Yann Erhlacher: “Playing up front is good news”

Yann, we have the impression that this season is not starting as well as the previous ones. How do you judge this first part?

Compared to 2020, it's obvious. But if I compare to 2021, we also had a complicated start to the season with small problems from the start of the year. It's true that we stupidly lost 16 points in Pau (puncture) which was not our fault. It's a bit stupid but that's part of motorsport, small mechanical glitches... Overall, we've already had a podium and we're regularly in the points. We made two Top 5s in Spain, I am 5th in the World Cup, 1 point behind 3rd. There is no urgency, but it is certain (he marks a time for reflection, editor's note)... the more the years go by, the more we win and the less people want to see us win. We're not making our job easy, we'll say. It's an extra fight and at some point we may no longer be able to do it. We are motivated to make up the points. We will do our best to optimize our performance every weekend. 

Is the competition, particularly Azcona, giving you a hard time?  

Mikel has certainly calmed down a lot. He was always fast, but it's true that he always made a little mistake. But right now, he's so far ahead that he doesn't have to put pressure on himself and make mistakes. I hope we can put a little pressure on him so that he still makes a small mistake. But for the moment, they are managing pretty well at Hyundai with their two cars to stay at zero penalty kilos. They play very well and that's what you have to do to win. We have five cars, it's harder to manage. We don't have the same weight in our cars, so it's not easy. 

It’s going well in Vila Real in any case…

We often get into action more quickly at the start of the weekend and our opponents catch up later. But it’s obvious that playing up front is good news. Qualification here will be super important. We're going to play for pole, whether it's the reverse grid or the main race. The qualifier will be super intense as usual. 

Comments collected by Fabien Gérard in Vila Real.