What attracted you to the Lancia Ypsilon Rally4 project?
“When Eugenio [Franzetti, director of Lancia Corse HF] said about the new Trofeo Lancia, immediately my thought has been that I wish I was 18 again. I think it is a wonderful opportunity for young people and really I am very emotional. I feel big emotion to be here and to have the opportunity to be back with Lancia in rally sport.”
Why is Lancia so dear to your heart?
“Rally has been my life. When I was 12 years old, in my town we used to cross the Monte-Carlo Rally and I have a picture with Sandro Munari with his autograph. I always said one day, someone will ask me for a photograph and an autograph. It’s been a dream come true. It’s the same for Lancia after so many years. All the rally fans, and a lot of drivers, were waiting for this moment. And so, I am an ambassador not only of Lancia but an ambassador of the rally passion worldwide.”
Lancia is returning to rallying with a Rally4 car. Is that a good choice?
“I think that the choice to start with the Rally4 is very good. It’s very good because, of course, Lancia is back in motorsport, and so it’s wise to go inside via the rear door and not sparkling because, as everybody knows, the World Rally Championship is really, really expensive.”
While Rally4 appeals, is there a chance of an even higher level in the future?
“Rally4 is the most popular category in Europe and most of the drivers in the national championships compete in this category, so it’s a very good choice. Of course the dream of everybody, and for me also, is to have a rally car that could compete in the top class. At the moment, the rules for the future are not yet ready and the costs to be competitive, or in order to compete in the World Rally Championship, are too high. But if the FIA will change something, let us dream. We have to dream. I am not speaking as a Lancia ambassador only, but as a rally fan also and a Lancia fan. It’s a dream, and it’s not forbidden to dream.”
Ypsilon Rally4 is a big project, what can it lead to for a driver?
“This programme is fantastic in order to find new drivers. It’s a shame that there is not yet another Miki Biasion in the World Rally Championship, but maybe with this project I hope somebody will be my new ambassador.”
The second part of ERC Take Five with Hayden Paddon will be published on 1 November.
Japan
Poland
Turkey