Q&A with Evgeny Novikov

Evgeny Novikov can emulate his career-best second by getting to the finish of Rally Italia Sardegna tomorrow. He spoke to WRC.com following another solid day at the wheel of his M-Sport Ford Fiesta RS WRC.

You’ve held second all day, you must be pleased with your day?

“It’s been really good. We have had a good pace but it was important not to make any silly mistakes or take any risks, and we have managed to achieve that. This is what I wanted and also what the team told me. It was a bit slippery in the first loop of stages but then afterwards it was fine.”

Is this your best rally ever?

“I think it could be, definitely. We’ll see tomorrow. We’ve had some good rallies before but also there have been some mistakes or problems and this time there are no mistakes or problems. Not so far, anyway.”

What’s made the difference for you on this event: where have you found the extra performance from?

“That’s difficult to say. The road is very tricky so it’s easy to make a mistake and go off as we have seen already. But this means that you have to keep concentrated all the time on your pace notes and I have managed to stay very focused all the time: maybe this is the difference.”

You’ve got Ilka Minor as your co-driver again: how is that relationship working?

“It’s very good: we get on extremely well. It is our third event together now and I am very happy to have Ilka as my co-driver.”

How has the car been: is it possible for you to go even faster?

“We have had no problems with the car: it has been good. It has definitely been possible for us to go faster today and yesterday as well but there is no need to do this.”

What are your objectives for tomorrow?

“Just to keep the position that we have now and to drive at a good rhythm. So nothing special, just normal safe driving to the finish. Unless something dramatic happens in front, this is how we should finish.”

What about next year? How far advanced are your plans?

“I don’t know so much about next year yet. We will finish the season and then speak to our partners to decide what we are doing next. The important thing is to try to have some good results but generally I am happy with how the season has gone.”