TRANSCRIPT

WTCR – FIA World Touring Car Cup presented by OSCARO, Rounds 19-21 of 30
Media Centre, Ningbo International Speedpark, 10h00, 28 September
 
WTCR OSCARO representatives in attendance:
François Ribeiro, Head of Eurosport Events, WTCR OSCARO promoter
Kevin Ceccon, Team Mulsanne
Esteban Guerrieri, ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport
Ma Qing Hua, Boutsen Ginion Racing
Gordon Shedden, Audi Sport Leopard Lukoil Team
 
Q: How good is it for WTCR OSCARO to be racing in China not once but twice?
 
FR: It’s very simple. I find it normal as a promoter of a world cup to work twice as hard in China than in any other country because China sells more cars than any other country in the world. I think they sell 50 per cent more cars than the US market, they sell four or five times more car than the German market so I find it normal to do not one but two events in this major market in the world.
 
Q: QIE Live will increase its coverage of WTCR OSCARO for the China double-header. What is the significance of this arrangement?
 
FR: It’s very important for us. This is live streaming, this is not television. But I think this is the type of platform that the young generation are using in China to watch sports, not only motorsports but every non-Olympic sports I would say. This is the first time this year that the whole championship is broadcasted, all the races, are broadcasted in China. They do a lot and they do also a quality job. Tencent is the number one in China and I’m happy that now we are more or less on the same level of broadcast and attention than Formula One has in China.
 
Q: We welcome Ma Qing Hua back to World Touring Car racing this weekend. How good is it to have a Chinese driver on the grid?
 
FR: Yeah, it’s good to have him on two events but it’s not enough! We want him full season! I always promised him… I’m not his agent… but I always promised him I will do all I can to bring him back on the grid because he deserves to be on the grid. I could not imagine to do races in China without a Chinese driver and I think he’s the best for that type of category. Now I wish him the best for Ningbo and Wuhan and, if he does well, I will do whatever I can to help him put him next year full-season on the grid, that’s my objective.
 
Q: At the start of the summer we didn’t really know about your potential as a touring car driver but now you are a full-time driver in WTCR. Just explain what’s got you here?
 
KC: As everybody know I race in Slovakia with Team Mulsanne in the Alfa Romeo Giulietta and it was a pretty good weekend for us. We score some points and finish sixth in Race 3. And so me and Michela [Cerruti] and the team decided to keep going together, to keep working together and to finish the season. So I will do all the Asia part of the WTCR and we will try to take out the maximum of this opportunity.
 
Q: Ningbo is new for you but you have been to China previously – what did you get up to?
 
KC:
Yeah, I do the driving instructing with Corso Pilota sometimes here in China and I do an event in Beijing as well so it’s not my first time in China. But it’s my first time racing and finally I am able to race here. As you say rightly I have never been in Ningbo before but I did the track walk yesterday. The track walk looks really, really good, 21 corners so I think we will enjoy this weekend.
 
Q: Now nearly 12 months ago we saw you produce when the best performances of your career when you won the first WTCC race at Ningo in those terrible weather conditions. What are your memories of that great day?
 
EG: It was one of the best and most important days in my career to win here in Ningo. After that win my opportunity, my big opportunity with Honda got a lot stronger and I got the official ride after this race. So it’s a very special place to drive. As Kevin said, it’s probably the best of the championship. It’s really nice to be here again and it will be my first time driving in the dry because last year it was raining a lot and now, this year, we will be a bit more lucky. Hopefully the fans can enjoy a lot more in the stands and hopefully not getting so wet and soaked. Let’s try to have a good weekend for Honda. It hasn’t been very consistent for many reasons my season but I will try to get some consistency in Asia, that will be great, and enjoy the experience in this part of the world, which I like a lot.
 
Q: A warm welcome to WTCR OSCARO but it’s not really a welcome to World Touring Cars because you’ve achieved a lot of success in the past. But what can you do this weekend?
 
