MEET THE CREWS SESSION DAY 2

Present:
Jost Capito, Volkswagen Motorsport
Michel Nandan, Hyundai Motorsport
Malcolm Wilson, M-Sport World Rally Team
Andreas Mikkelsen, Volkswagen Motorsport
Sébastien Ogier, Volkswagen Motorsport
Thierry Neuville, Hyundai Motorsport

Q:
Jost, let’s start with you. What have you thought of the competition out there? Are you surprised to see Andreas Mikkelsen leading tonight?
JC:
Guten Abend zusammen, vielen Dank furs Kommen. Andreas did a fantastic job and we didn’t expect him leading the rally after the first day, but he is very happy about it, as you can imagine, and he was the most consistent through the whole day and he is in a good position and deserves it.

Q:
He certainly does and we have a really good battle going between himself, between Sébastien Ogier, Thierry Neuville, Dani Sordo. It’s great to see that kind of fight here, Jost.
JC:
Yes, it is fantastic to see the top four really fighting for every second. I think everything is completely open for tomorrow and tomorrow’s stages have a completely different character, so we will see a different rally, but I hope the same result.

Q:
We hope to see them continue to fight, that’s for sure. Talk to us about Jari-Matti, though, because there was disappointment for him this morning. We didn’t see him complete the first stage. We heard gearbox issues. What was the problem, Jost?
JC:
Yes, definitely a gearbox issue. He got stuck in gear and the gearbox broke. We have no idea what it is, because according to the regulations, we are not allowed to open the gearbox until after the next rally, so that will be in October when we will know what really happened. We can’t say until then.

Q:
Jost, for you personally, we know that you are not going to be with the team for much longer. You are at home, it’s the home event for yourself, for the team. You obviously want to go out on a high. To get a win here would be great for you, yes?
JC:
Yes, it would be fantastic to end my time at Volkswagen Motorsport with a win. It’s still possible, but everything is possible. It is great to end the period with Volkswagen Motorsport at the Rallye Deutschland and that is what I wanted, to stay at least until Rallye Deutschland, because it is the home event, it is very emotional and the end of a perfect story.

Q:
Let’s turn to Michel Nandan then. As I mentioned to Jost, we have seen a fantastic battle between Volkswagen and Hyundai drivers here so far. Thierry is pushing, Dani has been pushing today. Have they got more to give tomorrow, though? Can you beat the Volkswagens here?
MN:
I hope… Well, I know that they are trying their best. It is a nice battle at the top. I know that they can have a very good rally, a good fight. Tomorrow is a very difficult day with the Panzerplatte stage, which is quite long, so everybody has to be really careful that they stay on the road. The stages of today were quite difficult as well, but we know that tomorrow will be another one, the big one.

Q:
It certainly is a big stage tomorrow. How impressed have you been with the boys’ performance today and was the objective to go for a win? Hyundai has had so much success here in the past, you would be disappointed with everything other than a win, surely?
MN:
Well, you know, for us, it is the first proper tarmac event with the New i20 WRC. It is true that we took care about the preparation for the event. We did two good tests, because we had to do a bit more tarmac testing. Even last year we did much more gravel than tarmac. So it is true that we took care about the preparation, also knowing that we have a tarmac event now, so we need to perform a bit more on tarmac. For us, the preparation was done like we are doing (for) all the other events, so nothing very special. Of course, we would like to perform well here, because it is our home event as well. Yes, we are a bit more careful, but let’s say we are doing the preparation like for all other events.

Q:
A follow-up about Hayden Paddon, your third driver today. I think he described his day as ‘lively’, which is underestimating it a bit. He had a huge moment earlier on, but he has made it to the end of the day safely, thankfully. I think that the car is glad to be back at service.
MN:
I think that he was also quite lucky. He had a huge moment and I don’t think that there was one stage where he didn’t have trouble, starting with the first one and then a puncture on the second one. Then an off. Let’s say he has to be more concentrated in his driving. We saw that the stages are quite difficult, as we said before, and Hayden is still a bit learning on tarmac, so he has to keep going and probably be a bit more cautious.

Q:
Let’s turn to Malcolm Wilson now from M-Sport. Malcolm, it is fair to say that a lot of people were keen to see what Eric Camili would do here this weekend. It is where you first noticed Eric’s talent a few years ago. He has been here twice before, not in a World Rally Car, but on the first stage this morning, he didn’t even make it through. What exactly happened out there and how are you feeling about that?
MW:
Like a lot of people, you can imagine that I am disappointed, because this was the event…coming to the event, this was the event he had the most experience of the events he has done so far. I think the fact that he had been here twice before put him… he put himself under too much pressure to get an even better result than he has been getting, the progress he has been making. I am really disappointed. The only consolation is that there is no damage to the car. He was only a couple of metres off the road, but couldn’t get back on, so at least he can continue tomorrow and get some more valuable experience that he needs.

Q:
Will you do a bit of testing with anything with him tomorrow now or is it just about him getting the kilometres under his belt?
MW:
The main thing is to really get him to get the kilometres under his belt and try and make sure that he gets his confidence back and be ready for the next event.

