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 | Northern Forest: Holowczyc - "This rally was beautiful from the Beginning".
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The final press conference of the Baja Russia Northern Forest 2010, the second round of FIA International Cup, was held in Igora. Krzystof Holowczyc, Jean-Marc Fortin, Boris Gadasin, Vladimir Demyanenko, Alexander Zheludov, Viktor Volikov, Anatoliy Volikov answered the questions of the journalists. Herewith the interview with the Winner Krzystof Holowzyc.
MR: "Could you expect such a result in the kind of event you never participated in?"
Krzystof Holowzyc: "I think it's always so: when you come to the rally you want to win, it's normal for the sportsmen. Of course understood this is a rally that nobody of drivers from outside Russia has ever win, and we respected this would be not easy.
Sure, we made a lot of preparation. The rally was beautiful from the beginning. The snow is fantastic here. We did expect snow conditions but when you see one meter of snow it's unbelievable for the rally. The Swedish rally wants to have some conditions like here.
I never drove on stud tyres in a cross-country car, for sure it's the first time. The grip in some places is unbelievable, but in some places it was very slippy and you must find a solution, to find a good tempo, drive without any exaltation, just drive to the end, think about the finish, not about winning some stages. I'm happy to be here, it's a good organization, I think it's one of the best organized rounds of this championship, what to say more? I would like to be here next year."
MR: "You come here with the same car you prepared for Dakar this year? What changes you had to make to adapt it for Northern Forest conditions?"
Krzystof Holowzyc: "First was the heating system, because it's really cold here. An for the restrictor, we needed some one millimeter less, because I'm a FIA seeded driver here, we have less restrictor, it's a regulation."
MR:: "You have won now the round of the FIA International Cup for Bajas. Are you going to continue in this series this year, or in classic rally?"
Krzystof Holowzyc: "I don't think we will make all rounds of the FIA Cup. Being here was most for fun, I like these snow conditions. FIA Cup is a very good series, of course, my main aim for the next year is Dakar. And I have a lot of job to do in my country.
Apart from the rally, I have three daughters, the youngest of them is two years old, and I have to spend more time with my family. Well, I'm an old guy, it's just great to feel I'm still fast... Next year will be Dakar, and this year may be some classic rallies in my country, Polsky Rally for example, maybe some other single events, but not likely any whole championship... Of course, if my sponsor will push me to the championship I will go, I'm a professional."
MR:: "What was your special preparation to beat Russians in Russia?"
Krzystof Holowzyc: "I did not think about beating the Russians, as I understood they know these roads by heart. It's true because they make these stages many times. Our main aim was to be fast enough. And for sure, when you make a pressure for a driver, for example, for Boris, you are waiting for his mistakes - and he makes mistake. It was good for us, and we just kept going, just drive in the normal tempo. If he pushed, we pushed as wel. And we did not have to push on this rally, we just kept going."
Question to Co-Driver Jean-Marc Fortin: "You have an experience in probably all possible motorsport disciplines. Don't you think this route is too fast for cross-country?"
Jean-Marc Fortin: "No, for what I have seen in my career, I can say it was a good stage. The only thing, I believe it better to avoid repeated stages. After several laps the road worns-down badly. It was very hard for transmission. The weather was plus today, and there's a risk every year of such weather."
2010/03/01 | 08:24 CET | Editor: MR/HS/NF
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