ERC Take Five with Mathieu Franceschi

With the build-up to Rally di Roma Capitale under way, this is what the 25-year-old Michelin-equipped Frenchman has had to say.  

You made it through to the finish in 10th place on Delfi Rally Estonia. How difficult was the event for you?
“It was difficult since the beginning of the week. The Qualifying Stage was difficult due to the weather, really, everything was difficult especially when you discover these tough roads. It was so fast and so special and for sure it was not the result we expect. But it’s like this and we cannot change the weekend. We learn something, we tried something on the car as well because we cannot play with the guys in front, we were alone in our race so we try to find some positive points.”   

How important was it to be back scoring points after your non-finish in Sweden?
“When you have a crash like this one kilometre before the finish you lose some confidence and after that you have to reset. But it’s not easy. Estonia was a fast race and it was not the best one to re-find the confidence. It’s a difficult moment of the season but the most important thing is to be back stronger next time. Now we switch on Tarmac and we know we can get back. In Gran Canaria we had really nice speed and the target is to be back again with this speed.”

What impact to the weather changing frequently have?
“The weather was really, really hard this weekend, sometimes you had sun and then 20 minutes after that it was big rain.”  

Roma is next, what preparations are planned?
“For sure we will organise a test because I have to see if my confidence is back again. I hope yes but I have to try the tyres from Michelin so we have some testing. If we are going to Roma with the best condition we can, we try to be back to see if Franceschi is fast all the time and not just fast before a crash.”  

You started Delfi Rally Estonia joint top of the standings with Hayden Paddon but completed the event in second place. What do you make of the title battle?
‘For the championship everything is still possible, 10 points is like nothing. For sure on Tarmac we can see Hayden has a bit less speed, but on gravel it’s so difficult to be in the fight with him. I hope we can be in a big fight on Tarmac. It’s still four races to go so everything is possible.”  

Rally di Roma Capitale hosts round five of the FIA European Rally Championship season from 26 - 28 July.