Present:
Mehdi Bennani, Sébastien Loeb Racing
Thed Björk, Polestar Cyan Racing
Rob Huff, Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team
José María López, Citroën Total WTCC
Hugo Valente, LADA Sport Rosneft

Q:
Fastest in testing at the all-new Circuit Moulay El Hassan Rob and congratulations for that achievement. But what did you think of the track layout?

RH:
It’s always difficult to know from walking the track, which I’ve done several times, and on an electric skateboard as you do, it’s very difficult to judge what it’s going to be like in a race car. You have an imagination in your mind and we did some simulator work. From walking it, it’s incredibly tight in places but I have to say I really liked it! It’s definitely a bit reminiscent of Macau. You’re barrelling into corners at quite high speed and there’s a concrete wall on the exit and you’re not quite sure if you’ve given enough margin for error or not. The many, many different surfaces make it very difficult but I’m very impressed. It’s a great circuit and obviously being quickest puts a smile on your face in the opening session. We changed a few things on the car but I like it. It’s tough, it’s really, really difficult.

Q:
It’s just testing but can you take anything from today into Free Practice tomorrow, particularly regarding car set-up?

RH:
We know what we’ve got as a balance and I don’t think that will ultimately change too much. I was pleased with the car. There are a few bits we need to work on but it’s a great way to start the weekend and it gives you good confidence. I’ve always loved street circuits and I’m excited for the weekend.

Q:
Turning to you José, second quickest but the big question is what did you think of the new circuit?

JML:
Too slow but the main challenge is the change of surfaces, which changes the behaviour of the car quickly and you don’t sometimes know if you are carrying too much speed or not. The top speed is no more than 210kph so definitely a different circuit. But that doesn’t change anything for me or the others. We still have to optimise the car. Talking about myself we started well, P2 is not bad for beginning but it’s FP0 and we still have a long way to go. Honda showed, as we expected, that they are going to be competitive here as always but I think it’s going to be very interesting. It’s a tight classification at the moment but I think it’s going to get tighter when people get more used to the track.

Q:
Coming to Thed, while it’s a new track for everyone, you’ve never actually been to the venue before so what has it been like getting adjusted to the new surroundings?

TB:
The most difficult thing was to get the right taxi driver from the airport to the hotel! But the race track feels good. Like Rob said you don’t know what to expect so you don’t imagine things. It was quite okay but it’s always difficult to come to new places although we’re doing that all the time but nothing else, a lot of fun to get used to it and try to set up the car so we can catch up. It’s always interesting to be in these new countries to see the culture. I am really happy with the work we’ve done but now we need to try to catch Rob.

Q:
We saw you yesterday out on the track learning the new layout. So what was it like behind the wheel of your LADA?

HV:
Everyone was a bit pessimistic walking the track and everybody was imagining in their heads that it’s going to be too tight. But in turns out to be okay to be honest. I like the layout. For sure there are some things to improve like the kerbs and some exits but the layout is fun. It’s faster than we expected and it makes it exciting to be honest. Street circuits are always exciting and challenging for the drivers and it’s very tricky underbraking because it’s very dirty right now. It will get better as the weekend goes by.

Q:
Firstly, Mehdi, how happy were you to be driving the new layout during your home event?

MB:
I’m very happy to be there. It’s my country and it’s a new race track and it’s going to be a big challenge for everybody here. For sure now the laps are not the best because we are still learning and being a bit safe. But it’s more challenging even than the old circuit layout. We need to work a lot on set-up and driving style and I hope to learn everything very quick to be able to fight with the top drivers in front.

Q:
And how you are feeling at the moment – are you still on a high and buzzing following what you’ve achieved in the championship this year, particularly with that win in Hungary?

MB:
For sure I’m very happy with all we have done since the start of the championship. But we have still a lot of racing coming. For sure now we are in a good position but for every race we have to work, there are some races when we might be struggling and that means it’s not an easy championship and we have to fight with the best drivers in the world. But we are here and we hope to be able to challenge here in Morocco.

Q:
Back to you Rob, if there was one thing you would change on this circuit what would it be?

RH:
Make it wet! That would be good fun! Similar to Budapest it’s brand new Tarmac. I am very happy. We can always do with a nice long straight in touring cars so we can guarantee some overtaking opportunities, which is always the difficult thing on street circuits. But it’s the same for everyone and, as always, races on street circuits are going to come down to qualifying and getting a good start. But everyone involved has done an amazing job.

Q:
Questions from the floor:

Pietro Casillo (TouringCarTimes, Sweden) to all: The track is quite short. Do you expect there to be tight margins in qualifying and how much of getting the corners right is down to luck?

RH:
I think you probably answered the first part of your question with your question because of course a shorter circuit will always make much closer gaps in qualifying. The qualifying on street cirucits is the most vital part of the weekend. Once you’ve achieved a pole position you make your life a lot easier. It’s the laws of physics. When the lap times are short the times will be close and when the lap times are long the gaps will be bigger. But we’re five talented guys and we don’t need luck to get it right!

Q:
Markus Lüttgens (Motorsport-Total.com, Germany) to Thed Björk: This is the only track where you don’t have a lack of experience compared to your competitors, is this an advantage in your eyes?

TB:
This is what the engineers told us before. You cannot blame anything because nobody knows it. But we still face a big learning curve. The guys who have been here before will know a bit a bit the tight corners and how to set up the car. But as we’ve seen in the testing we were not in front of the others so I would say it’s not an advantage for us. We have to keep learning and keep finding out what the car is doing on the track and that’s what we keep doing.