At the top of this check, and whereas his program within the French Asphalt Championship resumes tomorrow with the reconnaissance of the Rouergue, the pilot of the two Alpes historically returned to his weekend in his column written within the aircraft of his return from Latvia.
After an encouraging Poland, you sadly might not likely verify in Latvia, trapped by your place of opener on Friday.
“We couldn’t confirm with a raw result but we confirmed a lot with Benj and the team. We really wanted to progress between these 2 rallies, I worked a lot on the achievements and the videos from Poland to confirm certain things. Of course, everything is not yet perfect after only 2 races, but we had a first step. I hope to be able to skip 1 or 2 by the end of the season to get to the desired floor as quickly as possible. ”
Can we are saying that you just lastly skilled two completely different rallies between the 2 phases?
“2 completely different rallies yes. The first day was of course doomed from a sporting point of view because the sweep in this race is really important. But in terms of learning, we have learned a lot. I had never had the chance to sweep the road before, the only experience I had on this subject was sweeping the kitchen, even in some extreme cases the dining room …
However, the second day, we were keen to do well with a much more advantageous position. Unfortunately, a puncture in the first lap, consequently depriving us of a spare wheel for the following lap, forced us to be careful. We then managed to get some interesting lap times close to the race leader (4th and 6th fastest), something we were unable to do in Poland! ”
By opening the street like this, did your driving have to alter? Different trajectories, completely different settings?
“Driving does not change that much, it is above all the speed of passage in bends and the braking points that do change. The terrain is much more slippery, and therefore more tricky. ”
What did you consider the phases and the ambiance of this rally? Is this a profile that you just like?
“We discovered a magnificent rally, but very different from what we usually know. Mikkelsen says he finds it as difficult as in Finland. Taking notes to find the turns that go completely or almost is not easy to anticipate the first year. It takes a lot of courage but above all experience for this kind of exercise. ”
Do you suppose you’ve progressed when it comes to feeling and efficiency between Poland and Latvia?
“The work we did between Poland and Latvia paid off in this race even if everything did not translate into the lap times. We’re automating things on this unfamiliar surface. Having said that, driving on gravel brings a lot of pleasure, everything is very different from asphalt, but the pleasure is immense. ”
What do you consider the qualifying format and the beginning order for the highest 15? The beginning positions of Breen and Llarena specifically irritated some pilots.
“Qualifying is clearly a very bad thing for the sporting side. Today in the ERC, too many drivers are fighting for the top places. We cannot sacrifice the race of some because of a bad qualifying or a bad strategy. The ideal would be to offer the starting order to all the competitors in the category. In this case there would be no strategy and the best one wins. The FIA was aware of the problem this weekend and I hope they will hear from us in order to change the qualifying regulations. ”
Back this week on asphalt, and extra exactly in Rouergue. What are the actual traits of this occasion?
“The Rouergue arrives very quickly, it’s a fast, bumpy, and hot rally. This heat poses a soil problem every year. The smooth tar patches melt in the sun and make the ground very slippery. This race is a real challenge every year. ”
