Present:
1st - Sébastien Ogier, Volkswagen Motorsport
1st - Julien Ingrassia, Volkswagen Motorsport
2nd - Hayden Paddon, Hyundai Motorsport
2nd - John Kennard, Hyundai Motorsport
3rd - Mads Ostberg, M-Sport World Rally Team
3rd - Ola Floene, M-Sport World Rally Team
Jost Capito, Volkswagen Motorsport

Q:
Seb, congratulations on your second win of the season! We were not sure what to expect from this weekend, how did you find Rally Sweden?
SO:
It has been a nice weekend since we end up here; it’s always where you want to end the weekend. I am definitely happy with my week. Especially if you look back at the start of the week, it looked as if it would be a difficult event. Conditions were pretty bad during recce but finally the weather turned out in a good way for us. The organisers did a great job to rebuild the stages after the recce and make the best conditions they could for us. At the end we have done about 70% of the event. It was still a great event with good conditions and a good show for everyone.

Q:
Lots of pace and lots of risk too - yesterday especially! A tough day?
SO:
Yes, extremely tough. When you watch on TV it looks a bit impressive but when you are in the car it is a bit more scary than that. It was a big moment and definitely the fastest corner of the rally, so definitely not a place you want to crash. It has been a tough weekend. I have had to fight maybe harder than ever to try to keep the lead yesterday. Obviously it was difficult to be first one on the road with the fresh snow, especially in Vargåsen. My strategy was that I go for it, I took all the risks and I will have no regrets no matter what happened because it is the start of the season. It is a difficult position to be leader in the Championship with this starting order so my theory was that I take a full risk if it is working and I make a gap and it is good for the championship, and I will suffer more on the next rally. I am in the best position with the points. I took some risk and I admit that I had some luck, I think you need a bit of luck anyway to win. For sure it will not be like this every weekend. I have to be a bit more reasonable on the next event.

Q:
You obviously felt comfortable on the Power Stage to push for points?
SO:
Nothing to compare to the rest of my weekend. It was incredible grip. My setup was completely not adapted to that because the grip was totally different from what I had earlier in the weekend. I guess that for the others as well it was a stage where the grip was maybe a bit higher. As always, if I feel good in the car, if I think it is possible, I try to go for the extra points because you never know what you will be needing at the end of the season. There was no reason to give this point away. We made it once again.

Q:
Rally Mexico marks your 100th WRC start and it’s where you began your WRC journey in the Junior category - anything special planned?
SO:
I have not planned anything yet, but why not, I have to think about it. The best way to celebrate would be a victory. That is going to be hard once again. I have so many great memories from Mexico. 2008, my first WRC event in a junior car, and there was a victory in the category so it started like a dream there. The last three years we have been successful again in the WRC car. So much positive for me going to Mexico. Hopefully we can continue with our success story there.

Q:
It has been a tough challenge out there. Are you feeling good about the victory?
JI:
This weekend it is like I have been driving with Latvala on my left side! It was sometimes sideway, so now I know how it is! It was a tough challenge and we are delighted to be first this time. It has been a strange week, lots of changes and so when you are a co-driver you need to react and be very precise not to miss anything on the road books and the changes in timing and everything. It was exciting and it has brought two things; first, I would like to say thank you to the volunteers in the stages, it has been cold sometimes and waiting all day. We sometimes forget them.

I would like to also have a word about a kind of movement that happened this week. I will speak in my own voice. Lorenzo Bertelli decided to stop his race. He explained why. My point of view is that we, the teams, send thousands of e-mails every year to the organiser, FIA, to the Promoter even, to bring something to this sport; to build this sport, to raise it up. We are quite professional for what we are doing. And without these e-mails, without this help, I think a lot of things will not go that right, so we are working together. And I am a little bit surprised that there is a still a level; this is FIA, Promoter, organiser, teams and crews. And for me this is something that is not the way we need to work, this is not how it is working and we should be in the same level. I do not want to be king, nor a puppet. The way we handle decisions, like this week when lots of things happened, is not the right way. We definitely need to change that. It will be in the benefit of our sport and it will make the crews probably more respected in a way. All that we do, this is not complaining, don’t forget it, it is only to make our sport better. We will have a meeting with the people involved, we will do everything necessary to have the same level of understanding but it’s something I am quite upset with. It is nothing to discuss at the press conference.

Q:
Hayden, your first time in the brand new Hyundai i20 and you've bagged second place on the podium after an impressive weekend. Happy with that?
HP:
Certainly. Obviously we had high hopes coming here this weekend with the new car. Everything worked out quite well, we had the road position advantage on Friday afternoon and for a couple of stages yesterday. The new car is working so much better. We really pushed to the limit and would not take any risks because the comfort levels were not where I wanted them to be. I was not in a position to push and take unnecessary risks because it was important for us to get points for the team. Considering all that, the speed was quite good this weekend. I think we can improve a lot more.

