Rickard Rydell Q&A

"Yes, for sure. It made me wonder if it was going to take the whole season to catch up, but we've closed half of the gap already, so I'm very happy about that. I think we've still got quite a lot of work to do, we especially need more power to keep up with them on the straights. It is finding the time to do it, because there is only two weeks between the races. So far, I've been happy with what we've managed to achieve since the first round."



"The gearbox is the biggest thing. We were losing a lot there, but the gearshift is a lot better now. It is still not perfect, but we can make it better. The balance of the car is not perfect either, but the other main thing, of course, is the power deficit, so we need to improve the engine."



"It looks larger than the others but it's not actually that much bigger, especially higher up. It may be an advantage in the fast corners, and there are a lot of those here, so maybe that is why we are a lot quicker than we were at Magny-Cours."



"Yeah, it's very good. Prodrive is a very professional team, and getting Volvo involved too is perfect. We need to work hard and win some races."



"If you look at some of the drivers here, it is at least as good as the last few years of the BTCC. There are a lot of ex-Formula 1 drivers, and some very good teams as well, so it's very competitive."



"No, not really. I think they can make some improvements. I went off in the first session, so I got to look at the other cars, and I think they can make their car better as well. They are not far off, Jorg Muller is only half a second off me. I'm sure they will close the gap.



"For entertainment it is perfect. Just reversing the top six is great, because they are all of the same driving standard. If you reversed the whole thing, it would cause a problem. It's great for spectators, because you get a lot of overtaking. I'm all for it."



"Yes, we started during testing in the week because I wasn't having a good time. I asked him if he fancied swapping cars, but he said no. Now I think he regrets it! [Menu starts ninth in Sunday's DTM race at Zolder]"