Croatia: Vincent Landais “When everything lines up, it’s a crazy rhythm… and I love it”

You no longer appeared in WRC since Monte-Carlo last January. How did you spend your time?

It's true that it's been a while. Luckily, I'm not someone who gets bored. In particular, I have an activity in Lapland with driving courses on the ice in Rovaniemi. I have been going up there since 2021. Not being taken on a rally I was able to stay there for 5 weeks. Although we are close to the Arctic Circle, we sometimes had some problems with the thickness of the ice layer on the lakes which was not thick enough.

Is it difficult to get back into the swing of things after more than two months of absence?

There is the excitement of being there and the desire to fight, but it is true that we come back while the others have not stopped. It's always complicated to launch into the void when our rivals have two more races in their legs.

What does the journey inspire you?

In terms of special stages, there is 5% new, which represents 16 km. This corresponds to parts of ES in reverse so we will not be disoriented. The order of the times has been changed and there is a tire change area on Saturday which will save us from having to come all the way back to Zagreb. The service park has been moved. It is located on the edge of the highway, a little outside the city which will allow us to encounter fewer traffic jams than before.

One of the difficulties for you and Sébastien is that it is a sprint and you have to be 100% from the first stages?

There are only 290 km and you will need to be at the ideal pace straight away because it's a lot of riding there. The first day is also the longest of the rally and we will not have a good position on the road. For this to happen, the weather would need to remain mild. This event is a challenge for the co-drivers. The pace is Dantesque even though it is very narrow and outside of the special stages there is a lot of work to do with the openers and the corrections of notes. When everything lines up, it’s a crazy rhythm… and I love it!

For a rally on asphalt, will going far be a disadvantage?

There are many, many ropes. They are sometimes demarcated in protection to prevent too much cutting, but there are still some where there is no cone and in these places the road will very quickly get dirty. Every year, that's the problem with this round and if it turns out to be wet, we won't have much grip. This is the game when you don't make the whole championship.

In 2023, you started strong before having to change a wheel in SS2. What will be the objective this year?

First of all, we will try not to die. Our last victory was in Kenya in June, so it would be good to experience this type of feeling again. Given the conditions it will be difficult, but if we could at least be on the podium that would be good.