Q:
A little bit of drama at the end - hitting a pole in the stage and it damaging the radiator. How worried were you? Did you use the champagne on the way back?
HP:
I did not clip the pole, I nailed it! It is probably one of the worst stages I have had in my life. Maybe I know why Seb goes for full Power Stage points because when you are in no man’s land it is very difficult to drive and nothing seems to happen naturally. We just hit this post and did not think anything of it. It made a small hole in the radiator. First thing you think when you see steam coming out, naturally it is not good but luckily we found it was just a small hole and we could fix it. We filled up the champagne bottle with a bit of water and we were on our way.

Q:
You did not show any real concerns about not making it back…
HP:
I may not have showed it but initially I did.

Q:
Do you think this has been a confidence-builder moving forward?
HP:
Huge! We know there are lots of areas to improve on. I was not happy with my driving. Some stages were okay but for sure not where I want to be. A bit more testing time with the car to develop a few ideas that we have. I am sure that once we get to the gravel we can improve. Mexico and Argentina are two rallies we really do not have much experience of. Our target is the next two European gravel rallies. So the next two rallies we are going to use to progress what we are doing so we’ll be in a position when we get to Portugal to be able to fight in the front.

Q:
You were not going to take any risks but when it was just 8.8 seconds between you and Seb, didn’t you think that “we can go for it”?
JK:
Yes, we did for sure. Both of those stages, Vargåsen and Rämmen, we like them both. It was just unfortunate that when we got to Rämmen the conditions had changed so much so it took a bit out from us, so rather than the gain we made in Vargåsen you win some, you lose some and that was exactly how it was.

Q:
Tough challenges for co-drivers, with everything changing you need to be on top of the game…
JK:
All about glue, pins, staplers and tape to put road books back together! At least the information coming back was good and we could put it all back together again. It has not been hard to get around in the end. Sweden is not a hard place to be. A truly enjoyable weekend. It will be one of those moments when we come with not that much expectation but things seems to work. Hopefully we will go through the rest of the year like that.

Q:
Mads, first podium for M-Sport on just the second rally into the season. Are you happy with your weekend here in Sweden?
MO:
Yes. It was a tough rally. Everyone has been talking about it, we never really knew what we were doing this weekend. Even when we started the rally we did not know how many stages we would do so it was a little bit tough. I hoped that my winter rally experience would count this weekend, probably it did not. We did a good rally and even without snow I just enjoyed the rally. Between Ola and myself it has worked very well this weekend. We have made some good steps since Monte Carlo. Today and all weekend it has felt as if we have been together for many years. I am really happy with that and also the car has performed really well. It has been a great weekend. First rally in the Fiesta and new surface and we are on the podium so I am pleased with that. I am really excited of the upcoming rallies.

Q:
Pace-wise were you happy with your performance?
MO:
In one way we did what we had to do: started slow but after that we got faster and faster. We quickly ended up on the podium. In one way we tried to control the position but with Sordo and Mikkelsen and Tanak chasing you it is not an easy job. We had to push on Saturday. The rest of the guys fell off and Mikkelsen made a mistake. At the end it was a comfortable third place. After that we had to focus on getting to the end at the same time bringing experience with the car. We did that in a good way. I am pleased to be here now.

Q:
Looking forward to Mexico?
MO:
Looking forward to sunshine. The stages are nice.

Q:
An 80-kilometre test coming up in Mexico too, are you preparing in any special way?
MO:
Not really. It is a tough and long stage, every time you do a stage you think it is a long stage but then you get into the rhythm and of course you have to be in the rhythm for a long time, but you approach the stage in the same way. You take extra care of the tyres and brakes. Apart from that you are getting into the groove and stay there for a bit longer than you are used to.

Q:
And a good weekend for you too Ola?
OF:
It was a pleasure to do what we did. I had a great time with Mads in the car and like he said it was getting better and better and it feels like we have been in the car for a long long time. The toughest part was to be the navigator with all the corrections that were coming, but thanks to the organiser they are doing a very good job for the navigators. The information we got was so easy to work with and it was quite a lot of changes in the road book and timings and these things. You want to be at the right place at the right time.

Q:
Jost, success again for Volkswagen, how do you feel the weekend went as a whole?
JC:
It was a very difficult weekend but finally very successful, not only for us but also for Sweden and for the rally. We had a tough week. Monday we had a meeting with the organisers, FIA and all the teams. We discussed what the rally could look like and how it could be and we found a common ground. Then again we discussed on Thursday based on the information from the stages and the weather information. It was very professional and very good cooperation and I think that is why the rally turned out to be very good, and the weather turned out the way it was forecasted. I think it was good that the rally was not cancelled. We had a safe, very good and sporting rally.

Q:
Jari-Matti had a very difficult start to the event….
JC:
We felt very bad because they had a technical failure of the car, something that we had not experienced before. We do not know what it was, the parts are gone. Not a good start in Monte Carlo and now again. He got back yesterday, very competitive and he is in a very good mood. The advantage he has now is a good road position in Mexico and I am sure he will use it.

