March 31, 2004
The top 3 drivers all looked a bit tired sitting waiting for the press conference to begin. 55 laps in sweltering heat and with the first few laps in damp conditions - and then a really interesting race ensued. Whiteman won having taken the lead 4 laps from the end as he hauled in Jakonen. Elencevski had pretty much his own race after the track dried out. So, what were their thoughts on the last hour and a half of racing?

Winner - Scott Whiteman:

From pole to the flag, you seemed to be in control, did you face any problems?

The car was very difficult to control in the wet conditions, unfortunately i had the car setup for slight oversteer in the dry which translated to extreme oversteer in the wet meaning i couldn't push the car anywhere near its limit until around lap 25.

Many expected you to run away with the victory, but Mikko seemed to keep you in sight. Are you surprised that, after dominance in qualifying, you weren't further in front?

Well Mikko did more than keep me insight, he led for most of the race, clearly the Mapes-VO package was great in the wet conditions and the extra BHP would have been an advantage on the straights, add to this Mikko's driving talent and it is really no surprise that the race was so close.

Two wins from two, your title credentials are improving with every race. Is this a distraction, or do you take it in your stride?

Well for me it has never been in doubt that i would be a title contender so is really no distraction, if anything the victories in the opening two events have strengthened the confidence i had pre-season, but there are still many events left to compete and any number of things are capable of going wrong.

Many people have questioned the choice of Ross Loram as your team mate, believing that EIRE will not be able to take the constructors title with him on board, is his 5th place here at sepang pure luck or a sign of things to come?

Being an Irish team i'm sure that everything we do contains a bit of luck, but the reason Ross has finished 5th is due to his abilities as a driver and we can expect to see more pleasing results from him in the remaining races possibly even a podium finish if he continues to improve.

2nd - Mikko Jakonen:

Another great Mapes-VO performance here in Malaysia, how was the race?

Well thank you. Yes the result was better here than in Australia, which was what we aimed for. The race was really challenging, exhausting really. The start went well, I was able to take the lead in the first 3 laps and the car was very good during the wet period. Pitstops went very smoothly, I want to thank the crew for that. All went well up until the last stint when Scott started really pushing it and my tyres didn't work perfectly. Then with just 4 laps to go the bad thing happened. I had been watching my mirrors for 10 laps with Scott closing in alarmingly fast and then a backmarker made a stupid move at turn 3 and I had to make a full lock emergency braking, which allowed Scott to overtake me from the inside. After that I couldn't catch him anymore, as my front tyres were more square than round. I wasn't very happy about giving the win away so close to the end after leading through the race, but in the end I just wasn't fast enough I guess. I'm happy with 2nd place today, provided that I get my victory soon.

The racing conditions at the beginning were really tricky, did the rain affect your strategy at all?

Well, we had planned a 3 stop strategy right from the start, and we had put on some extra downforce just in case it would rain. That cost us some top speed but made the first part of the race much more enjoyable. I think our strategy suited the conditions quite well, we didn't really have to change anything we had planned. And I'm very happy to see that our package worked well in wet conditions as well, especially since I had a bit more fuel than the rest of the front runners.

Everyone expected Whiteman to run away with the race after qualifying, were you surprised that you were so close at the end?

Oh did they really? I can assure you that nobody in the Mapes-VO garage expected him to run away. We knew that our car is good and we had a good setup and strategy for the race. After Melbourne our first priority was to do everything possible to narrow down the 20 second gap we had to the winner there, and I think we succeeded quite well. Midway through the race I was quite sure I'd be able to win this, but then I had a bit of bad luck and a couple of bad laps right in the end. So no, I wasn't surprised we were so close, after qualifying I knew we had taken a step forward, a bit disappointed in myself yes for not being able to take the win (yet). But Scott drove really very good right to the end, just like a race driver should, so all praise to him. In Australia I qualified 6th, finished 3rd, here from 3rd to 2nd, and I intend to keep improving. So I'll be surprised if we're not quite close next race as well.

You're the only team that has had both drivers in the points in both races, do you think that will prove important when fighting for the constructors' championship?

Yes definitely! I mean, Petri rose from 16th to points in just 8 laps, and to 4th by halfway through, that' s really something. If he keeps up the good work and irons out the glitches like the one he had in qualifying, I'd be very surprised if with this car and this whole team we didn't get at least that title home again this year.

3rd - Steve Elencevski:

Consistent as ever Steve, did you have any problems during the race?

I did a have a few problems passing backmarker's, cause everytime i came up to them it was at a slow corner, or a slowish part of the circuit, which cost me some time, but apart from that my race went ok, no other problems just a steady & consistent race.

Did the rain affect you in the early stages of the race?

Yes it certainly did ! I think i lost loads of time in the first 15-20 laps as the dry line that was eventually appearing did not suit my driving style. I was taking a totally different line in practise & qualifying, so yes the conditions we're very tricky in the early stages of the race.

Next stage at Austria, where BHP is less of a major issue than in Sepang, do you think you can possibly take victory there?

Well i hope i can come away with a win, or even another podium would be fantastic, but i think its going to be tough. I don't like the circuit much, although i can prepare for this race a lot better than i did than the first 2 & we'll work hard at getting another good result.