Present:
Sébastien Ogier, Volkswagen Motorsport
Eric Camilli, M-Sport World Rally Team
Craig Breen, Abu Dhabi Total World Rally Team
Hayden Paddon, Hyundai Motorsport N

Q:
Seb, it’s like a home rally for you. How are you feeling going into this weekend knowing the conditions could be changeable. Are you feeling confident? 
SO:
I think so, there is everything for me to feel comfortable about. I have a good position in the Championship, I like to drive this rally, I was performant here last year and I have a big motivation to be successful, so of course I am happy to be here. The weather is luckily much better than last year. It might change during the weekend, Saturday it might rain and it would be a bit more difficult. I am not really sure we needed this on top of the stages themselves, which are already very demanding. It looks like it is going to be a very challenging rally and I am impatient to start now. I had a good feeling this morning on the shakedown so let’s see if we can keep this feeling until tomorrow morning and the first stage which is immediately a big part of the rally. 

Q: 
You mentioned the stages being challenging, but are they enjoyable stages to drive on tarmac? 
SO:
Yes, definitely and especially when the sun is shining like today. There is a lot of grip in the stages. We often mentioned that there are a lot of corners here. I heard that Haydon has counted them and there are less than 10,000! Still a big rhythm and no way to relax in the stages for the drivers, and it is even more work for the co-drivers. Definitely enjoyable, at least I like it. 

Q:
There is the possibility of sealing the title here, but mostly it depends on what your rivals will do. Is that on your mind at all coming up to your fourth championship title?
SO:
No, not really because I don’t really have all the cards in my hand for this weekend. There is no point to think about it, but of course to become champion you need to score, maybe not on all events - that’s difficult to achieve - but on most of the events. Here of course I have the target to score good points. The best would be to win, that’s easy to say but a bit more difficult to achieve. I’ll try my best this weekend. I am not ready to take crazy risks for it but I’ll try to drive clean and hopefully I will have enough in the tank to make it without being crazy. 
 
Q:
Eric, a special event for you as your family hails from Ajaccio. What are you hoping to achieve here? How are you feeling? 
EC:
Of course it’s a special event for me being here as an official driver in the WRC with Ford. It sounds magic and I am looking forward to starting tomorrow. I followed this race a lot of times as a kid so it’s quite strange now to have the steering wheel in my hands! After saying that you need to forget this kind of thing and concentrate even if you are at home because it’s just like the other races. 

Q:
Germany didn't quite go to plan for you; will your strategy change here?
EC:
My plan here is to get confidence for the future. I need to go step by step. In Germany I was not able to do that correctly so it’s my second race in a WRC car. Even in the shakedown this morning I was quite surprised by the speed because, as Ogier said, you have a lot of corners so I need to appreciate this kind of thing and be able to set my car. Maybe the weather will be clear tomorrow but for Saturday it might rain so the target for me is to finish the rally correctly and have a good feeling all the time, be confident and regular.

Q: 
Looking back at 2016 and your performances, are you happy with the pace that you have managed to find? Will we see more before the end of the year?
EC:
We were able to match our team-mate Mads everywhere so it’s quite a good thing for us for our season in WRC. Of course you know that I don’t have a lot of experience in rallies in general so it’s never easy. I started four years ago and I try to manage everything which is not easy. We crash sometimes but it’s my feeling, I am like that, I need to push but I also need to finish the race so I have to manage both! You need to prove your speed as well to stay in the WRC so it’s never easy to find the limit.  

Q:
Craig, competing on tarmac in the Citroën for the first time this weekend, we’re looking forward to seeing what you can do this weekend. Is tarmac your preferred surface being an Irish driver?
CB:
Yes, we don’t have a lot of gravel, none really in Ireland. This is the surface I grew up on, back to the Irish tarmac championship and British Championship, it’s always been my preferred surface. It’s a bit different here, the sun is shining for a change, it doesn’t happen a lot back home. To do it with all this grip, it’s a lot different shall we say and again with a WRC car is quite a huge step.

Q:
What’s the objective for you this weekend then, what’s been the instruction from the team? What do you have to go out there and do?
CB:
I manage the round thing in front and the pedals on the floor and Scott manages the book. After that you just have to learn. There are so many new things to take into account this weekend. To pick this one as the first tarmac rally in a WRC car - it’s probably one of the toughest ones so there has been no real target, no position, it’s just to go and see what we can do. Again in Finland it was a similar target and at the end of the rally we did something quite special. To repeat that would be more than a bit difficult. I just need to drive on my own rhythm, try to enjoy and take pleasure. I think that’s the biggest thing that’s given me the results this year. I’ve just really, really enjoyed it. Even in the shakedown today I was having so much fun, so I’ll just try to carry that rhythm for the rest of the weekend. 

