World Rally
Neil Cole
Neil Cole has been covering WRC since 2004, and now you can find him helming our regular World Rally show on Dave.
When he's not interviewing Scandinavians, Neil takes the guise of a stand-up comedian. From 1997-2000 he was in a comedy duo called Hitchcock's Half Hour that got rave reviews - now he's doing solo stuff, but we're told the reviews are still rave. Aside from that he's presented on MTV and has his own radio show on XFM. Which means he's interviewed both the Sugababes and Tommi Makinen. C'mon now Neil, that's hogging.
Because he's a naturally talkative chap, we thought we'd quiz Neil on how the season's going, who's the most fun on Sunday night, that sort of thing.
So lets start with that. Who's the party animal?
Mostly they all like to party. And they like to party with the fans, too. Some of the best times I've had have been with Petter Solberg, but he's only going to party if there's something to celebrate, and he hasn't had a lot recently. But Atko (Chris Atkinson) is a proper Aussie, I run around with him quite a bit.So, if you're going as a spectator to enjoy a good rally party, where's best?
Best place to go as a spectator is Mexico, but Finland is amazing if you're a Brit on a budget. Jyvaskyla is a quiet university town but for a week it goes rally mental, and literally every woman there is a 9.5 or a 10. And, because many of the Finnish blokes are quite often under the table by 11.30pm, the field opens up...Aren't the Finns a bit dour?
I don't buy into that myth. You just have to get to know them. First time I interviewed Tommi Makinen, he was hero of mine and everybody said he won't laugh, but he was really funny. They aren't really media trained. They don't like chatting about the job, especially if they aren't doing well. Loeb also has this reputation, but he can be quite cheeky in the interviews.Jari-Matti Latvala has to be the sensation of 2008. How is [Ford teammate] Mikko Hirvonen taking it?
Jari-Matti appears to be an overnight success, but really he's had six or seven years at a very high level, just under the radar. At bit like Lewis Hamilton. Mikko is more annoyed with himself than with Jari-Matti. I don't think he's got any beef, it's more like 'I should doing those times myself, I should have been on that pace.' It's good for the team. Latvala is experienced, but we need to wait for him to have a big off, which could seriously dent his confidence. Like Dani Sordo. He was also young and quick, but then had a massive off in Finland and you could see it knocked his confidence because he slowed down.How do you rate Matthew Wilson? Is he Britain's great hope?
Yes definitely. When you stand and watch him go past there's very little difference between him and Atkinson or Jari-Matti. He's on a learning curve every weekend and you can see it in his times. I think he'll get his first podium this season. If he doesn't, he and his dad [Ford boss Malcolm Wilson] will rethink his future. In Sweden [when he retired from fifth on the second to last stage] him and his dad were crying because they'd built up all this hope for this result.Our Programmes
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