WRC – K. Rovanpera: “I haven’t seen rain like this anywhere else before”

FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP

Present:
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT – Kalle Rovanperä (FIN), Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT – Elfyn Evans (GBR), Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team – Ott Tänak (EST), Hyundai i20 N Rally1
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT – Jari-Matti Latvala (FIN), Team Principal

Q:
Kalle, you recreate the magic of last year’s first WRC win. How has it been out there on the stages?
KR:
Generally, of course it was a nice weekend. Big fight already from the beginning with the guys [while] opening the road. Elfyn was also there all the time giving pressure. Nice weekend, proper rally driving and nice stages.

Q:
What did you think of the conditions out there today?
KR:
I think I haven’t seen rain like this anywhere else before. It seemed like any time we had a break or road section there was sunshine and then on the startline it was always raining. Quite extreme conditions a few times.

Q:
Impressive final stage for you, was getting the five points a plan before the stage?
KR:
I saw that there was heavy rain before for the guys and then a bit less and less for the last cars to come through. I knew that we had a chance to have a good position to start the stage. Then I pushed for it and the time was good.

Q:
How did it feel out there on that stage? Any hot moments in those difficult conditions?
KR:
Of course in these conditions you have some situations where it feels a bit sketchy and not so good but, generally, if I think about the time and the moments, I didn’t really have many moments. I was quite happy with the drive and still managing the pace quite a lot.

Q:
How much are you thinking about potentially taking the title this year?
KR:
Of course we have to think about it. We have a good points lead, of course there’s some races to go, but we try to fight for it.

Q:
Elfyn, are you happy with your performance?
EE:
You can never be fully happy when you finish second. It’s not been an easy season up to this point of course, it’s good points again but like I mentioned, a tale of two halves. Happy to at least be on the podium again, disappointed not to be more competitive.

Q:
How difficult was it out there, getting used to the dry in the morning and then having different conditions in the afternoon?
EE:
More or less the same for everyone, or let’s say, at least the conditions were changing for everyone. At the end of the day, we have to try and adapt, it was tricky out there in certain sections during the weekend.

Q:
Kalle has a good lead in the title race, but what are your thoughts about the championship?
EE:
It was already a pretty long reach and it just got longer. Like I mentioned already, it doesn’t change our approach, we go to every rally to give our best and of course the team as well.

Q:
The next event is in Finland, where you won last year. Are you looking forward to it? Kalle will surely want to win it. How keen are you on stopping him?
EE:
Pretty keen, let’s wait and see how it goes. It’s always a great event. You always can enjoy so much and it’s always my favourite event, if not the favourite, on the calendar.

Q:
Ott, it’s a podium from your home event. Are you still frustrated or satisfied with what you got?
OT:
With what we had, we did the best we could. Still, the two guys were very far off, but in the end we got away with some points and all three cars got some mileage.

Q:
The i20 car development is still going on during events. How confident are you that things could be different for Finland or is it too short turnaround time between now and then?
OT:
Let’s see. I’m sure we can react [with] something, but they are more like deep details and technical stuff. All these years have been challenging for us since we lost the team principal last year. It’s been a very hard time, and with the crisis in the world and regulations coming in late. We definitely need a strong leader. The work is ongoing and it’s going to happen, and we will continue working to get Hyundai to where it belongs to give a fight to the Toyotas. But for sure they are doing very strong at the moment, they are developing and moving fast. It’s a big job to do.

Q:
You feel confident that it is possible to turn this around. Some people are questioning whether you or Hyundai are continuing. Are you sure that Hyundai will continue in the WRC?
OT:
Hyundai is definitely going to continue, there is great support from Korea. For sure everybody wanted a lot, but let’s just say it needs some very straightforward changes in the general structure. We’re working on it, this year looks difficult but in long term it’s important for the sport as well we come back.

Q:
How difficult did the weather make the rally for you?
OT:
Like Kalle just said, we haven’t seen this kind of changing weather. We’ve been to Wales where it always rains. Showering on-off like this and the amount of water we got at times… never done any rally like this in Estonia before.

Q:
How challenging was it with the conditions out there?
OT:
It was challenging, you never knew what the next stage will be like. You never knew where is mud, the surface is changing all the time, the weather was changing all the time, different places getting different amount of water. It was a tough job.

Q:
Jari-Matti, how satisfied are you, as a team boos, with the result? 
J-ML:
I couldn’t be more satisfied, I had four Toyotas in top six. This was a fast, flowing event. We had Sweden this year with the fast road, but this was the first time on gravel. We could see early on that the performance of the car was there, so we were happy with that. Our drivers really were on top of the game. The conditions, [saying this] as an ex-driver, it was not comfortable; always changing grip levels, changing constantly. Winning a rally where you think it’s summer and where the grip should be straightforward… It was a tough weekend, but they did an excellent job, it seems like Kalle is stronger when the conditions are difficult.

