Drivers present:
Esteban Guerrieri, Campos Racing, first position, Opening Race
Tiago Monteiro, Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team, first position, Main Race
Thed Björk, Polestar Cyan Racing, second position, Opening Race
Norbert Michelisz, Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team, second position, Main Race
Mehdi Bennani, third position, Opening Race
Néstor Girolami, Polestar Cyan Racing, third position, Main Race

Q:
Starting with you Esteban and your first victory in the FIA World Touring Car Championship. You were following Tom Coronel for a few laps but then you got ahead. Can you talk us through your race?

EG:
Thank you very much. First of all, congratulations to all the guys here around me and mostly to Tiago for winning the Main Race. From my side it was a very interesting weekend. One month ago I wasn’t racing in the WTCC but all of a sudden we are sitting here in the press conference and it’s very surprising and also exciting as well. The weekend started quite good, in a good competitive way, until qualifying. The car was very fast and it was better than P11 but we had a problem with a yellow flag when Tom [Chilton] went straight and I couldn't improve my lap so I was very gutted. Unfortunately, two guys lost their places and I went up to ninth. It was lucky for me and from then I tried to make a good race, it was a good start although it had been a bit of a reservation mark for me, but it was a good start, the same as Tom [Coronel]. I was able to follow him then I saw he was struggling a little bit on the braking, I was just waiting, being patient and unfortunately he went off and I just managed the race. It’s a very good first victory, it was for the team mainly because they do so much. Mr Ruben Espin [team manager] was saying this is the first time I will be on the podium so it was very emotional for them and I really dedicate this to them, I am very happy for what happened today.

Q:
Obviously your programme isn’t confirmed for the whole year Esteban but what message does this result send out to potential sponsors and partners?

EG:
I smile because we are definitely always running under that pressure this year because we still have to confirm the second half of the season. I knew there was an opportunity today to try to make the podium but the came very quickly so this will help definitely to try to confirm some budget from Argentina or somewhere and if it’s somewhere then that’s no problem for m!  But to find the budget to continue for the full season. We are obviously a bit behind because we haven’t done any testing but I believe we can still be competitive and I hope we can do good in the next races. I think the Chevy will probably be performing a little bit better in Monza. Here we were not struggling but we were definitely not as quick as Honda and Volvo. But we can work and if the money comes, which is important, we can do some testing and continue the full season. That’s the idea and this definitely helps for this.

Q:
We’ll turn next to the winner of the Main Race, Tiago Monteiro. Leading the world championship by seven points following win number 10 in the WTCC. I guess leading from the front wasn’t as easy as it looked?

TM:
It’s never easy. Obviously it’s great to start from pole position because at a street track it’s the biggest part of the job as long as you have a good start. But you still have to go for it because there’s many laps and there can be many issues for everybody with brakes, tyres etc. and it’s very hot in the car so a lot of things can go wrong. You need to keep a good pace, not too slow, not too fast so it’s a fantastic feeling to start the season like this after so much work over the winter. And to be here after a 1-2 with Norbi it’s great. Congratulations to everybody here. I’m really happy. It’s the best way to start. And Ryo [Michigami] scored a point as well. So I think Honda can be proud of everybody.”

Q:
Honda is equal on points with Volvo Polestar so that makes it even more exciting but Tiago, while acknowledging it’s not quite sunk in yet, psychologically how much of a difference does it make leaving here as the championship leader heading to the next race?

TM:
It’s a long championship even though it’s two races less than last year. It’s still 10 weekends and 20 races and we know a lot of things can happen. Look at last year, I mean it was a one-point difference between Norbi and I. I know every point will count definitely so it’s a big push and a big show of strength to start like this. But I’m not thinking about championships or anything yet. I want to score as many wins as possible. And if we do that, at the end of the day, we should be fighting for the championship so the goal is really to keep performing like this. We know we’re going to have some tougher tracks for us. We were competitive here last year and we were again very competitive here this weekend. We could confirm the work and the updates we have over the winter but we know the next races, not all of them, will be like this so it’s great to have this in the bag before the next event because Monza will definitely be a different game for us but we’ll see.

Q:
Turning next to Thed Bjork. Second in the Opening Race for Polestar Cyan Racing after what liked a very eventful race. Can you explain what happened from your perspective?

TB:
It was just a great feeling to be here at the start of the season. It’s such a nice feeling with the team working together with everyone. I didn’t expect this after what it was like here last year so we were happy with the performance. I got a good start but when Esteban was leading I could see he was slower in some points but he didn’t make any mistakes and did a really good job. But we felt really good and we did a really good job in the first race and we’re happy to get the points for second place.

Q:
Third place in the Opening Race but victory in the WTCC Trophy in the Main Race at your home event. How pleased are you with what you’ve achieved this weekend?

MB:
It was a great weekend. It’s not the best track for the Citroën because we saw last year that the car is not so quick here. But we tried to do our best and score points. This was our target and we deserve it today. I congratulate all the team of Sébastien Loeb Racing. They made a very good car, which was competitive in qualifying and even in the races. I tried to manage the starts, there were a lot of touches everywhere but I think it’s a good start to the season.

Q:
Turning next to Norbert Michelisz, completing a one-two for the Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team by beating Néstor into second place at the start. How did you manage that?

NM:
It was all down to the start. I was quite confident I could get alongside and be on the inside for the first corner and I was able to overtake Néstor. I have to say it was quite close because he made a really good start as well. We were side-by-side but Néstor was a bit behind. After the first corner I was confident we could stay in front. Not only because of the Marrakech circuit layout but because we had a brilliant car today. Like Tiago said, now we can see we really improved. We did a lot of work hours throughout the winter and I’m really happy to be part of this so thank you to all the Honda Racing family because driving such a great car is always special.

Q:
Turning next to Néstor Girolami. Not quite the race your second place in qualifying suggested but third position all the same. Talk us through your start but also your countryman Esteban Guerrieri won today, which sets up a very good season with two very competitive Argentinian drivers going for victory?

NG:
First of all, I would like to congratulate all of the guys here, they did an amazing job. It’s been a great start for Polestar Cyan Racing because the guys did a great job and pushed really hard. We did a very good winter test and the car improved a lot since last year so it’s a very proud day. From my side I am very happy with the weekend because we didn’t expect to be at this level. It’s a new circuit for me, a street circuit and it’s always much more difficult to be on the limit very quickly. We did a very good job in qualifying and Free Practice and improved the gap lap-by-lap. I would like to say thank you to Polestar Cyan Racing and maybe at Monza for the next time the track is better for the Volvo.

NM:
I forgot to say something! I would like to congratulate Tiago because this I forgot before. He was just driving brilliantly all weekend!