Q & A with Mini's Campbell Roy

Q. What made the job of sporting manager of Mini attractive to you?

Campell Roy: Just the sheer excitement of Mini coming back to the WRC and the historic record of Prodrive in the championship as well. I knew how they had done the job when they won the title with Colin [McRae], who I was involved with for a lot of years.

Putting all that together and the experience I've had on the organisation side and in the Junior World Rally Championship with Kris Meeke [Roy mentored Meeke along with Colin McRae] and Kronos back in 2005 and it just seemed like there might be an opportunity at a time when I was looking to move on. It all seemed to gel together.

Q. What will your role be?

CR: As sporting manager I'll be taking care of the logistics and team management. It's the non-technical side of the team, looking after the drivers and co-drivers that I'm involved in. I'll also be liaising with the FIA on the regulations.

Q. Was a full-time role in the FIA something which you'd always aspired to?

CR: I suppose in the back of my mind, I saw it as something I would like to do, but whether that opportunity was ever going to come - or whether I would, given or commitments, be able to take that on was up in the air. When this opportunity came along and I got involved in the discussions with Prodrive and David Richards, it was absolutely something I wanted to do.

Q. What about your role in Colin McRae Vision? Does this mean the end of your involvement?

CR: No, not at all. I'm in discussions with the [McRae] family about how that can carry on and there's the resource and the staff in place now. I remain as a trustee and go to the quarterly meetings and have an involvement in the direction in which the Vision goes forward in. I wouldn't like to cut the ties with that, it's much too close to my heart and what I've done with the McRae family over the years. I'm delighted to still have an involvement and to oversee it.

Q. Does it make your job as sporting manager a little easier given that you know and have already worked with Kris?

CR: I suppose you could say there are pluses and minuses. But, yes, I know Kris's character, his potential and his burning desire to be successful in the championship. But I also know Dani [Sordo] and it's great that they know each other from their time in the JWRC in 2005. They get on very well and Dani brings a wealth of experience and knowledge from his five years as Sebastien Loeb's team-mate, so that's going to be really valuable to the team.

Q. Will you move down from Scotland?

CR: It's a bit early to say. I'm looking at short-term accommodation around Banbury at the moment. The job's in Banbury, but my wife's got a good job up north and we've a property up there as well, so we'll have to cross that bridge when we come to it.