Rome: Mathieu Franceschi: “I’m happy to be back on the asphalt”

Have you just experienced two complicated races? What happened in Sweden?

In a fast section there was a bump that we took off on. The car landed perfectly on the rope, but with a little too much speed and there was immediately another jump. When I received it, I was 10 cm off the line, but at these speeds that is not forgiving. When I applied the brakes, we were in gravel. We didn't stop...

Was the car too damaged to finish the race?

We made “a crate”! It's a real shame, because we were doing a great job rally. We could have finished 3^es since Hayden Paddon also crashed in this special, but it had less consequences for him than for us.

This must not have put you in the best conditions to approach Estonia?

It is clear that after a big accident there was a logical loss of confidence. It was bad timing that this happened before Estonia where on the contrary you had to be very confident to drive at high speed. The times were even faster than in Sweden and to this was added the handicap of discovery.

Was it indeed a rally in which you gave the impression of not finding a solution to improve your performance?

Nothing worked. I was one of the only ones who didn't know the terrain and the weather worked against us with the rain during the qualifying stage. Our bad weather forced us to have a very unfavorable starting order on Saturday and this had repercussions on Sunday. It was difficult to expect a good result. It was complicated. I tried to change things on these roads without grip, very fast and at the same time without much space. It did not work. It mainly came from me, because I didn't dare go there. As soon as I got into rhythm and slipped, I couldn't gain enough confidence. I questioned myself 10 times… but for nothing in the end.

Is this not usual in your career?

This happens a few times. I think that's part of the process. I discussed it in particular with Hayden Paddon. He told me that on certain races nothing worked and that it would happen again

You are 10 points behind Hayden in the championship. What will your objective during the Rome rally?

I'm happy to get back on the asphalt. It's an event that I competed in last year and in which I have good benchmarks. I find it quite atypical, but from the moment I ride… everything suits me. It promises to be difficult with four 30 km specials and many Italian drivers going fast. It will be like in the Canaries where there were also several successful Spaniards. That does not bother me. They offer good references.