in the future.

Interviewer
You’ve had to get used to new tyres. How are the Pirellis so far?

Markko Märtin
As if changing team was not enough, I had to discover new tyres! We had to test many different tyres and conditions, so hopefully I have developed a good understanding of which combinations to choose.

Interviewer
Tony, your contract with Ford is for one year only so far. How confident are you of staying at Ford?

Tony Gardemeister
It is up to me to prove that I am fast enough with this car, but I am quite confident.

Interviewer
Does this give you extra pressure?

Tony Gardemeister
Not at all at the moment, but if things were to go bad and not improve, this might change.

Interviewer
Markko, this year the rally is more Southern than usual. From what you’ve seen and heard, do you expect this race to be more like a normal asphalt rally?

Markko Märtin
A big percentage of the stages are on the Northern sides of the mountains, so it does not feel very Southern to us. Also, the changing conditions might actually make this rally more difficult than usual, and I think that this was the organisers’ aim.

Interviewer
Markko, Tony is driving your old car this year. Do you have any tips to give him?

Markko Märtin
There are many people at Ford who could give him those tips, and I am sure he has received them already.

Interviewer
Tony, having driven the car, do you understand why the Ford won the last two asphalt rallyes?

Tony Gardemeister
I don’t know what makes the car a winning one, but it is easy to drive, and it helps build your confidence in it.

Interviewer
Joining us now are reigning World Champion Sébastien Loeb and Stéphane Sarrazin driving for Subaru this year.
Stéphane, did you think 12 months ago that you would be here now driving a factory car?

Stéphane Sarrazin
This is fantastic for me, and driving for Subaru is like a dream. I will give my best.

Interviewer
Sébastien, your record on this rally is exemplary. Do you think you are the favourite to win again?

Sébastien Loeb
Of course I will try to win again. When you start a race you want to win it, but I am hardly the only one who wants to win. That is the problem! It will be an interesting fight in challenging conditions. I am confident, but we still have to do it.

Interviewer
If you had to choose a driver you don’t want behind you, who are you afraid of most in this rally?

Sébastien Loeb
It is difficult to say at the moment. Some drivers are very fast, but I cannot single one out. I will tell you tomorrow evening.

 

Interviewer
Stéphane, like you Sébastien is a graduate of the FFSA French Federation programme. Do you think you can achieve what Sébastien has?

Stéphane Sarrazin
I hope so, but first I need to learn every surface: gravel and snow. My first target is to win races in the future. Sébastien is very strong, and I need more experience to compare myself with him.

Interviewer
Sébastien, Markko Märtin said that he thought the road was more difficult this year. Do you agree?

Sébastien Loeb
Yes, I agree. When we go around Gap, we may have to face snow, but we just put snow tyres on the car. This year is tricky because we will probably drive all race long with slicks though we may find some ice in some bends.

Interviewer
Stéphane, you had to change co-driver before this event. What happened with your usual co-driver?

Stéphane Sarrazin
Last Monday, we had to decide this change as my co-driver went down with a virus. I am therefore starting the race with Patrick Pivato who was with me last year. This is a very unsettling development.

Interviewer
Sébastien, how much development on the Xsara has been done since the end of last season? How confident are you to be able to do as well as last year?

Sébastien Loeb
It is very difficult to improve over last season. The car is very comparable to what we had at the end of last season except for some suspension and differential adjustments.

Interviewer
Stéphane, your team mate Petter Solberg thinks you’ll be fast immediately and that you will be able to go at his pace. Do you think so?

Stéphane Sarrazin
I hope so. Petter is a very good and open guy, and he has given me a lot of details about the car and how to drive it, so I am very lucky about that.

Interviewer
What has he been able to show you already?

Stéphane Sarrazin
On the snow I sat next to him as co-driver, so I know the target! He is very fast. On gravel we spoke a lot about my style. I am very smooth on tarmac, but I need to be more aggressive on gravel.

Interviewer
Sébastien, you have a new team mate with François Duval. How are you adapting to the fact of being the senior driver in the team?

Sébastien Loeb
Working with Carlos Sainz for two years was a great experience. Being with François is a new experience, especially being the oldest driver in the team. With Carlos, we had great communication between ourselves with no secrets at all. Guy Fréquelin told us that he wants this type of relationship to continue for the good of the team, and he is right.

Interviewer
Stéphane, new tyres for you with Pirelli. From what you could see in the recce, do you think you’ll be using studs or slicks?

Stéphane Sarrazin
Mostly slicks. There was some snow on Turini yesterday, but it might be gone tomorrow. Maybe we’ll use some wet weather tyres sometimes. I have some good feel with the Pirelli tyres so far.

Interviewer
We’ll now take questions from the room.

Journalist
Sébastien, what do you think of Stéphane’s performance in rallying so far? Is he a dangerous man here?

Sébastien Loeb
He was very good last year, going faster and faster from one rally to the next. He was fighting with the best at the Catalunya rally last year, so everything is possible. The first time I drove in the Monte-Carlo, I was the fastest, though I did not win the rally. So it is certainly possible.

Journalist
Stéphane, did you have technical problems during shakedown?

Stéphane Sarrazin
Not all, we just made our runs late. Everything is normal.

Journalist
Sébastien, do you think the Championship will be even tighter this year?

Sébastien Loeb
It is hard to tell. I hope I can do as well as last year, but we were very consistent, so it will be difficult. It is hard to know which cars have improved before the start of a season.

Interviewer
Thank you very much, and we’ll see you at the end-of-rally press conference.