Q:
What did you think of the final, Wolf Power Stage? What was going through your mind at that point?
J-ML:
Many things went through my mind. When we saw the first cars go through, I thought that this is not going to be nice for our cars. We thought that [Andreas] Mikkelsen would win and we don’t have a chance. It was looking better, then we saw Elfyn’s splits and maybe he is going to go for it. Then I thought that maybe Kalle is going to go for it, but he won’t be able to be much faster and then he did the first split and then I thought I won’t say anything again ever. I don’t know how often the Power Stage is won by over 20 seconds. Okay, the conditions were very special and the conditions were getting better, improving. Still, I can say that there’s many drivers that would take these risks leading a rally, Kalle was up for it. All our drivers did a great job because they were all on Power Stage points.

Q:
When is the first opportunity for Kalle to seal the deal [the title]?
J-ML:
He has more than 80 points lead, which means he can go off in three rallies. Almost three rallies. I think it will be in Acropolis.

Questions from the floor:

Reiner Kuhn, Motorsport Aktuell (DEU)
Ott, looking at Finland, would you think that your chances of fighting are better in consistent conditions?
OT: 
In a way, it’s true, but it’s like it is on Friday, when I was running the 100-metre final, these guys were warming up, so it’s that kind of a level. 

Reiner Kuhn, Motorsport Aktuell (DEU)
Are you on the limits of what the package [Hyundai] can offer you?
OT: 
We have been missing out quite a bit, we will work on it. Hopefully we will get a bit closer. To match them [Toyota] is a bit out of reach.

FIA WRC2 CHAMPIONSHIP

Present:
Toksport WRT – Andreas Mikkelsen (NOR), Škoda Fabia Rally2 Evo

Q:
Andreas, you needed big points here and you got it. How exhausted are you after the big battle with Teemu Suninen?
AM:
It has been a big battle all weekend, [Emil] Lindholm was there too until he made a mistake. There was no time to rest or to breathe during the stages. The conditions were changing all the time, so you have to pay strong attention to every road detail. Not an easy weekend. On top of that, Teemu drove super well, so we really needed to have a good pace and push to stay in front. I tried to control it this morning, but Teemu went surprisingly fast in the rain and he gained a lot of time. In the last stage, we decided to go flat out and that we really needed the maximum points. We managed and it was a big success.

Q:
How intense was that final stage, because Teemu was getting pretty close to you?
AM:
To be honest, I was a bit angry on the start line because so far this year the leader of the WRC2 starts third on the road, not first, and now I was suddenly first on the road. I was afraid there would be big aquaplaning. In the end, it was a good thing that we were first on the road. Midway we hit heavy torrential weather where the guys behind got more rain than us. So I can just imagine how it was for the people behind. But we did the maximum we could, I didn’t leave one more tenth in there. We had to be flat out. We knew Teemu was going to push. It was a very much needed victory. A crazy last stage, don’t ask me to do it again.

Q:
You’ve had two retirements this year. The pressure is still on?
AM:
We have two rallies coming up. I mean, it’s frustrating to look at the last two results, we could have had five wins out of five and done the championship by now. But we need to be perfect on the last two rallies to have a chance to win. We haven’t decided which rallies to do yet, obviously we are waiting for the new Škoda, which has been delayed. I have to sit down with the team now and decide what to do next because we had to see the results of this rally.

Q:
When will we see the new Škoda in action?
AM:
It won’t be in Finland, but we’re hoping to see it in a rally after that.

FIA WRC3 CHAMPIONSHIP / FIA JUNIOR WRC CHAMPIONSHIP

Present:
Sami Pajari (FIN), Ford Fiesta Rally3

Q:
Congratulations! It was an impressive win this weekend. How do you feel?
SP:
For the moment, it’s a huge relief, somehow it was stressful all weekend. It’s now done and finished. It went really well, the result was really good and it looks good for the championship. Really happy.

Q:
You had some issues this weekend. Handbrake or transmission issues?
SP: 
Some issues we had yes. I was not able to fix the issues on the road, so we had to suffer through the loop. The guys fixed it in service. Today the car was fine. It is like this in rallying and sometimes you need to survive.

Q:
The championship is so close between the drivers. How do you approach a difficult rally like Greece, where it’s double points?
SP:
It’s maybe better less you think about it. I think the situation is quite similar to last year, whoever wins the last rally is the champion. You just need to go for it and then see it how it goes. Greece is for sure a rally where it’s about surviving, not being the fastest, so it will be a huge challenge for everyone.

Q:
Last year, it was dry and sunshine. What did you think of the conditions out there today?
SP:
To be honest, it was no way more difficult than last year. Okay, I think the situation was, looking from the result, for us quite good for quite long, similar to last year. I was leading from the halfway, the margin was quite big. I would say it’s even more mentally difficult and hard when you need to change your speed and not make anything stupid, then you don’t need to be the fastest. That’s a big challenge, but okay for myself it’s good to see that I can be wise in these situations and be stronger in the future. Positive things. The weather was so crazy, let’s say, at the end of the stage, before knowing other times, you don’t know if you lost 20 seconds or you’ve won by 20 seconds. It was just so difficult every corner.

Q:
How much were you thinking about Robert Virves, who was chasing you down?
SP:
Maybe a bit, but I would say still it was, when we started the day, also Jon [Armstrong] and Robert were both quite close. Robert got past Jon so, let’s say, I was maybe not focusing on what they are doing, I just tried to keep a good rhythm and still somehow look at the times. The morning loop was really good for us, in the dry I was at good speed and enjoying. When the rain came then it was more challenging.