Q&A: Gigi Galli - EXCLUSIVE.

by Rob Wilkins

Gigi Galli looks set to compete in the FIA World Rally Championship in 2007 using a privately entered Citroen Xsara WRC car supplied by PH Sport. Here he speaks exclusively to Crash.net Radio and confirms some of the details...

Q:
Gigi, first up, before we ask you about 2007, congratulations on winning the rally sprint event at the Bologna Motor Show in December...

Gigi Galli:
Thanks, it was really good, especially when you have the chance to drive a WRC car so close to your fans. In Bologna it was a lot of fun and there were a lot of supporters and for me, as an Italian, it was nice to be able to have a good time with them.

Q:
Did you have a good Christmas?

GG:
Yes, I was at home and went skiing too. We had a good time with some friends and had some good nights. I think it is good to relax.

Q:
Last year of course, you did six WRC events - two with the Mitsubishi Lancer WRC05 and four with the Peugeot 307, any news on what you are going to be doing in 2007?

GG:
We are trying to find something for this season. At the moment we are trying very hard to put together a small programme. I am hoping to do maybe eight rallies with a Citroen, although it is still not confirmed 100 per cent.

Today it was the last day to do the entry for Sweden and for Norway and we have entered, but it is still not certain that we will compete. But I am quite confident to be able to be in Sweden with the Xsara WRC.

Q:
Can you tell us anything more about the programme? Who is the car going to be run by?

GG:
I will use a Citroen supplied by PH Sport from France. But on events it will be an Italian team that will run it - they will supply the logistical things and they will help me to arrange everything and do the recce and so on.

Q:
How do you think you will get on with the Citroen Xsara WRC?

GG:
Like ever I think the main difficulty will be to understand the car and to get to know the handling. I have never driven a Citroen before and now I hope, in the next few weeks, to be able to get the budget I need. I then hope to be able to do some small tests - but that will be quite difficult. I hope that the car will be easy to drive and I hope that I can adjust quickly to it.

I want to show some good performances on the rallies. I am sure it will be very hard though to get some good results as there are a lot of good drivers in the WRC. What is very important though is to stay involved in rallying - and to try and show our performance and our personality. I need to do everything that I can to get back in a works team.

Q:
Any idea when your programme will be confirmed?

GG:
I think in a couple of weeks we will know something for sure. But as I said, I still have to find some budget and some people to help us to compete and to go and do everything.

Q:
Final question, do you have any other plans for this year - maybe to do something in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge or even the Asia Pacific Rally Championship?

GG:
I have spent most of my career working towards the FIA World Rally Championship - and I would like to try the best I can to stay involved in the WRC. If I cannot do that, I will try and consider other things and move into another championship. But at the moment I want to try hard to stay involved in the WRC.

Q:
Thanks, Gigi. Good luck with finalising that programme to compete in the WRC.