TCR World and life

Congratulations on winning the TCR Europe title after having been twice champion in TCR Germany in 2016 and 2017, but it seemed to be a weekend of mixed emotions for you? “Yes, because after Qualifying we didn’t quite know where we stood. We had a good Friday but we didn’t have a good Saturday morning. We just worked through everything as a team and had an excellent result in Race 1; to go from ninth to third was exactly what we needed to do. I knew we had the speed for Race 2, we had the setup right and we just made a few tweaks so it meant that I could continue to push until right to the end of the race. Target Competition have done a fantastic job all season, they’ve provided a car that’s been completely different each weekend as we tried to squeeze everything out of it for each circuit, which meant I was in the best car with the best team all year. This is a special team, a special feeling and a special year. I won’t ever forget this feeling!” You’ve won championships in the past both from being in front and from being behind. Which do you prefer? “I don’t think you ever prefer either of them because you just want to be champion, but you have different mentalities for both. If I’d been Julien Briché this weekend, I’d have done exactly what he did – maximum attack and don’t give two hoots, and he did a great job. The fact that he kept the championship alive until the last corner of the last lap of the last race, that was fair play to him and to his team for doing an amazing job. I was in exactly that position in the Clio Eurocup, where I was a long way behind, won three races on the trot and ended up winning the championship in the last race, so I’ve been there and I’ve been in the situation in TCR Germany where I was in front and it was difficult, so I’ve seen both sides. I had to go maximum attack in both races and what Julien did was exactly what he had to do.” Any ideas yet what you’ll be doing in 2020? “I actually don’t really know anything at the moment. I’d like to move on, of course, because when you win the European title you want to put yourself up against the best in the world and that’s obviously WTCR, so I guess some conversations need to happen now. That’s my goal.” Three questions to… Josh Files