Q:
You’ve been doing testing with the new car. What can you tell us about the brand new Citroën we’ll see next year? What’s the feeling that Craig Breen gets from it?
CB:
It’s fast and my little eyeballs cannot keep up with it! First of all it’s a privilege; it’s an honour to be able to a part of this new dawn, a new era of the World Championship. It’s something that I would have dreamed of when I was a kid, to get the chance to drive something so new, so radical. I really enjoyed the test and development work, even putting the car aside, just to work with the team and all the engineers. They’ve got so much resource and so much success and victory over the years, to be a part of that family, and I really do mean a family because when we’re on the tests everyone is just working so hard to get on. To be in the middle of that, I’m just trying to soak in as much information as I can and I’m just really, really enjoying it.

Q:
So will we see you behind the wheel of the actual World Rally Car next year? Will you be a part of that team?
CB:
It’s not for me to decide but like I said, I have to manage the round thing and the pedals on the floor and they manage the rest.

Q:
Drivers always talk about getting the feeling. What’s the feeling you are getting from the team Craig? Is it a favourable feeling?
CB:
Yes, the team I’m in now, it’s quite good. We have some more rallies to do before the end of the year so the feeling is good. 

Q:
Seb mentioned the amount of corners on the rally Hayden. We did notice that you counted, or somehow managed to count about 4,800? Is that right?
HP:
Yes, but maybe we found a shortcut so if we did find a shortcut that will certainly help us! There are still a lot of corners so it’s the most challenging rally I think of the year. It’s going to be very hard for tyres, the car and obviously us in the car as well. So it’s going to be about a calculated approach and try to be consistent for the whole rally.

Q:
You’ve been very honest in your ability on tarmac. What kind of level do you think you’re at now?
HP:
I’m not at the good level yet. Naturally as a competitive person it is frustrating to know that we’re not at the speed where we want to be. At the same time, I know I have to be realistic. My experience on tarmac is very limited and we’re learning step by step. Sometimes you have to learn the hard way. When you’re in the high pressure environment of the WRC trying to learn how to drive on tarmac probably puts a bit more pressure on. But testing went well and I’m certainly a lot more comfortable in the car now than in Germany. We’ll see how the weekend plans out. 

Q:
Can you have an objective of a podium this weekend? 
HP:
It’s a bit early for that yet I think, unless others hit problems. As I say, I think it’s going to be a difficult rally so we’ll stay out of trouble, be clean and go at our own pace. Then you never know.

Q:
A lot of you have mentioned that it’s going to be a difficult and challenging rally. If you were to narrow it down to the difficulty aspect here, what is it? 
HP:
It is a lot of variables. Managing tyres even though it’s dry is going to be key. It seems as though the rain may or may not come for Saturday morning. This will add another aspect. Of course here there are a lot of changes in road surfaces and when you’ve got a 50 kilometre stage it’s almost like three or four different stages in one. So you can’t really have the perfect car set-up, you have to adapt. Of course, when there are so many corners you can’t recall it all as much in your head so the pace notes become much more crucial here than on other rallies.  

FIA WRC 2 CHAMPIONSHIP

Present:
Kevin Abbring, Hyundai Motorsport N
Elfyn Evans, M-Sport World Rally Team

Q:
It was notable by absence that you were not at shakedown this morning Kevin. Can you let us know why?
KA:
First of all we had a bit of a delay with the homologation, therefore a delay with scrutineering. All is fine now, the car passed scrutineering but therefore we could not attend shakedown. Nevertheless, we have allowance to drive until 2pm so as soon as this is done I’m looking forward to getting behind the wheel.

Q:
You’ve been a huge part of the testing process for the brand new Hyundai i20 R5. It must give you a lot of pride now to actually get to be in competition with it. How are you feeling ahead of the weekend?
KA:
It’s a great feeling to start something from scratch with a group of people and finally make it work in the end. It’s a special moment for everyone. It’s the first official debut of the car. We have two other customers driving the car which is great. From the beginning after development the comments of the behaviour of the car and the performance have been really impressive. Everyone seemed to be really, really happy with the handling and this is my job so I think it’s good. OK we have to see until halfway through the rally if everyone still shares the same opinion but we are confident and we are really happy to be here. 

Q:
And the recce went well for you? Because getting the recce absolutely right here is crucial. Do you think it went well?
KA:
I think it went well, yes. It’s really hard for us drivers and co-drivers but it’s going to be hard for the car as well, managing the tyres and obviously the stages are really long. We did not choose our debut the easiest way but I think the car is going to be fine here, it’s going to be fine everywhere.

Q:
We’re delighted to see you compete in the R5, we’ve seen you compete within the WRC with Hyundai this year too, but what happens in 2017? Any news for us?
KA:
A good question. There are a few factors still unsure and therefore I cannot be sure, I cannot tell you something clear about next year yet.