Q:
Mads Østberg is representing M-Sport,of course, and so is Ott Tänak. Mads has told us that tomorrow, on the military stages, that is where he will pick up a bit of pace. He feels more comfortable there. What have you thought of Mads’s performance today and Mr. Tänak?
MW:
They are both here and we have seen how many issues there have been today. As we just heard, tomorrow is a very, very difficult day and the long stages. I am sure that there will be some drama tomorrow, especially if the rain still keeps coming, then that is going to make it even more difficult, but hopefully, they can improve their positions there tomorrow.

Q:
Let’s start off with our rally leader then at the end of day one, that is Andreas Mikkelsen. Now did you imagine you would be standing there, in the middle of these two guys, at the end of day one, leading the rally?
AM:
Well, probably not. I was hoping that I would be able to fight up front, but it has been a really good day. I was really lucky on stage one, but we are still here. We had quite a hard hit, but nothing really happened, which also shows that the Polo is a strong car, but it has been a great day. Trying as best as I can. The guys there are doing an amazing job, so we have to fight hard to stay in that fight, but ending the day in first place is a really nice feeling.

Q:
So many drivers had moments out there. You are all pushing as hard as you can, but do you have a little bit more in the tank for tomorrow, Andreas? Can you keep these guys behind?
AM:
Well, I will try. I know that it will be a very difficult day, going into the military area, where I have been struggling a little bit before with the pace. Knowing that Sébastien really loves the stages, so he will push hard, but we will do the best we can. It will be difficult, but we have to give it all.

Q:
You said Séb likes the stages, but what about you then? What do you think about the stages tomorrow? Are you happy with them? Are you feeling confident?
AM:
I like them more than the vineyards. I am not a big fan of the vineyard stages, really, it is very, very tricky, so I think tomorrow should be a good day. I hope that we can improve from the last couple of years in these stages.

Q:
Let’s turn to our world champion, Sébastien Ogier. Séb, you got off to a great start this morning. We know you have got a hunger to get a win under your belt. It has been a while since we have seen you on the top step. Starting great on stage one, stage two with a little mistake, but it seems that everyone has made a mistake somewhere along the line today. It’s been a tough day, yeah?

SO:
Yes, it has been. Meanwhile, I think these two guys have done a good job today. They were really pushing and had some great times. I think this morning I started a bit too much on the defensive side. On the first stage, definitely, it was good to be first on the road and even by being safe on the drive, I managed to be the fastest, but then, we had some troubles on the second stage, where I had a brake issue a little bit and did some mistakes, but okay, I am happy to be there today, still in the fight, close to Andreas. Thierry is also just behind us, so tomorrow is the big day of Rallye Deutschland where the differences should happen normally. Andreas says that I like the stages, but that is not really true. I never really liked them, but I have always been quite performant. Hopefully, it will be the same tomorrow and I just hope that the first three or four stay out of trouble, out of punctures there and continue to have a great fight like we had today.

Q:
It is interesting, it is exciting to be in a tight fight like this. For us, it is great to watch, but for you guys, it must be great as well.
SO:
Yes, especially for me. It has been a long time since I have been involved in a fight for victory, so I enjoyed this day. So far, the feeling is good, but like I said, I had to wake up a little bit, because they were doing very good times. Then I had to push more to try to reduce the gap, so I am glad that I made it at the end of the day and I came a bit closer. I am also glad that Andreas didn’t say that he has more in the tank, because he was pretty fast already today.

Q:
Were you surprised by his pace, Séb?
SO:
It was not really a surprise because he is a strong driver, he can be fast everywhere. We know that now. We know that he definitely is a strong contender for us and that makes it exciting, so it is not a surprise, but for sure, he has improved from last year here and today, he was the fastest of us, so we have to do a bit better tomorrow if we want to try and catch him.

Q:
Let’s turn to the man who is in third position now, that’s Thierry Neuville. It’s been a fantastic day for you out there today. You were in second, you did lose that second place, though, on the final stage, that short stage today. But overall, Thierry, it’s been a great day.
TN:
The day was okay. We had a good start into the rally, improving the car as well, so it was quite nice. I felt pretty comfortable out there this afternoon, but then I made two small mistakes this afternoon. I had a spin, in which I lost three to four seconds, and on the last stage, I was overdriving, so I went a bit wide and lost a couple of seconds. The guys were pretty fast, but we are still in third, close to the victory, first position, so we are going to keep up the pressure and see what it will be tomorrow.

Q:
What do you think about the military stages? How do you go on those? Are you confident?
TN:
I hope it will be an advantage to me compared to these two guys, because they don’t like the stages, but I really love the stages, so I hope it can help me, but we have to be careful not to overdrive. Conditions are going to be tricky tomorrow. We see the rain falling now and the road is going to be dirty. I will do my best. We had a very good day today. We are the leading Hyundai and very close to first place. I think we couldn’t do much better than that.

Q:
Does it help having that huge support? You are as close to home pretty much as you are going to get here at Rallye Deutschland. The fanclub is there.
TN:
Yes, obviously, they are everywhere. It is not a surprise to see them now, but obviously for this rally, there are always a bit more people. It was nice to see so many Belgian flags on the stages today, but overall, so many spectators, that is a good sign for the WRC as well.

Q:
Your brother Yannick is driving as well. Are you keeping an eye on his times or are you just focussed on your own?
TN:
I am always watching the stage times. He is doing pretty well. He is seventeenth or sixteenth overall, for his debut in the World Rally Championship with a really fast car, so I think that is good. Obviously, he has had some issues. He broke a rim on the second stage this morning, but he is still running, so he is doing well.