October 07, 2003
Winner Daniel Wilkinson, 2nd placed Kieran Ryan, and 3rd placed Shiro Ryong give their views on the recent USA GP.

Winner - Daniel Wilkinson (EIRE)

Q - Another breathtaking win, but with massive support from your team-mate Ryan. He led the early stages of the race - was it a team decision to let you by and for him to secure 2nd place?

A - Not really but we weren't gonna do anything stupid! It was clear we were faster than the others so good racing was the order of the day. 1-2 is a great result for us. Fantastic.

Q - Your victory ensures that you have a fighting chance of taking the title in Japan. If Shiro finishes 5th or lower and you win, you will become F1VWC Drivers Champion. Who else can you count on within the F1VWC line up to help you achieve this goal?

A - Well the obvious ones would be those that have beaten him this year like Mikko and Petri. Problem is they can beat me too

Q - It's been an amazing last half of the season for you. What was it that really made the difference?

A - Well Canada was the turning point. Qualifying in last place really shook me up and gave me the determination to start racing again. I knew I could do a lot better and had to prove it to myself, although my throttle problems in that race didn't help.

2nd Position - Kieran Ryan (EIRE)

Q - A fantastic job supporting your title challenging team-mate, and an EIRE 1-2 as well. You led the race for 18 laps in total. Did you receive the call from the Team to let Daniel by, or did you have other issues during the race?

A - Nope not a single call from the pits. It was strange, I knew Daniel's strategy from the beginning, a 2 stopper, and mine a 3 stopper, yet he was just faster. My car was too stiff, hard to keep turning it etc, so in the end I knew I would not win. I'm happy though, a 1-2, ahead of Shiro and gaining in the end away from him, and plus if I couldn't win, who better to win then Daniel, he needed this win as much as I did. Although, everyone will believe that he won on the race track, but the official ruling is that whoever gets to the 1st place chair in the press conference 1st wins, so he cheated!:) I got it in qualifying, he beat me here (he laughs and gently slaps Daniel on the back).

Q - You drove with the keyboard in 2002, but 2003 has been with the wheel. How has this made a difference to your speed in the races you have competed in?

A - Wow, a huge difference, I wouldn't be 2nd today and pole yesterday without it, such a change. It took a long time to develop and get used to the system - but it was worth it all. I know what Shiro feels using it I had it as did Joe (Consiglio) last year, so it is hard, but he's doing better then I did with it last year, I was the runner up, he's leading it the moment!

Q - In Japan I think your target will be to finish ahead of Shiro in order to help Wilkinson achieve drivers title glory. How do you see the Japanese Grand Prix unfolding?

A - Japan is very special to me, it means a lot to me. It's a hard, difficult and a times stubborn track to give any fast times away and setup is always hard to get right, but in the end it's all worth it. It's my favourite track on the calendar, I've waited a year to drive on this again, I just hope I finish it this time. The weekend ideally should unfold with Daniel winning it, and me riding shot-gun, and having someone else in 3rd to take points of Shiro to help Daniel win it.

However against ideals, I feel Shiro will be very much on pace, he sees a championship seemingly dangle in front of him for the last few races and now desires to snatch it from everyone else. The Suzuka track suits SCUM, it's not as fast as Italy or USA, so he should be competitive there. In all honesty, I don't feel Mikko will be a threat. He's 10 points off the lead and hasn't won since Canada, I don't think he'll threaten. Maybe this will inspire him:) I was always told never rule the Finns out, who was that?: Matt Maple last year, and he was right!

3rd Position - Shiro Ryong (SCUM)

Q - Shiro - that was an amazing battle you had with the two Mapes-VO cars for almost all the race. You managed to keep them both behind you and gain a podium finish in the process. I assume you must rate your drivers title chances as better than they were before the race here at Indy, now that Jakonen's challenge appears to be fading?

A - Yes, it was a close battle with both Mapes-VO cars, and in particular Mikko who was on a similar strategy to myself, and really hassled me for most of the race. Now, even though Mikko's challenge has faded away a bit, he still has a mathematical chance of winning and Daniel's win here has really just swapped himself and Mikko around. So my chances probably only improved by just a little bit.

Q - Do you think your car and the Holden powerplant will be a better suited package to Suzuka's curves? Who do you see as stopping you achieving that 4th place finish which would guarantee you the title?

A - Our car on paper should be better at Suzuka because there's really only the start/finish and back straights where we have a disadvantage and they're broken up by a slow chicane. The main challengers for that race are probably the Mapes-VO and EIRE cars and judging by their recent performances they won't be easy to beat.

Q - It's been a very tough season, but you have shown amazing consistency with podium finishes. In fact, you have more podium finishes than your Championship rivals Jakonen or Wilkinson! What is it that helps you achieve this?

A - Really?... I didn't know that, I guess what helped me achieve this is the team, which has given me great support and a fantastic car, which although lacks power, is easy to setup and drive.