by Rob Wilkins

TO HEAR THE INTERVIEW IN FULL WITH FRANCOIS DUVAL: 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:CLICK HERE

Francois Duval was the star of the 🔯recent Rallye Deutschland, securing the💮 runners-up spot on the final day after a truly fantastic performance in his OMV Kronos-run Citroen Xsara WRC.

ltxcn.top Radio caught up with the Belgian recently to chat to him about that event and to find out if he is 💜going to be able to do any more events during the remainder of the season...

ltxcn.top:
Francois, I guess you must still be on a high following that drive in Germany, which was just outs♎tanding. How pleased were you🐻 with your performance there?

Francois Duval:
Yes I am very happy. It as was a really good performance for me. I hope I can do the rallies in Spain, Corsica and the RAC [Rally ༺GB]ไ now, but that is dependent on getting the budget.

ltxcn.top:
Obviously it was only your second WRC event of the season - and your first with the Citr😼oen Xsara WRC, since 2005. How difficult did that make things?

FD:
The Xsara is a really good car. We🍃 had the active differentials and we had no problems at all. I stalled the engine once, but during🌟 the rest of the event we had no issues. It is a nice car.

ltxcn.top:
What d🌸id you make of the OMV Kronos Citroen team and your team-mate, Manfred Stoꦯhl?

FD:
It is a go꧟od team. I🌠 am very happy with Manfred - he is a really nice guy. Everything was OK.

ltxcn.top:
On the final🐈 day you were quickest in every single test and seemingly pressurised Marcus🌟 Gronholm into a mistake. It was a very strong end to the event for you...

FD:
It was a good final day. On the last day I 🏅went really quickꦓly. I managed to put some pressure on Marcus for Sebastien and he gained some extra points [as a result to close the gap a bit more in the drivers' championship]. The result was really nice for me, for Citroen and for Seb.

ltxcn.top:
Did you have any problems 🎃with the cow o🤡n the last stage, like Marcus and Petter Solberg?

FD:
No, I drove all of the last stage f🀅lat-out. I didn't have the splits to Marcus - no information on him - and I pushed all the way to the finish.

ltxcn.top:
Was it tough to get back in the Xsara af🎃ter such a long🃏 break from it?

FD:
No, the confidence came back quickly.

ltxcn.top:
How🐎 important was it to put in a good drive in Germa𒅌ny?

FD:
I like this event. It is my favourite event.

ltxcn.top:
Did you feel under a lot of pressure to d💜eliver♕ though?

FD:
No, there was no pressure at all because I was driving for a private tea📖🌠m.

ltxcn.top:
You said at the start of this interview and in the post-event press conference that you now hope to do Spain, France and Rally GB with Kronos.𒁃 Can you give us any more information?

FD:
No, there isn't any more information at the moment - but if we do secu💟re the budge𒊎t then I will drive with Citroen and the Kronos team again.

ltxcn.top:
Are you going to get in any tes💧ts prior to those outings, if they go ahead?

FD:
No - no tests for the moment.

ltxcn.top:
Final two questi💎ons: assumi🌱ng you can do those three events - what is the target, because obviously your performance in Germany means expectations will now be very high?

FD:
I will have the same target. If possible I will stay on the road and if finish in the top five it will be really good. Of course in Catalunya and Corsica the roads ar🉐e really fast and if it is dry, I hope the cars performance will be really good, the same as it was on the Rallye Deutꦫschland. But it will be more difficult in Corsica because my car is older and the C4 and the new Focus are the latest evolutions.

ltxcn.top:
Will it be possible to win in Spain or France - because without those problems on day 2 in Germany it could have been very possible there couldn🐽't it?

FD:
If it rains it is possible [I could win] -🌠 but if it is completely dry it will be too diffi𝓀cult.

TO HEAR THE INTERVIEW IN FULL WITH FRANCOIS DUVAL: 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:CLICK HERE