May 09, 2004
Race winner Mikko Jakonen, 2nd placed Paul Sleight and 3rd placed Shiro Ryong provide their comments on the last race and expectations for the future.

Winner - Mikko Jakonen (Mapes-VO)

Q1 ? Mikko, congratulations! Your first victory since Canada 2003 ? a run of 11 races without standing on the top step of the podium! How does it feel to be back into winning form?

A ? Thanks! It feels really good, it's been almost a year now, and at times it has been really frustrating. Getting a win here means a lot to me and the whole team, a real morale booster. It's good to know I can still do it.

Q2 ? You made an amazing start ? from 3rd to 1st by the first lap, with Elencevski 2nd and Whiteman 3rd. And you seemed comfortable keeping Whiteman behind you until that first pitstop on lap 15. The camera crews didn?t quite catch it, but we understand that your pitcrew had difficulty with a stuck wheel. What happened?

A ? The start was very good, I took off very well and managed to get the inside at first corner. The car handled very good and the 3 second lead I had before the pitstop seemed to be enough to keep the lead. Then the worst thing happened.. the guys couldn't get the right front tyre off, probably one of the bolts was stuck. I was afraid they couldn't change it at all which would've ruined my race, but then 3 guys just ripped it off. Luckily nothing in the suspension was damaged. It cost me an extra 6 seconds and just enough to let Whiteman take the lead. I wasn't very happy at that point.

Q3 ? Whiteman?s engine failure on lap 25 must have been a dream come true! But I know you would rather beat him on the track at the end of the race. Can you see yourself challenging for victory at future events?

A ? Yeah, EIRE seem to run their engines on high risk.. It was a relief I admit, after the pitstop thing; but I think it would've been very close in the end without the failure. When everything falls into place like it did today I see no reason why we wouldn't be able to get more victories.

Q4 ? How do you like the next event in Spain?

A - Well, everybody knows the track very well because of all the testing there, so I think it will be a tight grid. It's not one of my favourites, a very technical track with not many overtaking opportunities. Last test there we were a second off Scott's pace, so now we have to use all the things we've learned about the car to narrow that down. We'll see how it goes.

2nd - Paul Sleight (MMC Racing)

Q1 - Welcome back to the podium. Since your first appearance on the podium in Australia for 2004, you?ve had a pretty indifferent couple of races. But now your back with the top drivers again. Is it a car problem you?ve had, or simply a case of track inexperience at Malaysia and Austria?

A ? To be honest the whole team is very in-experienced, I had raced at Melbourne before and it seemed to suit my driving style. As for Malaysia and Austria I had no idea where to start as far as strategy and set up. This comprimised me throughout those two races.

Q2 ? You had a good fight with Shiro Ryong - who was catching you quickly over the last 2 laps on his 4 stop pit strategy compared to your 3 stop strategy. Does this provide both you and the team with a stepping-stone to a more consistent run in the race for the rest of the season?

A ? Yes it was an interesting battle once we worked out exactly what Shiro was doing strategy wise. During the practise sessions we had experience high tyre wear so we altered the set up. This made the car around 2-3 tenths per lap slower. So sadly we couldnt challenge for the win but I could just lap fast enough to stop Shiro.

Q3 ? What do you see your aims as being over the rest of the season? It looks like Mapes-VO and EIRE are in a strong position in the Constructors table ? can you challenge them?

A ? My aim is to simply win a race, ive come second twice now and I feel that at some stage in the season I need to win a race. Ive spoke to Ryan and our team aim is to beat FinOz to 3rd in the championship.

Q4 ? What about Spain how do you rate your chances there, especially racing against Kieran Ryan, how will that affect your race performance?

A - Well I dislike Spain and I really dont think I will be getting anywhere near the podium, so perhaps I will be waiting till Monaco till I speak to you guys again! Kieran has been a massive help to me so far this season, so racing alongside him will be great but it may hurt me slightly in terms of performance. But I totally expect my team mate to be the main points man in our team!

3rd - Shiro Ryong (SCUM)

Q1 - Shiro - two races and two third places! Despite your lack of practice and fitness, you have obviously not lost any of your talent! Are you happy with the way your race went?

A - The race went really well, much better than I expected considering the rather poor pace in qualifying. It was quite a lot of fun in the first stint where there were a lot a position swapping and the battle with Antonio where I managed to get past him with my lighter 2nd stint was quite good. Then to find out he is also on 4 stops kept me pushing all the way to the end, where I almost had Paul but got slowed down by a few backmarkers.

Q2 - You opted for a 4 stop strategy and that so nearly enabled you to catch Sleight's MMC in the closing stages of the race. Do you think this strategy was the correct way to go?

A - I actually planned to do 3 stops initially but after qualifying I kind of thought I would have no chance of doing well in the race, so decided to change to a 4 stopper and just have fun with the driving and not having to worry much about the high tyre wear I was experiencing during the practise sessions on 3 stop stints. In the end I was lucky enough to finish on the podium, but was this really the correct strategy? One thing I can say is that according to our calculations 4 stops around here is not faster than 3.

Q3 - Rumour has it you will be turning out for SCUM in Spain and Monte Carlo! Of course the Monaco circuit is a favourite of yours. Can you challenge for victory at either of these events?

A - Well, I pretty much suck at Barcelona so don't expect to see me back here after the race. That's a track I've never been able to figure out so expect a mediocre performance from me there. Then Monte-Carlo, like you said, it's one of my favourites. That place has always suited me well and the feeling of driving so fast when close to the walls is fantastic even if we don't reach very high speeds there at all. It will be the only place I have a chance of challenging for victory so I'm looking forward to it.

Q4 - And what about the rest of the season? Including Spain and Monaco, you will have driven more than half the races so far this year. Are you going to continue driving for the majority of the rest of the season?

A - No, I had originally planned to only do fill-in races as well as Monaco and I will keep to that plan. It's just the opportunity came up at Austria and then here and I thought I might as well do a stopover at Spain before heading to Monaco. After that I'll be taking a break for sure and might be some time before I get back into a race.