August 01, 2004
Philip Williams, Scott Whiteman and Steve Elencevski were interviewed by Andy Graydon following their top 3 qualifying performances at Hockenheim.

POLE - Philip Williams (Woods Racing - Toyota)

Q - Watching your lap unfold, what amazed me is how smooth you looked out there. Compared to some of the other drivers you didn?t seem be to fast but the split times were there. Are you willing to share your secret with us?

A ? Sadly there is no big secret to share. I tend to have quite a smooth driving style here whereas some others prefer a livelier car to launch into corners. You can easily lose time with the car sideways and, with the relatively low BHP of our Toyota engine, I needed all the momentum I could get for the long straights. Power isn't so important in the stadium and so that went very well for us. I am happy to be on pole but would have preferred to be there without the disqualification of others.

Q ? The Woods car doesn?t have the most powerful engine on the grid in the Toyota. Could this cause you problems over 45 laps where you?ll be on full throttle for at least 80% of the time?

A ? Indeed, it is no secret that we are down on power and it hurts us by as much as a whole second at circuits like Hockenheim. I am sure the engine will last the race but we will be under attack down the long straights. Scott and Mikko certainly have a significant power advantage so I will be looking to open up a gap in the stadium before starting the 4 straights. It will be a tough race, especially as long runs are unknowns to me after missing practice sessions.

Q - This is your second race on the trot. With Goodley retiring, will we see you in Hungary? Or was this another short notice ?stop-gap? for the Woods Racing Team?

A ? For Hockenheim it was another short notice "stop-gap". I had very little time for practise so I was amazed to get pole. We are unsure about the driver line up in Hungary at the moment, but we should have Vincent back to occupy one of the seats.

Q ? What is the atmosphere like in the team after Silverstone?

A ? The whole team is on a high at the moment and the pressure release has made for a much better working environment in the garage. Hopefully we can continue the success with another win and I feel we have an excellent chance of a double points finish with Phil doing a great job here.

2nd - Scott Whiteman (EIRE - Jaguar)

Q ? Nice lap Scott, a bit better than your effort in qualifying at Silverstone?

A ? Well the lap itself wasn't too good, but thanks to a couple of other guys running off track it has put me in second position, which given the amount of fuel in the car is actually a quite good spot to be starting from.

Q ? You?ve been catching Mikko in the Drivers Championship steadily over the last few races, but could he cause you problems here with his BHP advantage?

A ? Mikko is capable of causing problems for me on any track, not just those with long straights, plus he still has 10 points lead in the championship, which is more than the gap from myself to Steve.

Q ? What?s it like having Ross back in the team? He was involved in the tightest of battles for the mid order drivers, but to see him 8th must be a boost for the team?

A ? Ross is a good bloke to have around the team quarters, although he has been disillusioned with his driving for EIRE of late, hopefully starting from what would be a point scoring position in the race will give him the confidence to really get out there and attack the circuit.

Q ? Finally, can you guys still catch Mapes-VO in the constructors championship or have you given up hope?

A - We'd like to think that we can, as long as we believe that there is still a chance we will be giving our all to accomplish it.

3rd - Steve Elencevski (FinOz - Ferrari (c))

Q ? Steve, very much the man on a charge in the Drivers Championship, 3rd at Hockenheim is a good place to start the race from. Will your customer Ferrari engines deliver for you here?

A ? I think we should be ok. I really thought we'd really struggle here as i haven't driven on this circuit before, so to start from 3rd is surprising and i think we should go well in the race, i'm sure we are on the right strategy & it's just a matter of being quick over the 45 laps. I don't think we can challenge for the lead, so it's obviously going to be another battle for the other 2 podium positions.

Q - As co-owner of the FinOz team, you must be pleased that your nearest challenger in the Constructors Championship ? Phoenix F1 ? have hit a dip in form? What is the teams target in the Constructors title for the rest of the season?

A ? Yes it's nice to see us slightly pulling away from Phoenix, but we have to keep it up for the remaining races & even try to challenge for 2nd, it should be interesting.

Q ? In your debut season as a GP4 driver, you seem to improving race by race. Are you beginning to enjoy your driving again, and how do you compare this category to your previous GP3 experiences?

A ? We had a frustrating start to the season cause we we're very competitive in qualifying but struggled a bit over a whole race distance. We seemed to have gotten our race pace together also & we didn't think we'd be in the top 3 in both championships, so it's all coming together. As for comparing the 2 categories, i have to say it's much more challenging driving GP4 & i seem to be enjoying it much more than GP3.