October 21, 2004
The top 3 drivers - Fernando Laaff (MMC); Steve Elencevski (FinOz); and Mikko Jakonen (Mapes-VO) answer the questions posed by stand in Pit Reporter Andy Graydon following the Japanese GP.

1st Fernando Laaff (MMC Racing - BMW)

Fernando, an excellent victory for the MMC team and for yourself. I presume that BMW power would have given you an advantage here over the other teams, but you obviously made the difference come race day. What does it feel like on top of the podium?

"Thanks Andy! First I want to congratulate the whole MMC-team and especially ryan to this well deserved and long awaited team victory! I think it`s an highlight for the whole team after this maybe disappointing season. For me it was a "comeback to speed" after the disappointing race in france. But this previous race has influenced my working attitude here a lot and i used this experience to do a better job here in Suzuka! Big thanks to BMW for delivering such a powerful package which probably made the difference. In addition I have to confess that Suzuka is my favourite racetrack, but I was never able to win there. So it feels really good to be on top of the podium in this special and competitive championship."

Your race strategy played a key part here, with your Qualifying run on heavy fuel giving you an advantage over your rivals that you were able to consolidate mid race. How tough were those opening laps with a heavy car?

"The first stint wasn`t that hard, I was consistent and was able to clock competitive times. The second stint was really tough, I struggled with oversteering in some parts of the track. Finally, my last stint was a safety one, having in mind my good race position.

Before the race-weekend began I was just focussed on a good race-performance! So I sacrified a good quali-result to start on heavy fuel and doing only 2 pitstops! Honestly, considering my handling problems during my race, I´m sure that a 3-stop-strategy would have been much faster. My setup was made for low-fuel, and I would have been able to clock low 1.30's with help of BMW-boost. But who the hell talks of wrong strategy after a victory?!"

We hear that you won?t be driving in Brazil, what would have been you home GP. Any particular reason for this?

"See, Ryan McCookie (!) has caught my duties for the last three races, having in mind that Paul Sleight (well done teamie) would probably return at times! Surprisingly, Paul returned in Suzuka and my days in MMC-dress seemed to be counted. But Ryan claimed that he needs a break and that I would probably do a better job there. Well, I did win the race and we scored 12 points for Constructers Championship! My mission is complete!!

Though it would have been my home race, I am not that sad not to drive in Interlagos. I'm happy with following the happenings from behind the pitwalls and wishing luck to Ryan and Paul to secure 5th position in the rankings."

What do you think of the new teams on the waiting list for 2005?

"To be honest, I only know RTT GreenVipers. But, I know them very well because I`m a part of the impressive huge RTT-family!! In other series I just drive for RTT (MMC-Racing was the only exception until now) and I am fully dedicated to that team. I am also completely convinced that this team, including genius-manager Bernhard Boesch, will be a big asset for this league. Bernie`s intentions are very serious and I will help him out as much as I can, maybe I will be driving, too. So, I`m looking forward to a nice future with RTT GreenVipers in F1VWC! Thanks, bye."

2nd Steve Elencevski (FinOz - Ferrari (c)

Steve, another excellent result. You were catching Fernando from mid race onwards, but only by tenths here and there. How did your race go?

"My race went quite well & the car felt fantastic as i was able to drive qualifying-style laps for most of the race without any tyre wear issue's. But we obviously chose the wrong strategy as we decided to go for an aggressive strategy which didn't work in our favour & that's where we lost out to Fernando. I would have preferred it to have been a fully wet race, i think the conditions really suited our package in qualifying & would have been similar in the race."

How do you rate the Suzuka track in GP4 guise? Better than GP3 (your main experience of the track via Kari?s IGP3C)?

"Absolutely loved it! Could have driven 100 laps without getting bored of it. There's no comparison with GP3 - the GP4 version destroys it, as does the rest of the game. But it's one of my favourite circuits, along with Spa & Silverstone & i really enjoyed myself out there."

Obviously the Drivers Championship now goes down to the last race in Brazil. You need 8 points more than Mikko to become Drivers Champion. Which means that Mikko needs to have a problem really. But what of your own cars reliability? Your team-mate has had technical issues in two consecutive races now?

"Yes Kari has had a few breakdowns, probably a fault in his chassis which the team are currently looking at.

As far as beating Mikko for the championship, well it's almost out of reach for me unless he does have a technical problem or we have mixed conditions for the race where anything could happen with also some of the other guys springing a surprise & having Mikko finishes 7th or lower, but then it's a win win situation for me. So we'll just have to see how it goes."

3rd - Mikko Jakonen (Mapes-VO - Honda)

Mikko - 3rd position with another couple of Pit-stop issues. You must be relieved that this didn't lose you positions to other drivers?

"Yeah, a couple of pitstop issues, a couple of other issues. At the start I found out that traction control wasn't working properly, it went on and off quite randomly, which made driving really hard. I dropped down to 4th place and things weren't looking too good. At the first pitstop the crew changed my steering wheel to one with a functioning TC switch, which solved that problem. But again they had problem with the fuelling equipment, I lost 3 seconds while they were trying to get enough fuel in. And the same thing on stop 2.

After that I was pretty much fixed in 3rd position, I would've needed those 6 seconds to compete with Steve. Otherwise the car was fast and good, although during the second stint I seemed to lose the max power from the brakes, but I got it back for the last part of the race. So you could say I was quite close to having a technical DNF, altogether, I feel lucky to have finished.

To get to podium anyway shows we basically had a good package for the race, Daniel really wasn't a threat. Fernando seemed to have a really good race going, we were on the same pace expect he only needed 2 stops. Steve was a tiny bit faster per an average lap and with all my problems he was sadly out of reach. Everything considered this was a good result."

You look physically tired after this effort. I remember last year where you had neck problems - is it a visit to the physio again?

"Yeah I'm feeling pretty weak at the moment, the first sector here really stresses me physically more than anything else in the calendar. My neck and arms are quite sore, I need to get some massage going on and try to rest to be good again for Brazil."

You now need only finish 6th in Brazil to become F1VWC 2004 Drivers Champion. How does that feel, knowing you are so close, but yet so far - with the threat of reliability issues always in the background?

"You said it. I like the Brazil track, our car should suit it well, we have good data, I won it last year in wet conditions, the Honda engine is very reliable and we probably don't need to take everything out of it. But we haven't had a breakdown this season and if I get one at Brazil it is going to be the hardest thing in my career, as Steve seems to have no trouble finishing in top 2. I just have to hope it doesn't happen, without technical problems finishing in top 6 should be no problem.. if it was I shouldn't be this close to get the championship. As I've said many times, we'll just have to wait and see how it goes."

Mapes-VO secured their 3rd Constructors Championship in a row, how does that feel?

"It's great, I'm happy for the team, I think it's a testament to the whole team's dedication and continued effort for the past 3 years. We started out in 2002 with a not-so-great package but we've been able to develop it to one of the most technically advanced and reliable cars of the grid. And although we've had some turbulence with driver line-ups and management this season, being still able to get the championship really shows we've got something special here.

Go Mapes-VO Honda!"