Post Rally Norway interview - Sebastien Loeb

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Two wins from two. Just 10 more and you'll have won the whole season...
"Well, it will be difficult, but at the moment we've done our best and we've won the first two. We'll see for the future."

Mikko was on a mission on Sunday afternoon, how much pressure were you feeling on the closing stages?
"It felt good. But in the stages, especially the long one, I was losing time. The conditions we had was some snow in the stage. You want to go faster, but to do this you need to go slower, or you can lose the rhythm and go in the bank. It was tough to find the rhythm. When we had ice and I felt well, it was okay."

Were you really on the limit all weekend?
"Yes. From the start to the end, I had to be on the limit all of the time."

With so much time spent on the limit, how did you manage not to make any mistakes?
"It's a bit incredible. And I was thinking that to myself too. I didn't miss one junction - nothing. We were on the edge right until the end. On the last stage I was braking for a first-gear corner for maybe 200 metres. From the start of the braking to the end I was on the maximum. If I have braked one metre later it would have been too late. I said to Daniel - 'there's no way he will brake later than me here'..."

How did you rate the road conditions in Norway?
"Fantastic. I think they were the nicest stages I have ever done before. The road was full of ice and snow banks, you can push even more than the limit when you have the banks to help you. It was a great weekend and a good battle. When you are under pressure, you can take a lot of pleasure."

Going into Norway [Citroen Sport director] Olivier Quesnel said he would be happy for you just to get to the finish. How important was it for you to actually win?
"I had a big motivation to win. More than on the other rallies because Norway is the one where I wasn't favourite. It was the biggest challenge for me. And for sure, a lot of people think that I'm not able to drive on snow. When you look in the past I've done a lot of mistakes compared to the number of snow rallies I've done. I went off a few times. But I really enjoy driving on snow, especially when the conditions are nice, and in Norway they were perfect."

Did the Ford team's tactics on Friday afternoon make you more motivated to win?
"I didn't need extra motivation, but for sure was the only thing I could do. As long as you are starting in front, you cannot play any tactics, it's those behind who can do what they want. If I had been in his place I would have done the same, so I understand this tactic. So I said okay, no problem, we'll push and we'll see."

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