Interviewer
What do you think the challenge will be for you here?

David HIGGINS
I think it will be exactly the same as everybody. It is a very big challenge and if you do get through the rally alone with no major problem I think you’ll be surprised how good result you can get but the difficulty you can get is when you get into very bad ice like today during the shakedown. You think you go slowly but you have to go slower again. The hard think is going to be the change of rythm from very very quick when the conditions are good to very slow when they are not. It obviously depends on what happen on the weather between now and the first stage tomorrow. 

Interviewer
Nasser: Do you like the ice and snow conditions now? It is a bit different from the conditions back at home in the middle east?

Nasser AL-ATTIYAH
Yes it is a big difference. In the Middle East most stages are in the desert…

Interviewer
Last year Nasser you showed that you can win rallies, what is your objective for this year?

Nasser AL-ATTIYAH
It will be very difficult because I have to face a tougher competition and better drivers. It will be difficult for everybody anyway. I have 2 years experience and I learned a lot. Although it won’t be easy I would like to win the Championship this year.

Interviewer
Has your brother Mark been able to give you any useful advice?

David HIGGINS
The best advice is to do the opposite to him. He tells me the Championship is very competitive. I have raced against lots of these people in others countries/rallies and like in any Championship the secret is to get as many points whenever you can and not to give any away. It is not all about winning every event. It is also a different Championship because you drop two events from a series so it becomes very tactical on which event you do and which you don’t do. You are not necessary competing against the person that’s may be the closest rival on that day on that event.

Interviewer
Do you think the Mitsubishi is just as much competitive as the Subaru?

David HIGGINS
Yes I do. Although they both have their specificities there is very very little between the two. Mitsubishi have been very strong in Group N . Subaru had an advantage over the last few years and they have had more people in the car… I think it is very good for Mitsubishi to try to get up to the front again and try to be at the head of the Championship.
 
Interviewer
As a newcomer to this Championship, do you think you can win it or at least some events in your first year?

David HIGGINS
We hope so but we know it is going to be very difficult. We do lack experience (e.g. we have no gravel notes from last year). However, we’ll do our best.

Interviewer
How much does your experience help?

Nasser AL-ATTIYAH
It helps a lot. Without any experience you cannot do anything. There were a big gap between now and when I had no experience in 2002. I will do my best.

Interviewer
Last year the Championship was decided on the final round with a phenomenal finally, do you think it will be a similar situation this year?

Nasser AL-ATTIYAH
Yes, because of the tactical choice made by the drivers on which event they want to drop
It is a gamble…

Interviewer
Is it fair to say that this is the chance you’ve been waiting for your entire career 16 rallies on the entire world Championship.

Manfred STOHL
Yes, of course. It is a fantastic program for me. I am really happy and I hope I can make very good results. We’ll see…

Interviewer
Now as a manager, for what you can see so far, what’s most difficult?

Armin SCHWARZ
As you can see, it’s very easy and I am very relaxed now. I can’t complain like I did before. Both sides (driver vs. manager) have its own law and field. On the manager side you try to protect and not to fight for something like I had to do when I was a driver. You have to make sure everything is ready in order to make good results. It is very different for me.

Interviewer
Do you think that former competitors make the best manager or do you think that the mentality is completely different?

Armin SCHWARZ
I don’t think the mentality is different because if you were a driver before you have a clear idea of what it should be.

Interviewer
Manfred could you tell us a little bit about the Peugeot 307 you‘ll be driving this year. Last year some of its drivers complained about the handling of the car in particular. Do you agree with them?

Manfred STOHL
It is too early to say this. My first impression was good although I have not made so many kilometres with the car. I like the car. I am looking quite optimistic this year. I hope that with my team we can make up the right settings for my driving style.

Interviewer
Do you think you can win the rally this year following your fantastic result last year finishing second in Cyprus?

Manfred STOHL
I don’t want to think about this right now but we all know that everything is possible in rally. It is too early to say. We’ll see…
 
Interviewer
A question about another Austrian, Andreas Aigner: what do you see as his biggest strength as a driver? What do you think he might be to achieve this year?

Armin SCHWARZ
He came out from the Red bull driver search 2 years ago. He was chosen purely on his talent because he didn’t have any experience, neither in racing nor in karting.  Last year he did very well in few PWRC races. He did very well but he still has a lot to learn and there is long way for him to be competitive in the world Championship.
We all agree that you have to start very early to reach a high professional level in the world Championship.

Interviewer
What is his objective this year?

Armin SCHWARZ
I would really wish to see him at the finish line of the rallies. No matter the results, any stage he would be able to finish will help him for the future. He has just 250km of driving experience in a world rally car.

Interviewer
A question about your other car with Gilles Panizzi:  the said man who was 3rd last year. Do you think he can do the same or even better?

Armin SCHWARZ
We have chosen Gilles because:
Of his past experience with Mitsubishi and the active differential. During the tests he knew straight away what he wanted.
Of his strong history log on asphalt. We believe he will be a very strong competitor for us in Corsica and in Spain.

Interviewer
In Sweden you will have Mathias drive the car and Gilles will drive the car on the asphalt events. Who then will drive the car for the rest of the year (non tarmac ones)?

Armin SCHWARZ
It is still an open position for a driver on the gravel events. Any tips? It is left open because this is down to the field of marketing from Skoda and Red Bull.

Interviewer
The switch from Michelin brand to BF Goodrich: what was the strategy behind this decision?

Aimé CHATARD
The company had decided to dedicate its Michelin brand to the competition. Now the group has decided to promote its BF Goodrich brand. Michelin Group would like that BF Goodrich becomes a worldwide recognized brand and Michelin wants its brand to be better known in Europe. They want to pursue what has been done in the rally raid in order to achieve to a great fame within the next 5 years.

