Krótki wywiad z Timo Jouhkim przeprowadzony dla estońskich mediów. Jest ciekawy fragment o Mikko Hirvonenie, który mógł zostać mistrzem w 2009, gdyby M-Sport stosował polecenia zespołowe, tak jak robił to wtedy Citroen.
You are the only manager that invests a lot of money on young talents?
"Not the only one but one of the few ones, I think Märtin is doing also the same."
Märtin stole Tänak right under your nose?
"Not really, i believed in Tänak and I had had some conversations with him. I was in the Pirelli Star Driver jury back in 2009 and i put Tänak number one. I rarely work with other guys from other nations, i cant get close enough of them to see their level. Tänak was an exception - I saw right away that he would do big things - and Neuville but i couldnt get either of them. I was offering a deal for Ott but somehow things went wrong. He and Markko decided to follow their own road. Neuville came on the market when I was really busy with Hirvonen and Latvala and i had no time to deal with him."
We have heard that you have quite a big team helping you?
"Yes, Im taking the raw talent and making him a professional rally driver. Im helped by media people, engineers and technicians who are teaching the drivers. Also former co-drivers who are helping them with notes."
It seems there are only very good drivers coming under from your wing, have some of the drivers failed?
"Yes, one time. Then I didnt do psychological tests for them, he wasnt very strong from the mental side but he was very fast, but crashed a lot."
Tänak also crashed a lot back in the day, everyone does in the beginning
"I havent done psychological tests on Ott, so I dont know what was the reason for the crashes. He has always been very fast and was actually driving quite confidently in the beginning. The mistakes started coming when he jumped into the WRC car. I think he put huge pressure on himself, he wanted to deliver very quickly."
So before you choose the driver you are following his driving and mental side very closely?
"The groundwork is huge. In the beginning of millenium I was checking over 10 young finnish drivers, I turned down half of them. I continued with the five that was left, In the end I did a group test for them to see their speed and mental strength in hard situations. In the end from these five, I chose Hirvonen and Latvala."
Both havent been world champions. Why? Because both have had Sebastiens ahead of them?
"Latvala is let down by his mental side, he puts so much pressure on himself and he cant cope with it, and this is when he makes the mistakes. Hirvonen was left without a title because of WIlson. M-sport didnt use team tactics back in the day like Citroen did for Loeb. If Wilson had told to Latvala to let Hivonen pass in Rally Sardinia, then Hirvonen would have been the champ."
Management job is also a business, you invest in the driver a lot in the beginning and later you take half of his earnings?
"Yes, if the drivers finally go into factory team, if not, then all of my money is wasted. But yes, it is true that Ill take like 50% of their earnings. Its just how this business works. And Im actually very kind guy, I know that some take even more! It all depens how much I have invested in the driver and how much time it takes for him to reach the factory team."
If we look how much rallies Rovanpera is already racing, it is quite impressive already
"God has made him to race, I already had an eye on him when he was eight. The difference with other drivers and Rovanpera is that I work with him on every aspect: he is being teached how to setup and develop the car, how to write notes, when to push or not. My idea is that you have to test a lot. Where do you think athletes develop the most, on trainings or at grand prix? If you look then racing drivers also do more kilometres on free practice and on tests. Why should rallying be different?"
Mäkinen is recently wondering how there have been coming so many young talented finns through
"Talented drivers are everywhere, France, Spain and GB but another thing is how to develop them, you have to know how do to this job."
If someone calls you and says he is a very fast and talented guy and asks your help, what do you answer?
"There are a lot of calls all the time, but the truth is I choose with who I work."
Will Tänak be a champion one day, or are Ogier and Neuville too tough for him?
"No they arent tough, Tänak is at the moment and quite often beating them. If he hadnt had those car problems, he would be leading. He has been basically the fastest on every rally, has the most stage wins. Why cant he be champ this year? He is driving very cleanly, he hasnt made a single big mistake."
We are talking here about Rovanpera, but we have also have Tidemand who has been WRC2 champ but cant get into factory team
"Tidemand is a very good driver, very fast but he has a very poor management. But if we look at the current market then maybe he will get his chance next year."
But there arent many drivers who could win world championship, Sordo and Evans are nice guys but...
"They will never be champions. There are never too many guys who can fight for the title but teams also need good second and third drivers."
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