Q :
Andreas wanted to battle for the win. What do you think generally of his performance?
JC:
His performance is really fantastic when we see the inboards and when we see the times. He is still improving, is getting better and better. He has a new co-driver. He has to get used to him. The team works really well already. His target was not only to get on the podium, it was to win the rally as he was so close last year. Then of course he has to risk a bit more, made some mistakes and this made him end up fourth. He is still working on it, he knows what went wrong. For sure, it will make him even stronger.

Q:
And for Seb and Julien, a great rally…
JC:
It is an outstanding performance again. The luck is with the guys who work the hardest. If you want to win any rally you need some luck, but luck you need to earn. But how Sebastien and Julien run and how they race is absolutely outstanding and they work perfectly together. But it also shows that it is not coming easy for them. The competition is really strong. The new Hyundai is a very good rally car. The guys are challenging us. The same with Ford and Citroen. Chris Meeke had fantastic times so maybe it looks a bit easier than it is. Sebastien and Julien have to fight very hard especially opening the road. They also have to risk a lot so it’s not as easy as it may look.

FIA WRC 2 CHAMPIONSHIP

Present:
1st - Elfyn Evans, M-Sport World Rally Team
1st - Craig Parry, M-Sport World Rally Team

Q:
Elfyn, your second win in as many events, congratulations! Is it a good feeling to win against such a strong line up?
EE:
Yes but I thought it would be tough, which is basically what happened. In all seriousness we knew this would be a big challenge. In Monte Carlo there weren’t any other works cars there, so having the challenge of the Scandinavians at home was going to be a big challenge for us. We are pretty happy to come away with a win.

Q:
How difficult a challenge was it compared to recent years?
EE:
It’s my third ever snow rally, having been here in ’14 and ’15. Normally it takes me a while to settle in and there was a bit of that Friday morning, but I think we got up to speed quicker than normal. By the end of Friday we had a decent lead so it was all about managing it from thereon in. A few problems on Saturday afternoon but from there it was fairly comfortable.

Q:
A few problems? What were they?
EE:
Just some small things with the car. We had a problem with the steering we had to fix on the roadside, but no major dramas.

Q:
You said you didn’t have to take any risks. When exactly did you start to pull back?
EE:
We didn’t have a great rhythm on the second stage on Saturday but in the position we were in we didn’t want to take risks so I went with it and didn’t panic. The next stage was good but then we had the issue with the steering and lost some time, but after that it was just a case of managing it.

Q:
Did you feel pressure on the Power Stage with Pontus Tidemand not too far behind and no room for mistakes?
EE:
I definitely couldn’t make any mistakes, the stage was mine to lose, but barring any major dramas we knew we would be okay, so we didn’t take any risks and got the car through.

Q:
Craig, congratulations, how are you feeling after the second win of the year?
CP:
It is going well, better than expected to be honest. This is my first time in Sweden so it’s a bit of a learning curve. To say it’s turned out well is an understatement.

Q:
For you what was the toughest challenge this weekend?
CP:
The terrain. We’re not used to winter rallies. Wet ones, yes, but not the snow. But preparing for every rally is the same. It’s just the terrain and the lay of the land which can be a bit different and you have to get used to it but it doesn’t really matter where you go for me.

Q:
It’s a new partnership at this level for you two, do you feel that the relationship is building?
CP:
Yes, this rally, for me, we progressed a lot. We’re a lot more comfortable with each other and it’s much better in the car. It’s just about settling in to the job, because to fair, it was not an easy seat in the first place with Elfyn being a high-profile driver. But yes, it’s comfortable and I’m happy in there. I’ve not flinched once this weekend so that’s a good sign from the passenger side.

Q:
Do you feel the relationship is going well also, Elfyn?
EE:
I’m really happy. I was very happy with Dan, but for separate reasons we had to part at the end of last year and Craig was the first person I called. I knew him a bit from before and we’ve had a massive progression and things are starting to gel. Obviously we’ve done a lot of preparation but there is nothing like event experience to really bring things together.

FIA WRC 3 CHAMPIONSHIP

Present:
1st - Michel Fabre, Sainteloc Junior Team
1st - Maxime Vilmot, Sainteloc Junior Team

Q:
How do you feel taking the win in WRC 3?
MF:
It was a good week but some pressure because I don’t know driving on snow with studs but I’m very happy because there was a massive progression stage after stage.

Q:
What were the challenges? What did you find most difficult?
MV:
It is difficult because Michel is 62 years old and we’ve only completed 50 kilometres before this rally.

Q:
And how difficult is it for you as a co-driver?
MV:
Lots of rocks in the pace notes and sometimes Michel loses the rhythm and I need to push him.

Q:
How many more events in WRC 3 are you planning?
MV:
We will do Mexico, Argentina, China and Italy.