Interviewer
Apart from the change of the name, are there any other changes to the structure of the company?

Aimé CHATARD
It is quite challenging in a competition context to consider any changes between the 15th of November and the 1st of January. Tests were performed in December. Teams would have not agreed to change both the name of the tyres and the tyre patterns, compounds, and structure. Hence the Michelin experience has been transferred onto BF Goodrich. You will see more and more the BF Goodrich style on the WRC Championship

Interviewer
We all know that a new tyre has been tuned. Can you tell us a little bit more about it?
 
Aimé CHATARD
The Monte-Carlo rally requires not less than 7 different types of tyres for all the various road conditions. On behalf of BF Goodrich we come up with a new tyre: the “Gforce profiler centrage 0” .Some like it, others don’t. However if the road conditions permit we shall see some of these new tyres.

Interviewer
What are the main differences between driving for a private team and driving for Citroën Sport?

Sébastien LOEB
The main difference lies in the supervision although the differences are not tremendous. Kronos has to find the financing, and then rents the cars from Citroën. Both the development and the conformity with the new 2006 regulation on the differential were performed with Citroën.
The differences are the followings:
250 people work for Citroën Sport whereas 30 work for Kronos.
The budget is tighter with Kronos
Citroën has decided to retire from the 2006 World Championship because it becomes too expensive. But it is a way for Citroën to keep one foot in the Arena through Kronos.
For me this year is a transitory one until 2007 when I come back with Citroën. Guy Frequelin is not here any more to manage the team. Marc Van Dalen has the job and he has to do it with a smaller team. I have made this choice because I believe it is the right one. Referring to last year Kronos’ results, I believe that this team can come up with good, reliable, and competitive cars. For the time being I have kept my engineer and this is crucial for the Monte-Carlo rally. Then we’ll see what’s next but we have faith.

Interviewer
You achieved 10 wins last year, fantastic record. Do you thing you can do this again?

Sébastien LOEB
It is obvious that 10 victories during a single year are not going to be easy to achieve again. Everything went fine: a reliable car, new Michelin tyres, and no worries. Gronholm was not always pleased with his tyres and his car. Soldberg had ups and downs. Therefore we had benefited from their misfortune. They now both arrive with brand new cars and I believe that they will fight hard. It will be tougher than last year and I only hope that I will be able to keep pace with them.

Interviewer
New overalls, new colour, what do you think of your new car?

Marcus GRONHOLM
I am really happy after the test and we will see tomorrow after the start.

Interviewer
How do you think Marcus will go?

Petter SOLBERG
He can’t say anything else rather than what he did now. It will be very exciting and Marcus will be a tough guy this year and Sebastien. It will be a good fight definitely

Interviewer
Big changes for many drivers, such as Marcus and Sebastien and……

Petter SOLBERG
What changes for Sebastien? I believe he will be as hard to beat as last year

Interviewer
We saw big changes for many drivers; however the situation at Subaru will be exactly the same. Do you thing this consistency can help you this year?

Petter SOLBERG
I hope so. Although Marcus has gone to a different team and the new regulation about the differential I don’t thing there is a massive difference. It will be tough…
 
Interviewer
With the swap from active to mechanical differential, does the car feel different to drive?
What is the effect of these small changes?

Petter SOLBERG
In many different road conditions (twisty, fast, narrow…), it will be a small difference yes. But it shouldn’t be any slower than last year it should be even faster it is not a massive difference.

Interviewer
How difficult is it to a new team after 7 years with Peugeot?

Marcus GRONHOLM
It was not so difficult to change because Peugeot stopped. It was quite natural that I would go somewhere else. The divorce was not so bad. The test has been like at home. It feels good but it is first rally. I don’t know yet all the people and all the mechanics and this is the main problem. Once I know everybody it is going to be easier. It feels comfortable and I am confident for the future.

Interviewer
Monte-Carlo has been a bit of an unlucky event for both of you in the past. Why that?

Marcus GRONHOLM
It is not an easy Rally. You have to go out with slicks although there is ice on the road because it goes faster on wet tarmac. Tomorrow it will be difficult to make the good choice of tyres in the morning because there are ice and negative temperature on the first stage. And then it quickly changes. At 10 o’clock we then face completely different conditions and that’s the reason why I don’t really like this rally. You cannot go flat out from the start to the end.

Interviewer
For you it’s a home rally. What do you thing of it? Is it one that you desperately like to win?

Petter SOLBERG
For me the statistics are not very good, finishing one time out of six. Similar to Markus we like to go flat out and we like to push on the limit. I don’t thing that it is suiting to our driving style too much. I hope this time we will be grown up and we will have good result both of us.

Interviewer
How do you thing the weather conditions will be? Will it be as inconsistent as we’ve seen in the past or with some cold weather with more snow? Do you think it might be a little easier this year?

Marcus GRONHOLM
In the recos it was full snow with 20cm on the road and it was really difficult to make notes for the new stages 1, 2 and 3. Then it was melting quite quickly. I don’t know how it looks now. It is not really a full winter rally but more a mix.

Interviewer
Sebastien won 10 rallies last year. How annoyed does that make you feel?

Petter SOLBERG
I am very happy for him. He was the best. But it will be a different story this year. It can’t happen twice in a row.

Interviewer to both
How many rallies do you believe he will win this year?

Petter SOLBERG
It doesn’t matter how many rallies he wins. What’s sure is that he won’t win so many.

Marcus GRONHOLM
I don’t say anything. We first have to finish the first rally and then I can start to give comment but I think we are very bad if he wins 10 rallies.