Q&A:
Denis
Giraudet

It’s great to see you back on a rally but how are you feeling? “I’m fine. I’m feeling like somebody who has been away from the family for a while but who is now back and I’m feeling really happy. I have got fantastic support during these three months from my driver Evgeny [Novikov] calling me every day. I am not so used to the life in hospital so it was really good to have the support like that.”

How is your recovery going? “So far everything is going according to plan. I have got two different operations, one from the back of the vertebra and one from the front, which was two months after the first one. In two months I am supposed to be as strong as I was before. The second operation is not usual on old people like me but because of my lifestyle and my good condition they took the risk.”

Given the seriousness of your injury, are you looking to return? “Of course I am looking for a return but, again, rallies are like a train and they are not waiting for you. Evgeny is doing really well with Ilka [Minor] and I don’t know if it’s a good idea to break a new co-operation. I am ready for any option now.”

So what brings you to Spain? “I am doing gravel notes for Evgeny.”

Is that frustrating when you should really have been competing had it not been for the injury? “It’s a bit frustrating but now it’s five rallies I am missing so I am used to this bad feeling. But at least I am a bit closer and I can help. I was so frustrated in France when I saw Evgeny without a gravel crew because for him it was difficult. I was lying in my bed and I was so upset. I told him then I will come to Spain to help him and I was lucky that my doctor allowed me to do that.”

What’s it like having to wear a supportive cast? “I have a plastic cast still for one month. In one month they will do a scan and if everything is fine I will be allowed to start working on my upper body strength. At the moment everything is dead there because I am not allowed to lift anything, I am only allowed to walk and cycle where it is flat and drive my car. I need to exercise a lot.”

Can you put a timescale on when you might return to competition? “They say as soon as this bone graft will be done it’s fine because it will be four or six months after the last operation. You can imagine what I am looking to do but I will not take any risks.”