Q:
It’s been quite an eventful week for you. Just explain what happened with your testing crash and the work your team has done to get another car for you?

EC:
It’s a pleasure I am speaking now. For us it has been a little bit hectic because we had a big crash in the test two days ago and we absolutely destroyed the car. We went off the road and five times rolled. My mistake but we have a strong team and they did their best. They go to Poland to get a new car for us, to M-Sport and now I can say we will start here. Everything is going well and we are getting more confident in the car. We were sixth in the qualification so everything is going well.

Q:
What are your expectations for this event now that you have seen the stages?

EC:
The stages are really difficult. They are so fast and I am still a little bit scared in the car after the crash. But I can say for us I hope it will be a great rally and we will enjoy it a lot.

Q:
Rally Liepāja holds some very good and not so good memories. Can you remind us?

MG:
To be honest I have a lot of memories of Rally Liepāja. Five years ago it was my first international rally and after eight or nine kilometres I already rolled and the rally was over. The next year it was the same again. It was also a winter rally and I had two big crashes from two participations here. But in 2016 I won the ERC Junior title in a tight battle against Chris when I won the Junior title and also the championship. That was one of the best days of my career and a big opportunity to step up in an R5. I’ve had everything here in the past.

Q:
What are your thoughts on the stages for this year?

MG:
On one hand it’s very fast but also a lot of fun. It’s my first fast gravel rally with an R5 car. It’s been a huge experience but also a lot of fun. For the spectators it’s cool that the rally is earlier in the year because there are a lot more R5 cars and bigger competition that last year so it should be fun for everybody.

Q:
Like Marijan, you also have good and bad memories of Rally Liepāja. Talk us through them?

CI:
The first two times were very difficult. Marijan won the title in a big battle but then the year after I won it, which was, like Marijan the biggest opportunity. Then last year I stepped up to the R5 and we finished second here. I’ve got a lot of confidence for this weekend but the competition is going to be amazing. We’ve probably got a future world champion here [in Oliver Solberg] so anything could happen.

Q:
Talking about the competition, with Mārtiņš Sesks switching to an R5 it’s going to be quite fierce?

CI:
Yeah definitely. I really want to fight with these guys but I’ve also got to think about the championship because we’re in a really strong position with two podiums. It’s looking quite promising so we need to be clever but we will also push flat out from the first stage.

Q:
Let’s continue with Oliver Solberg, the next world champion as Chris said…

OS:
He said!

Q:
And congratulations on your first start in the Polo on gravel?

OS:
Yeah I was quite surprised I have to say. I didn’t feel really confident in the car and the pacenotes were not perfect. When I saw in [Free Practice] my pace was quite okay I just have to see how it will be in qualifying and I managed to win it. It was a fantastic feeling. I had a very good run. I tried to push as hard as I can and it went well.

Q:
You have the first choices of where you start for the stages. Has your Dad [Petter Solberg] given you any good advice about that?

OS:
No!

Q:
So it’s only down to you?

OS:
We’ve discussed a bit together.

Q:
Your Dad had the first hand at driving the Polo on gravel last year. Any feedback from him or is the set-up completely new?

OS:
It’s chassis number one so it’s very special, plus my father drove it. Letting me drive it after is very special for me. The car has some special spirit I hope – and I can’t crash it!

Q:
You were playing a guitar the last time we saw you here so how good does it feel to be back in a rally car in Liepāja?

AL:
Actually this year I prepared a small dance for you [proceeds to dance]. I’m just kidding! It’s good to be here, no guitar but a new car and it’s much better! A guitar has six strings and a car has only four wheels but I enjoy it more.

Q:
It’s not been the best start to your ERC title defence. How much pressure are you under to deliver a good result this weekend?

AL:
It’s actually quite frustrating. The first rally in Azores ended upside down for us following things we could not control. And then in Canarias I did a mistake on the recce and did not notice a bad cut on the inside of a corner and we hit it and damaged the car. It’s fully my responsibility. I hope we still can learn something from that. Okay, we had a quite good season last year, we performed wisely and did not try to overdo the job. I try to enjoy, try to push and the intention here is the same, to try to push, to try to have a lot of fun and to fight for the victory.

Q:
In 2016 you won three ERC rallies but things haven’t gone that well since. What have you been up to?

RS:
Motorsport is very expensive. We are searching for sponsors. Now we get a new team and thank you to team for giving me the opportunity to drive here.

Q:
Having taking part in only a handful of rallies in recent years, how do you keep fit and focused?

RS:
I’ve done some pacenote training with my co-driver because with him I’ve done only one rally. After that we had some test and drive about 50 kilometres. It will be difficult because last time I stepped in a rally car was one year ago and that was a front-wheel-drive car, much slower. Now we drive with the Evo it’s a fast car. I hope we don’t get scared with big speeds in the corners.

Q:
Turning to Reinis, you are a rallycross driver – competing in short races. What are the hardest challenges rallying brings to you? 

RN:
Driving is the same because the have steering wheel, three pedals, gearbox, gear lever, but the discipline is completely different. There we have side-by-side racing, short racing like a sprint race. Here you are living with your co-driver, you are listening to him, you have to trust him and it’s long distances, may days. Everything happens in a much longer time and that’s the biggest difference.

Q:
A driver who needs no introduction of course but how are you finding your new Abarth 124 rally?

RN:
For sure it’s fund to drive. When you are not enjoying your racing then it’s not fun. When we started the test last Wednesday it was terrible, I didn’t enjoy it all because I didn’t understand which side you needed to steer and what I have to do. But after a full day of testing I felt much better. Today again when I went out for practice it was like starting from zero. My confidence was down but luckily we got it back, I didn’t make any mistakes in the pacenotes before and I was enjoying already the stage.

Q:
This is the first of two prize drives for you so just how good is this opportunity and how much experience do you have of this car?

MS:
It’s an incredible feeling. We had the test on Wednesday and going to the test place and seeing the R5 car was something all new drivers are dreaming about and I’m getting the drive.

Q:
You know the stages around Talsi so what can we expect from them?

MS:
All the guys who are here have experience in the Talsi region. For sure it’s two different places with different things on the road, rocks and sandy gravel in Talsi. In the Liepāja region most of the drivers here know it’s quite good grip. It will be two long days with high-speed corners and also some jumps as well. It should be fun. For sure we had a good practice. I am feeling quite confident for sure but I have no experience with this car. When I am driving the first time through a road I don’t know exactly what the car will do in some places. It’s a struggle as well but for sure the goal is to finish the rally and be here on Sunday. But for sure we don’t want to be slow.