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Formula Sprint 2
Japanese Grand Prix
Suzuka International Racing Course
Tuesday 2nd of April 2024 19:00:00
More
May 20, 2004
The top 3 at the Spanish GP - Jakonen, Wilkinson & Loukasmaki - chatted to F1VWC News after the race.

Both Mapes-VO cars on the podium for the first time this season, and a returning Wilkinson scoring the Phoenix F1 teams best ever finish. So, what did the drivers have to say after 65 gruelling laps?

1st - Mikko Jakonen (Mapes-VO)

Well done Mikko! Another victory to add to your championship lead! How did it go?

Thanks! I must say, after qualifying I'm quite surprised to find myself in the podium, let alone winning the race. This just shows that you can't take anything for granted in motor racing. The start of the race was very bad for me, I dropped to 14th in the first lap and then had to fight really hard for places during the early laps. I was hoping that most of the people in front of me would be on slightly lighter fuel load, which turned out to be the case. So they had to enter the back traffic little earlier than me, which helped a lot. The tyres I had on from qualifying weren't really good at all, so the first stint I was just trying to survive. After the first pitstop the tyres were much better and it was a lot easier to keep my pace. After Wilkinson's first pitstop it was me and Petri in the lead, which was relaxing and I could focus on doing my best. After the 2nd stop I was able to overtake Wilkinson again and after that I had a moderately clear track, good tyres and not really much trouble holding to my lead. The car we came up with in qualifying really wasn't the fastest possible, but it was safe to drive and I managed to consistently clock laps quite close to my qualifying time, which apparently others out there had trouble doing. The strategy was good and I did the best I could with the car, so here we are. It was a tough race to drive but this result is very very satisfying.

Whiteman suffered again, after such a dominant performance in the early races. Is this the opportunity that the Mapes-VO squad needs to win the championship?

Yeah I feel for him, I've been there too. There's definitely some problems at Eire at the moment, they've made my life so much easier in the last two races. I'm quite sure I couldn't have kept up with Scott at all if his car would've worked, he seemed to have the same second-per-lap advantage in the race as in qualifying... he would've won it hands down. As this looked like the most difficult race for us so far, his brakedown really was an early christmas present for us. But I'm sure they'll get their package together and when that happens we really need to improve and make sure the gap is much much smaller, preferably the other way around.

Both the Mapes-VO cars were disappointing in qualifying, yet both finished on the podium! Is that down to strategy or just the quality of the car?

Yes we've had that the whole season so far and that's something we have to look into, especially at Monaco. Our strategy was fairly conservative 3 stopper for both of us. We just weren't able to find an optimal setup before the qualifying started, and it seems our package isn't the fastest in the first few laps, we have to talk about that with the Michelin guys. Luckily our setups allowed us to keep the pace through the race, whereas other teams who qualified higher seemed to have problems in the longer run. The whole team is quite experienced in dealing with these problems so I guess that helps. But I wouldn't mind a pole position too in the near future.

How do you like Monaco?

Well Monaco is where I got my first ever win, in GPVWC 2002 season, so it's very special place for me. Last year I managed to get the pole, and I'd really like to combine those two achievements this year ;) It's the most challenging track of the season, and consistency and being error-free is everything, so I'm looking forward to it. I'm expecting quite some surprises in the results there, and it's going to be bloody fight for points.

2nd - Daniel Wilkinson (Phoenix F1)

Welcome back Wilko! 2nd place in your comeback race! How does it feel?

Its good to be back and great to get a result I didnt expect, especially after my spin on lap 60. I thought i'd lost 2nd to Petri. It made me happy to see Scott retire as well! Bit surprised at the EIRE reliability. Didn't have any problems when I was there!

How supportive have the Phoenix team been since you joined? Was there any animosity from the Fretter mechanics?

The team just wants to win so all our effort was put into achieving that. Im not too concerned with the politics of the team unless it directly involves me. Adams situation is between Phoenix management and himself.

We've seen the return of Shiro Ryong for the forseeable future, how long can we expect to see Daniel Wilkinson on the F1VWC grid?

With Adam leaving us and with no full time replacement in sight, I will be filling in for some of the races this season. My main objective is to support Antonio as best I can and get as many points for the constructors title as possible. We aim to win that title but with the Mapes-Vo performance today that may be a bit difficult.

3rd - Petri Loukasmaki (Mapes-VO)

Well done Petri, and welcome to your first press conference this year! How did your race go?

Phew! So happy to be here! Race was equally tough one as all races so far. We had a slight problem with our tyres and we were a bit worried in the beginning this race turning out to an disaster but at the end of the day things folded into place! I got an excellent start and first stint the car felt superb! Then again second and third stint we had some unknown problem and could not push maximum and I think I lost some time there.

Could you have expected this result after you qualified 10th on the grid?

I was not happy with the balance of the car and I decided to use a risky car setup which did not work so well in the qualifying. I was expecting to get beaten badly in the race and my aim was to score some points and not expect too much, just concentrate on my driving. But thanks to the team the car was working really well in the race, we had good pit stops and had less technical problems compared to other rivals so here we are, man!

You had a good battle with Wilko towards the end of the race, how frustrating was it to lose 2nd so late in the race?

It was tough battle between Wilko, me and Shiro. Daniel had some problems on lap 60 and I managed to overtake him, but he was just stronger today and I could do nothing to prevent him to take back the second position. Obviously it would have been great to achieve double jackpot for the team but this is is how it went here today. I am happy of the podium finish since I was not really expecting this after problems in the qualifying session.