Post event interview - David Lapworth

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If he hadn't rolled, where do you think Marcus could have finished?
"I think he would have got on the podium. Or he would have been in that fight with the top three. I don't know what Dani Sordo would have done, whether he'd have put up a fight - who knows - but from what we saw on Friday and what we saw in testing, a podium wasn't out of the question."

What was the engine problem that prevented Marcus returning as a SuperRally entry?
"It overheated. In the crash, some of the carbon fibre from the radiator duct sliced into the radiator like a knife, draining all its water in a few seconds. Marcus set off again at full speed and by the time the water temperature sensors had caught up with what was going on it was too late."

How has Prodrive developed the car since its last WRC outing on Wales Rally GB 2008?
"Not much, really. Testing-wise we had a session in Spain in December, before Subaru pulled out, where [test driver] Markko Martin did some work on the set-up for 2009. That was the first time we'd tested the new Ohlins dampers properly, so we went through the basics of the units and Markko gave us his thoughts. And that was it. The next time we ran the car in anger was a half day test in Wales just before the truck left to go to Portugal."

How much testing did Marcus do in February?
"He had a very brief run in Mads Ostberg's car after Rally Norway, just to see what it felt like. It wasn't done under our supervision. It wasn't a proper test in that sense."

Did you make any changes to the car spec following that test?
"We did a little bit of work on the steering, but it's still basically the same as it was last year. Marcus gave us some feedback about what he was looking for and it was literally a case of putting together a different recipe based on the parts we already had. It's a driver preference thing. Marcus gave us a fairly clear description of what he was looking for and that's what we did. We used the same steering rack, power-steering pump and the same geometry as last year - we just put in some different ingredients. He liked it, and that was the end of it."

How many more WRC rallies would Prodrive like to do this year?
"We'd like to do enough to remain current, to show what the car can do and give Marcus a chance to show what he can do, too."

Has Marcus agreed to do more WRC rallies with Prodrive?
"It's under discussion at the moment. I think he's quite keen. But we've got to be able to put a proposal to him. So we're working on that. We're talking to rallies and sponsors that might be interested. There's nothing signed for the moment."

How do you rate your ex driver Petter Solberg's performance so far this season?
"He's done well. I spent quite a lot of time over the weekend chatting to him and he deserves a lot of credit for putting that deal together. He's done a good job and he's getting the best out of the car - keeping it on the road and doing good times."

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