Present:
Alessandro Mariani, Honda, first position
Yves Matton, Citroën, second position

Q:
After a busy couple of hours for the team, a very very good result for you. How pleased are you with the achievements out on track today?

AM:
It is a good result for sure because the level of the competition was incredible and very strong. Considering the qualifying results and the cars were very close, it’s a good result after a difficult weekend.

Q:
There was talk before of Honda trying a strategy of pushing each other on the main straight but obviously we didn’t quite see that today…

AM:
Yes, it’s easy to say when you arrive on the long straight we thought before we could push each other, but on the previous part of the circuit it’s not easy to stay close to the car in front so we would prefer to join the cars before the last straight, which we did, and it was a good strategy and a good job.

Q:
And with a lap of 25 kilometres you must be very pleased with the performance of your drivers not to have made any mistakes?

AM:
Yes, this was one of the targets because we were trying to take the opportunity and do a good job so I have to thank the guys after a difficult weekend. The set-up of the car was not ideal as we expected after Free Practice 0 and the rain today did not help. But we are happy with qualifying and MAC3 because our target was to start on pole in the Opening Race and we have achieved it.

Q: 
You were second in WTCC MAC3 today, was there a problem with the strategy or were you just beaten by a better team today?

YM:
No I think not for the first time but after that we lost a bit of time on each split it was quite normal to be second but I was very happy to do the time we did in qualification because it was faster than last year.

Q:
Of course and obviously the DHL pole position, what does that say about your car and team?

YM:
Yes, but what is also important is that second time from Yvan is close to Pechito and he showed he improved a lot here.

Q:
It really raises the prospect of the main race tomorrow, in terms of the competition between your two drivers at the front of the field?

YM:
Yes, it will be interesting for sure I think those will be the first on the Nordschleife and its going to be interesting in the first part on the GP track.

Questions from the floor:

Q: 
Neil Hudson (TouringCarTimes, Sweden) to Alessandro Mariani: The events of the last 24 hours have been a bit awkward for Honda. How much of a distraction has it been for your team in terms of handling qualifying and MAC3?

AM:
As I’ve said before the discussion with the FIA was during Free Practice 1 and Free Practice and in between we had a big crash with Rob’s car so it was a difficult evening. But we are confident for the races and the success in MAC3 is a team success, not only because of the performance of the drivers.

Q:
Neil Hudson (TouringCarTimes, Sweden) to Yves Matton: Was there a fuel issue for José at the end of the MAC3 lap – we hard something about having to save fuel on the radio?

YM:
For sure with the split times we would be second so we changed a little bit the strategy at the end.

Note: Due to LADA’s non-participation in WTCC MAC3 following Hugo Valente’s crash in qualifying, LADA Team Principal Viktor Shapovalov did not attend the press conference.