MQH: First of all, I would like to thank François Ribeiro and thanks to Boutsen Ginion Racing and also JAS Honda for this opportunity. I am really happy and honoured to be racing in this championship again, especially here in China, my home country. Racing in front of the home spectators is a very special feeling and I am really comfortable in this series. For sure this is my first time in this TCR car and also the first time in this circuit, I’m probably the only Chinese driver not to know the track here. But I will do my best to compete this weekend against these top drivers and I hope I can do well. This double-header race weekend is very tight, I think the competition level will be high. This season everybody is pushing harder and harder so it’s a tough moment to be in the championship at this time. Anyway, I would like to thank everybody. I hope you enjoy the show and we will do our best to bring the things we have. WTCR is also the most tough races and if you want to watch real racing, this is real racing.
 
Q: It’s fair to say that your season so far hasn’t lived up to your usual high standards in terms of actual results so how do you plan to put that right during the last four events?
 
GS: For me it feels like the start of the second season of WTCR. After such a long summer break everybody arrives with a new sense of optimism and a clear head. For me these last four events are really important and it’s fantastic to have these two events in China and then we continue on to Japan and Macau as well. You certainly haven’t seen the best of what I’m capable of yet. This year is very much about learning because it’s the first year I’m racing outside of the UK, every circuit is new and the competition is really high so this is a year for learning to build the foundations and think to a big push for next year.
 
Q: Your team-mate Jean-Karl Vernay was racing at Monza last weekend but what about your trip to Goodwood for the Revival event earlier this month – what was that like?
 
GS: Goodwood’s fantastic because it’s like stepping back in time and it’s gone back to what old-school motorsport is about, so no data-logging, cars sliding on the edge and the racing’s fantastic. I always say it’s like Disneyworld for adults when you go through the gates at Goodwood, you’re just going back in time and it really is cool. It’s good [to be with all those famous drivers] and it’s becoming more and more competitive compared to what it was five years ago to what it is now. I’m lucky that I get to drive some fantastic cars both in the old touring car races but also in the TT because we’ve won that a couple of times in an E-Type and I’ve had a Cobra there, it’s really cool and it’s nice to get a bit of variation.

Questions from the floor:
 
Liang Hanwen, China Grand Motorsports to François Ribeiro:
 
Q: This is the eighth consecutive year of the cooperation with CTCC and now the brand new FIA World Touring Car Cup. What are you looking for from the next two events in China?
 
FR: As Esteban said I hope we do a better event than last year here in Ningbo. Because I remember when we came here last year the circuit was not really finished and we had typhoon… it was a difficult experience so I hope this weekend is better. Wuhan, I expect a lot from it because it’s the first time we do a street circuit, a street race in China and I know that Wuhan is the Detroit, a city in the USA, it’s a huge city which lives from the automotive industry and I think many people will be surprised by Ningbo, positively, with Wuhan, when drivers will see the scale of the event, the importance of the event, will see the popularity of the event. I hope all in all, the popularity of international touring car racing is higher in China after those two events than it is today. I regret we don’t have wildcard drivers in China. It’s the first time I WTCR we don’t manage to find a top driver coming from a local championship. I heard some comments from CTCC drivers that they would love to drive WTCR. I also would like them to drive WTCR, one, twice, to have the chance to compete in the season against the best touring car drivers of the planet. It was not possible this year but it will definitely be one of my objectives when we come back.
 
Q: As we know World Touring Car Championship became World Touring Car Cup so what is the difference, especially with the promotion?
 
FR: Last July you had the FIFA World Cup in Russia and I think everybody knows it’s the highest level of football competition in the world so I don’t think world cup, world championship makes a big difference. What matters is the quality of the show and the quality of the racing you bring to the fans. If you compare WTCC last year with WTCR and what we have done so far, TV numbers are 25 per cent above, digital numbers 50 per cent above, social media numbers 100 per cent above WTCC level so, frankly speaking, I don’t think world cup, world championship status changed anything to the perception you have. What matters is what they do and the quality of the TV programme and the weekends that we deliver to the fans. More cars, more brands, more overtaking, more action, that’s what matters.
 
Q: We have heard some rumours that Chinese teams will be involved in WTCR so do you have more information for us?
 
FR: It’s very possible. I think everybody has seen last week a teaser, a video clip, from Lynk & Co, which belongs to Geely. They have done a teaser clip to say something new is going to happen so I think it won’t take long before they tell the other part of the story to explain what the car will be and what their programme will be. It will be great to have a Chinese manufacturer in the championship and I would be delighted to have this. If it happens I will be very happy.