Q:
Would you like to remain with the team?
KA:
Obviously, yes.

Q:
Good to see you back within WRC 2 competing here on tarmac Elfyn. Last year of course we all remember you leading the event in the WRC, in really difficult conditions. It’s a little bit different out there now Elfyn and you’re in a different car. How are you feeling ahead of the weekend?
EE:
Obviously it’s the last round for us on our WRC 2 campaign so it’s quite an important one. We really need to win here to remain with any chance of the championship. So yes, a bit of a job to do. I’m feeling pretty good but we’ve done no pre-event testing although we’ve done a lot of time in the car. On the BRC on tarmac it’s been a very different setup so we’ll be learning a bit as we go because Monte-Carlo is the only reference we have this year. Previous to that it was France 2013 since I’ve driven the car like this so we’ll be learning as we go but I’m sure we’ll be fine.

Q:
We’ve seen the route change considerably from what we had last year. What do you think of the stages this time around?
EE:
Very demanding. Obviously the majority of them are quite long and like Kevin said it’s a challenge to keep everything cool enough and manage the package. They are phenomenal stages, really, really technical but nice. I’m sure it’s going to spring up a few surprises this weekend.

Q:
You mentioned that it’s a crucial round for you as it’s your last round within WRC 2. Does that put pressure on you? 
EE:
There is not too much pressure. We already know that a bit of damage was done earlier in the season with reference to the championship so we can only go and do what we can here and hopefully get the win. At least we’ve done everything we can then from our side and then we’ll see where we go from there.

Q:
For a man who’s been successful this year, you are this year’s British Rally Champion, congratulations on that. We’d like to see you back in the WRC. What’s the hope for 2017? 
EE:
Thank you, the BRC was good but not my priority, especially this time for this year. It’s good to get it won nonetheless. We’re still working for next year, my priority again is to get back in a World Rally Car or else it’s very likely you won’t see me to be honest. Yes, I’m working very hard on it and hopefully we’ll have some more news soon.

Q:
So you are talking to teams at the moment?
EE:
Yes, you are always talking to everybody. There is nothing more that we can say at the minute, nothing confirmed so we’re still working on it.

FIA JUNIOR WRC CHAMPIONSHIP

Present:
Yohan Rossel, Equipe de France FFSA
Terry Folb, Sebastien Loeb Racing

Q:
Rally de France-Tour de Corse marks the home event for you - how much are you looking forward to it? How do you feel?
YR:
I feel good thanks to my Federation, Citroën and Saintloc. My target is to finish on the podium.

Q:
You have had a successful season in the Citroën Racing Trophy - does that build your confidence coming to WRC events?
YR:
Yes, I won four rallies this year in the Citroën Trophy. It’s good but the World Championship is very different and very hard but I like it!

Q:
What are your thoughts on the stages here in Corsica? How challenging are they?
YR:
They are very twisty, very difficult but a good challenge and a good experience. I want to gain a lot of experience. 

Q:
You said “podium”. Do you think a win is possible here?
YR:
Yes!

Q:
That is good confidence! Do you have any plans for next year you can tell us about?
YR:
Yes. First I must win the championship and then I hope to drive an R5 with Citroën and Sainteloc.

Q:
We’re looking forward to seeing you compete here in Corsica but talk to us first about your 2016 season in the Junior WRC Championship. Have you been happy with your performances? You are third in the standings at the moment, happy or not?

TF:
I am not very happy. I started well the season with two podiums and then in Finland I broke the engine and didn’t take any points. It’s not very good for the championship. I am third at the moment but Tempestini has a lot of points so, for the title, it’s going to be very difficult to win. But we have two rallies left that we can win so we will see what happens. 

Q:
How confident are you feeling about a win here in Corsica? How difficult will it be this week-end?
TF:
There are a lot of drivers here which is very good. It’s a big challenge. I think we have a possibility for a win in this rally. What is sure is that I am ready to fight for this. It’s going to be my first World Rally in France and it’s my objective.

Q:
Saturday is the longest day of the event, would you say that it is the most difficult day?
TF:
No, I think all the days are difficult because we have long stages. I think that the driver who wins the WRC 3 here is the driver who can use his brakes during the entire stages. I believe this is the most important. 

Q: 
And next year for you Terry, more Junior championship or you are going to move up?
TF:
I don’t know. We talked about this with Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena before Corsica. What is sure is that I will drive in the World Championship in 2017.

Q:
Did Sébastien give you some good advice for this rally because he was King of Corsica!
TF:
Yes he gave me good advice but both Sébastien and Daniel are in Morocco so it’s only by phone. They are confident for me so I will win for all of us.