Ford boss Malcolm Wilson speaks about the disappointing end to the team's Rally Japan.
Q. What exactly happened to Mikko?
Malcom Wilson: He was on the road section and could see a loss of hydraulic pressure at lower RPM. At low RPM it wasn't delivering its full pressure which meant the hydraulic gear change was slow and the response wasn't the same from the center differential which affected the handling of the car.
Q. How do you feel about the event?
MW: It's a big disappointment, of course, but it's great to see Mikko back and challenging and setting fastest times.
Q. Could Mikko could have won here?
MW: In fairness, both Mikko and Jari could have won. The pace Jari has been running at has been sensational. The way he went about the final day and the speed he showed was tremendous. He was great both times in the long stage, the data showed he lost five seconds first time with a stall in there, without that, it would have been great. And then, of course, he was fastest on the second time through.
Q. What news on the parts which failed?
MW: We've never had a driveshaft failure before. Yes, we had a driveshaft joint fail on Jari's car in GB last year and, yes, we've had them go after 3,000 kilometers of testing, but not the shafts we have on rallies: that's a first in the history of the car. And we've had pumps fail completely before. That's very, very strange, it's a pump failure, but not a complete failure. Normally, if the pump goes, it's a complete failure.
Q. What do you take away from Japan?
MW: I've got to be honest, I'm looking longer term – the pace the guys have been running at. Look at a few events ago and things were looking very difficult, but look at the progress we have made – we've made good progress Think about where we were on events like Portugal, we were behind. Naturally we're disappointed, but when you're as close to it as I am, the real positive is the performance of the two guys.