Present:
Mehdi Bennani, Sébastien Loeb Racing
Fredrik Ekblom, Polestar Cyan Racing
José María López, Citroën Total WTCC
Norbert Michelisz, Honda Racing Team JAS
François Ribeiro, Head of Eurosport Events, WTCC promoter
Gabriele Tarquini, LADA Sport Rosneft

Q:
The new qualifying format for Formula One didn’t work as planned but you have introduced WTCC MAC3. Are you satisfied with how it’s going?

FR:
I don’t want to comment on F1 because Eurosport Events has nothing to do with Formula One, we have enough to do with WTCC. MAC3 is good. We had the first MAC3 in Paul Ricard two weeks ago and I think there are a lot of cycling fans in Slovakia and you have a great champion in Peter Sagan. I would love to see Peter Sagan giving his opinion about MAC3 because we have been inspired to think about MAC3 from the cycling world and from Tour de France. MAC3 is a good experience on TV and on WTCC Premium TV application but also as a spectator so I encourage Slovakian fans to come to see it for real on Saturday afternoon just after qualifying because this is for sure something completely new in motorsport, a completely new format where drivers have to drive very close to each other and together for their manufacturer. So this is something interesting and much more difficult on the sporting side and the technical side than it looks.

Q:
James Thompson is returning to the WTCC this weekend. Do you expect some more newcomers this year?

FR:
This event is the only one because he is driving the car of René Münnich, who is doing rallycross in Portugal. It’s good to have James back. I know I’ve been a bit hard on him when he left LADA and his factory seat. But James is one of the legends in touring car and I think he will struggle a bit. He has a great experience but he has not driven much over the last 12 months. And I think he doesn’t know much the Chevrolet car because it’s different to the LADA he was driving. But if there is one guy with enough experience to make a good show that’s James so I am glad he’s back and I give him a very warm welcome.

Q:
You have some new partners for this season – can you say something about them?

FR:
We welcome two new Official Series Partners, OSCARO, the automotive spare parts online distributor and TAG Heuer. They both started with us in Le Castellet. Others will come in the championship but it’s good to have brands which are really committed and are bringing heritage to the championship. We don’t need to say how having TAG Heuer in the championship is good, the first results we have seen with them when they distribute our videos on their social media channels is really outstanding.

Q:
These are two big weeks for you with the race here and then in Hungary next week. What do you think you can achieve?

NM:
I think it’s not only for me but for all the championship we have many races in these couple of weeks and if you consider your championship position you have to stay focused for the next couple of weeks. For me it’s quite special. I say many times with Slovakia being so close to Hungary and there are many fans travelling from Hungary to visit and to support me during the race on the Slovakia Ring. For me it feels like a second home race. Except for this Slovakia Ring is one of my favourite circuits. I just love the atmosphere and I love driving here and I heard we will have some nice weather and also many fans coming from Hungary. Honestly I cannot wait for the weekend to start.

Q:
What’s your car like to drive with the extra weight – 80 kilograms of success ballast I believe?

JML:
First of all, it’s good to be back in Slovakia. Our car is a bit heavy but that’s the way it is and we are trying to do our best. We know it’s the first two races for us that are really important. We have to keep up and minimise the loss of the weight. We saw a very interesting weekend in Paul Ricard, it was a very close fight and it was very difficult. As I said there it was very impressive to see the team work and overcome these 80 kilos. Slovakia is different and I think we should be suffering a bit more. It’s a longer track so it’s going to be harder for the tyres. I expect we’re going to have a difficult job but we’ll still be fighting and after Hungary the weight will change a bit so we will try to do our best.

Q:
You have won two races here in the past. Is this a track that suits you?

GT:
It’s a very nice track and I have a special relationship with this track because I won a couple of races and scored a lot of podiums. It’s one of my favourite tracks and it’s very challenging but it’s not easy because it’s very long and very easy to make mistakes, especially under braking and when you are under pressure. I think the characteristic of the circuit matches a lot the characteristic of our car and I hope to score some podiums this weekend.

Q:
What about overtaking? Is the track wide enough?

GT:
Yeah it is. In the past we made some good and fantastic races here in terms of overtaking and I think there are some places under braking – the first corner and corner six where it’s very easy to make mistakes when fighting with other cars so I think the track is very good for overtaking.

Q:
We saw very good speed from the Volvo in France but also a lack of reliability. What has the Polestar team done about that?

FE:
A lot I hope! We are learning as well. It was our first weekend in France and we saw that we had some job to do and hopefully we fix it and we try again.

Q:
Honestly what was the problem?

FE:
Well we have not had enough track time, it’s as simple as that.

Q:
How is the car?

FE:
The car is fantastic. It’s quick as you saw in different circumstances in France. I hope it will be good here also. But I haven’t driven this track yet and the team hasn’t been at this track yet so we don’t know it and it will be a challenge to handle that. But I look forward for sure, the track is fantastic.

Q:
You lead the WTCC Trophy after two rounds. What can you do in Slovakia this weekend?

MB:
For sure I am enjoying myself to be here in Slovakia. I am leading the [WTCC Trophy] but we have only done one race so not something strong to put on the banners. Last year the team was working well with the set-up and we were strong here. Our target is to be on the level of the Citroën factory drivers and I think we are close. Our aim will be to be there and to fight for the top classification because this would be good for my career and my team and something strong for my championship.

Q:
You did the first WTCC MAC3. What was it like?

MB:
It’s a big challenge because it was the first time but many thanks to Citroën for choosing me for the third car. It was nice but also very stressful. You don’t know where the car in front is going to brake and you cannot have contact. You have to be quick and it was a very nice result for all of the team, to score maximum points for the first time was very nice. We will see for the future. We didn’t speak about it a lot before but we did some simulation in previous tests in Magny-Cours and it gave us more confidence for the race in Paul Ricard.