Post-event press conference - Rallye Catalunya.

Drivers / Co-drivers: Gilles Panizzi and Herve Panizzi (Peugeot), Sebastien Loeb and Daniel Elena (Citroen), and Markko Martin and Michael Park (Ford).
Team principal: Corrado Provera (Peugeot).

Press conference.

Q:
Gilles, congratulations on an extraordinary victory. Can you explain what happened in the last stages?

Gilles Panizzi:
It's difficult to explain the feeling of winning here, it would take me all evening. It's been a crazy day and I'm very satisfied of being here.

Q:
Herve, congratulations to you too. Is it a relief after such a difficult season?

Herve Panizzi:
Yes, the victory comes as a relief in such a difficult season, and comparing this win to all the other ones in our career, we must say that this one is our favourite. The best memory of racing with Peugeot is ending at the podium of the Rally Catalunya.

Q:
Sebastien, congratulations, do you feel more disappointed to lose a victory after leading for so long, or happy to be in joint lead of the championship with just one round to go?

Sebastien Loeb:
I'm disappointed to lose a victory after leading for so long, just because of a bad tyre choice. I stuck to the compound I had during the morning runs because it was the one I felt comfortable with, but looking at it now from this perspective, I realise that I should probably have changed it.

Q:
Markko, congratulations on your third place after a difficult rally. How close do you think you came to winning?

Markko Martin:
In this race I came to the victory as close as I could. Today we had a good set-up. We could have done a great time, but we are happy with the third position.

Q:
Michael, well done, you had a big accident in Corsica last time out. Did that affect your performance here? Markko was in quite a lot of pain...

Michael Park:
We started slowly because of his neck problems and he needed physiotherapy and other elements to feel comfortable during the driving, but in the second leg we improved, ending in second place.

Q:
Corrado, Peugeot's results on asphalt rallies up until now have not been what you hoped - does this result and this performance from Gilles and Herv? answer the criticism?

Corrado Provera:
We've heard many things, that the car is dead, that we are dead, but we never believed them and we only concentrated in doing what had to be done. It's a shame about Richard Burns, since he was doing a beautiful race. Our goals are to be competitive and win rallies, to take advantage of Gille's and Herv?'s talent and having the team work fantastically. I'm very proud to say that people will still have to put up with us for a long time. This is Panizzi's last season with Peugeot, and they have given us a lot of good moments and very little bad ones, but it's easy to forgive the bad ones with their results. After the RAC we will shake hands and Peugeot will wish them good luck.

Q:
Gilles, this is your last rally as a Peugeot driver. What memories do you keep of your career at Peugeot?

GP:
The best memory of racing with Peugeot is ending at the podium of the Rally Catalunya.

Q:
Herve, you have been next to your brother from the very beginning of his career. How is this victory different form all the others?

HP:
This one is my favourite one.

Q:
Sebastien, now we move on to the RAC, where you have to beat your team-mate Carlos Sainz and also face the challenge of Petter Solberg to win the Championship. How optimistic are you feeling?

SL:
I feel optimistic because I'm waiting for the moment to aim for the victory and now we must concentrate on the RAC Rally and run as fast as we can to win despite the pressure.

Q:
Daniel, we are at the end of three asphalt rallies, all close together, all in the month of October. Do you think that this arrangement has worked?

DE:
This was a good system, it went well for us, but it could have been worse.

Q:
Markko, there's been a lot of speculation about the future of Ford rallying next year. Do you feel worried about your future? Or are you confident that a solution will be found?

MM:
I'll try to do my best in the stages, and I'll accept any decision. I feel we have the ingredients to win this race or the next one, and I hope I can be competitive in all the conditions. I'll just do the job and see what happens next. As for the three asphalt altogether, it's fine as long as you don't have problems, but if something happens, just like it happened to me, you cannot recover in such a short time.

Q:
Michael, there were a few stages this year. How well do you think they worked? Are there any ways you feel this event could be improved in the future?

MP:
The new stages were OK, except for one in a leg which was run backwards the next day which was way too fast. I understand that the organisation has to have this kind of stages where they concentrate hundreds of spectators to have a good view, but it is extremely fast, and today it was wet, which was a total challenge.