What the drivers say…

The first pre-event FIA press conference of 2013 saw Citroën superstar Sébastien Loeb flanked by two drivers who dream of becoming the first champions of the post-Loeb era: Mads Ostberg (Ford) and Sébastien Ogier (Volkswagen). The trio was joined by Michal Kosciuszko (Mini) of the newly-created Lotos WRC Team.

Sébastien Loeb (Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT):

“My goal here is not the same as other years, but my preparation for the rally was the same. If I can fight for victory, I will. If not, it’s not as bad as in the past. I am here to have fun and, given the conditions, I think I will. I have never done this rally with a lot of snow; it’s always been just one or half a stage. It promises to be tricky. Thankfully, the shakedown stage was in the field because I think everybody visited the field somewhere! Tomorrow, though, there will be walls, rocks and ditches. We’ll see what we can do.”

Mads Ostberg (M-Sport Abu Dhabi WRT):

“I’ve been a privateer for many years and now I have achieved one of my main goals. The next step is to prove that I deserve this seat, show that I can perform well and score some good results. It’s a big challenge, especially here, my first Monte Carlo, but I feel ready. I was happy to get the chance to drive the Fiesta WRC on snow on tarmac tyres during a good couple of days’ testing in France, but now I just want to start the rally. I’m looking for some strong results early on. I feel ready to push hard on those events I have done before, but I will be more careful on the newer ones. I think it’s going to be a very open season.”

Sébastien Ogier (Volkswagen Motorsport):

“It’s the start of a very interesting season. It won’t be easy. We saw this morning how tricky it promises to be here, but I am happy it’s difficult. It’s too soon to be talking in terms of victory, although we will do our best. I really need to finish this event – the team needs me to finish – but I think it will be difficult with these conditions. My longer term ambition is to become the world champion one day, but it’s difficult to anticipate what will happen. I need some comparisons to see where we stand. Once we’ve done some stages, maybe I will have a better idea of my chances.”

Michal Kosciuszko (Lotos WRC Team):

“It’s incredible for me. Here I am sitting with a multiple world champion and driving in the same category. I can’t wait to start. This car is a different dimension for me. I did one day of testing. That’s not a lot, but at least it’s something. Then we had snow at shakedown, so that was positive for me. My aim is to enjoy all these great events and this very nice car. I spent a lot of years in JWRC, SWRC and PWRC, but there is nothing above WRC, so I am very excited and want to improve as a driver.

from best-of-rallylive