#WTCR Race of Portugal press conference transcript

Media Centre, Teatro de Vila Real, 19h00, Saturday 23 June

Present:
Yvan Muller, YMR, first position
Esteban Guerrieri, ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport, second position
Pepe Oriola, Team OSCARO by Campos Racing, third position
Edgar Florindo, Veloso Motorsport, leading Portuguese driver

Q:
A good victory following a very stressful afternoon after what happened to your YMR team-mate Thed Björk and your start in the first place. Just explain your race day from your point of view.

YM:
I don’t know how it happened exactly at the front because I did my best worst start of my career. I missed my start and that was lucky for me because I was not in the pack. I only have one car to repair and pay for tonight instead of two. But yes, Thed’s car is quite damaged. The boys have already started work on it. I believe they will spend all night working on it, but I’m sure they will fix it. Yes, this is a victory, I’ll take it of course. It’s important for the points. But I would like to think of Rob [Huff] and Mehdi [Bennani]. They were the fastest today and they should probably be on the podium, but unfortunately racing is as it is. It’s a victory, but not a real one.

Q:
Esteban, you came here looking for a podium treble and you’ve made a good start in Race 1?

EG:
First of all, congratulations to all the guys here for a good job. It was an interesting day. The first start I would say I was lucky because I’m here. I was in the pack and I don’t know how I got through, but I just appeared in front of all of them. Unfortunately, as Yvan says, you don’t want to be here because other people are not able to race, but I think for the future this is a good learning point for all of us. I was able to start the race because of the mechanics. I couldn’t believe all the effort they put in. It was really intense, the moment they finished the car and dropped it to the floor, and very emotional as I saw them hugging; from Yann’s car, from Thompson’s car, they hugged each other, smiled and said we did it. That was team spirit and I almost felt like crying, it was so emotional, but I had to do the job to bring the car home. Nothing broke down so it was perfect to finish the race and score good points. Sometimes I have been very unlucky during the season with little things, but in this case I was a bit lucky. For the rest, I hope they can repair their cars quickly and race again tomorrow.

Q:
Pepe, up until the final lap it was looking like fourth place for you, but you got third at the end. What happened?

PO:
Again, I want to think and to know that Mehdi and Rob are OK, because I was really shocked. It was the first time I’ve seen a driver get out of the car screaming in pain. I realised again that we are drivers and we can get hurt, but sometimes you don’t even think about it. Today was a day when I realised again. The last lap, I was pushing the whole race. I overtook Jean-Karl [Vernay] on the joker lap, even if it was a little after. We had a little bit of contact, but I managed to pass and then I tried to push as much as I could. I was close to the pace of the guys in front, but I’d lost too much time and then on the last lap I saw Gabriele. I don’t know if he had a puncture or touched the wall because the car was moving a little bit. I don’t think it was a puncture, but in races like this you have to push to the last lap. I am happy for all my team and my family to score a podium.

Q:
Edgar, this was your first time in the WTCR. Just explain your race and your experience please.

EF:
I had a difficult qualifying session. I was only able to do three clear laps with already worn tyres. It was not easy. Then the accident happened. I hope everyone is OK. I send them my compliments. In the race I was able to be fast and do a good race. I have good expectations for tomorrow. I had problems with the transmission and also some mechanical problems from the accident, but everything was OK and I hope to be OK for the race tomorrow.