Citroen chief reflects on the season to date...

Q:

Olivier - going into the Rally of Turkey, what is your opinion of the season so far from a personal point of view? Has running a team like Citroen Sport been what you expected?

Olivier Quesenl:

I think you can sum up the year so far in a few figures: six months, seven rallies and five wins! Sebastien [Loeb] and Daniel [Elena] are a point clear in the Drivers' championship, while Citroen is two points off top spot in the Manufacturers' standings. The first half of the season has gone satisfactorily so far, although we haven't entirely been spared ill-luck, as we saw in Jordan, for example. I've only been in the job a short time, but it's been something of an emotional roller-coaster. The work itself is as interesting and captivating as I had imagined it. When you're enjoying a successful run, you feel neither the fatigue nor the pressure; you just learn to live with them. In any case, I don't feel that I've been overtaken by events. One thing I especially appreciate is seeing a car return to service after winning a rally. That is a special moment that the entire team can share and profit from just before the official finish ceremony.

Q:

Both Citroen crews have enjoyed strong runs during the first half of the season…

OQ:

With a score of five wins from seven starts to their name, Sebastien and Daniel had a practically perfect run so far. They have taken their total score to 41 WRC wins and the more I work with them, the more I see how complementary they are. Dani [Sordo] and Marc [Marti] have improved each time out, too. They are close to being able to maintain the same, fast pace over the full three days of an event and to obtaining some top results on gravel.

Q:

The Citroen C4 has perhaps never been as impressive as it has been so far this season?

OQ:

That has been one of my principal sources of satisfaction over the first half of 2008. Despite our win in Mexico, we saw that work was still needed to make the C4 even more competitive, but that is less the case today. Citroen Sport's engineers and mechanics have done a remarkable job, and Seb and Dani are delighted with the car. That's a good sign, because it means that our technical staff haven't been resting on their laurels despite our run of success; they are still capable of calling their work into question. They have found solutions to the questions that arose following the introduction of a control tyre system. The work on adapting our car to the Pirelli tyres is going in the right direction.

Q:

How do you see the rest of the season unfolding?

OQ:

Turkey marks the halfway point in the season and the gaps at the top of the championship are very small. We face a tough fight but I am nonetheless confident. Of the eight rounds still to come, three are on asphalt. Seb and Dani [Sordo] have traditionally always been strong on the sealed surface events which have produced some good results for the team. One of our objectives, too, will be to help Sébastien and Daniel win the Rally Finland.