October 01, 2004
The top 3 qualifiers answered questions from stand-in reporter Andy Graydon. Present were Ryan McConkey and Fernando Laaff (from MMC Racing) and Kieran Ryan (SCUM).

Pole Position - Ryan McConkey (MMC Racing - BMW)

Ryan, congratulations again! 3 consecutive Pole Positions, and we hear that the BMW guys are quite impressed with your recent performances. What has changed in the last few Qualifying runs to put you into this position?

"Hello Andy, thanks! It's amazing that I have been able to achieve 3 poles one after the other. It's really great for the team and it will hopefully show BMW that we can do well. Umm, we haven't really improved a lot on the car, just a new step in the engine, but I think it comes down to my confidence and my mental state. After that pole at Spa it was great seeing my name at the top of the time sheets and it sorta kicked me in the head and said, "Hey, you can do this!" I didn't expect to get 3 poles in a row though, that was a suprise! Hell, I'll try to get 5 in a row, haha."

With MMC Racing taking up the front row for the race, what tactics will the team be employing? Can you go for victory in this event?

"The team has a good strategy I think. I have a feeling a majority of the other teams are on the same strategy. We're very strong and a victory is definately possible. Whether it be Fernando or myself winning, I'll be very very pleased. The car is working extrememly well and it should be a good race for us."

Your new team-mate, Fernando, is alongside you on the grid. He?s new to the league, but his pace has been impressive. How did you manage to obtain his services?

"Well, first off I want to thank Fernando for joining the team. He's a great asset to have and I hope he stays with us for awhile now. We are very closely matched and thats great so you can push each other on the track. We managed to obtain Fernando from a rival series to the F1VWC. A friend of mine is his manager in that series and I just basically asked if any of his drivers could help me out. Fernando was very keen on driving for me and it worked out very smoothly."

That was some lap. Only man to get into the 1m 10sec laptimes. Can ya give us some comments on your lap?

"I knew I could pull a 1m10.9 outta the car, and I'm very glad I did. That lap was really good, but it didn't really start off so spectacular as I went alittle wide in Estoril, but the exit was normal, so I kept pushing. I think the real highlight of the lap was Turns 6 and 7. That really fast right, left. I've noticed on other drivers laps they lifted for that, but on my lap I was just going as hard as I could and I decided not to lift really and see what happened. I went through it like a bat outta hell and it was great that I pulled that off, and it just made me want to finish that lap off as best I could. I did the last complex pretty good I would say. I'm really happy with that lap."

2nd - Fernando Laaff (MMC Racing - BMW)

Fernando, welcome to the F1VWC, and your first Press Conference. P2 in your first Qualifying session, you must be pleased with that?

"Thanks Andy, and first an "hello" to everyone participating in this league, it`s nice to be here in my first press-conference ever! Concerning the lap, I am not pleased with my time anyway, but the result is very good for the team. And as long as my team-mate stands in front of me, everything is fine. Due to problems in adjusting the seat according to my desire we lost a lot of time in free practice so that I couldn`t check the real limit of the new car. But anyhow, I`m pleased to have acconplished my team-boss` expectations in my first session, hope we will continue like that."

Your team-mate is on P1, but you are both very closely matched ? at least in Qualifying trim. But the MMC cars have shown a tendency to drop off the pace come race day. Are you confident you can race as well as you qualified?

"First I want to congratulate Ryan to his 3rd poleposition in-a-row!!! Well done! Well, we aren`t closely matched at all, 0.150 secs. is a huge difference in a short course like Magny Cours. Like I said before I haven`t made many laps until now, so I am not sure about the race-performance of the car, but I`m sure that my performance will rise during the race because my race-speed and consistence is usually much better than one-lap-qualifyings! We will analyse Ryans data and decide what`s the best strategy for a long distance."

What attracted you to join MMC at this late stage of the season, and what was it that brought you to the F1VWC in particular?

"Let`s say MMC brought me to the F1VWC because I didn`t know the league at all until the team signed me. Ryan was searching for a reliable driver for a few races, then I checked out the rules of F1VWC and I was so impressed that I invited myself to join the team. He was pleased so everyone was happy and I signed the contract."

Will you be competing in the last three races here in F1VWC? And what about next year?

"I don`t know yet if I will compete in Brazil, too, but I am confirmed for Suzuka and I`m really looking forward to that event. Suzuka is an impressive track, it`s nice to drive there. And being fast there is even more fun. In Brasil Paul Sleight is probably returning to race-business, so I won`t compete in my home race. That`s sad. About next season I haven`t thought about yet! Let`s see if I have enough time for that league because you have to invest a lot of time to drive here properly. That`s all, bye."

3rd - Kieran Ryan (SCUM - Holden)

Kieran, you achieve SCUM?s first win of 2004 in the previous race, and their first top 3 qualifying of 2004. The mood in the SCUM camp must be unbelievable at the moment?

''The level of attention is quite high, which is unusal!'', he jokes. But yeh, the mood within the team is quite high. I must admit when I joined them their enthuasism wasn't as high as it would have been last year, which can be understandable, but with a win and now a 3rd in Qualifying they seem to be smiling once more. The team knows they can achieve 5th in the Constructors Championship so they are really pushing themselves along to work harder and find better times from the car."

How did your Qualifying lap go? Are you happy with your race strategy?

"It's been a difficult weekend, everyone's suffering from a hangover after Italy's celebration! I missed the first free practise session on Friday after I spun it off at Imola so that didn't do me any favours. I was messing around with setups right up 'till qualifying so I was quite 'all over the shop' with the setup but the team found a brilliant solution to my understeer problems and solved also the problem the car had, which was finding it too hard to take the kerbs without making errors so we just switched some things and it made it more driveable in the end.

I'm delighted with 3rd and having once again Mikko and Steve behind me is quite promising come race day, I don't know wheather win no.2 is really possible but it's not impossible as we know. I do love this track and my strategy is quite good I believe; we found the tyres wearing a little too much on the left front but my strategy should suit this problem and counteract it so yes I'm looking forward to race day."

Third in the Drivers Championship is not a feasible target, but 4th is where you are at the moment. Who do you see as your greatest rival in the fight for 4th position?

"Well, all I wanted this year when I returned at Spain was to win and be at least 4th in the championship and I've done that. With Paul out, and Shiro not competing again for a little while I'm actually pulling away from the rest so I can't really say who I would see as a rival. There are abour 4 people who aren't racing at the moment, for once reason or another, from Ryong down to Consiglio so it's really hard to say, but I guess Daniel can be a threat; he always did push me hard last year!"

A true testiment of a driver is to not win just once but repeat it and eventually take a Championship. With Monza now behind you, do you forsee more wins before 2004 ends and a possible 2nd shot at the Championship?

"Certainly Monza was unexpected I would have thought here at France, would be my first chance since Monaco to challange for a win so I was happy with Monza. It is a challange to win again, especially to win 2 in a row as that shows that the driver doesn't just win a gp here and there with no defined pattern. So to answer your question, yes I believe I can win again but when and where I honestly don't know, if I can win at Monza, I could win anywhere!

2002 was lucky for me, I was able to challange for the Championship in some way without actually winning. Next year with Phoenix should be another chance to take that fight up. It won't be easy that's for sure but I do have a new found spirit of energy to fight harder and drive faster and I do hope one day I can clinch the Championship. Besides I think it would be nice to see a non-Finn win it again (as it seems Mikko will win it this year).''