Teammate interview – Barwa / Pic / Van Der Garde

What did you know about your teammate?
Charles: Nothing special. I knew him a bit from World Series but we were not in the same team so I did not know a lot.
Giedo: I knew more about him. When I was doing 3.5L he was in 2.0L. He was an up-coming talent. Of course we raced together in 3.5L and now we are teammates. He’s always been fast in every category. And now he is a fast teammate.

What are each other’s greatest strengths?
Giedo: I think Charles works very hard. He has a really good race pace and he is good at saving his rear tyres.
Charles: For me, Giedo is very consistent and has a lot of experience so he is able tp be very fast everywhere and to understand quickly where the problems are.

What are each other’s weaknesses?
Charles: I don’t know. This year, at the moment, he does not have a lot.
Giedo: I think he is quick and I have not seen his weaknesses yet. Maybe at the start...
Charles: True. Especially at the beginning of this season (Laughs)

Who gets to the circuit last?
Giedo: Charles!
Charles: I’m younger, I need to sleep more (Laughs)

Who is the wildest one on and off the track?
Giedo: I think on the track, it is hard to say. This season, I am being reasonable. So is Charles, Maybe off the track, me
Charles: I don’t know. We have not gone out together yet... Let’s see!

Who is the most successful with the ladies?
Giedo: I have been with my girlfriend for eight years now. You?
Charles: Two years
Giedo: There. We are very serious guys.
Charles: Very!

Are you superstitious?
Charles: No.
Giedo: Jump into the car from the left side. Always. I used to have more when I was younger. I was wearing a pink underwear. In 2008, I had twenty pairs of pink underwear. It stopped working, so now I just wear normal underwear.

Who will have the best road car in ten years time?
Charles: I don’t know...
Giedo: I don’t care about road cars that much
Charles: We both like good cars and racing cars
Giedo: I hope to still be in F1 in ten years and drive a good car there. It would be nice if it was a red car!

Who will have the most beautiful wife?
Giedo: Me!
Charles: I’m not so sure about this... (Laughs)

Who has the best fashion sense?
Giedo: Both. We have the same shoes for example.
Charles: We found out that we were buying the same clothes. We do not shop together though, but in Valencia when we go to work with the team, we realised we bought the same stuffs.

How would you describe your teammate?
Charles: Funny because he makes a lot of jokes.
Giedo: Serious and fast.

Who is the shyest?
Giedo: Charles.
Charles: Yes but I discovered this year that Dutchmen are much more opened than Frenchmen. So I’m the shyest. Especially at the beginning.

Who is your favourite sportsman or sportswoman?
Giedo: I used to like Armstrong. The way he overcame. But I’m interesting in football. I like Ajax.
Charles: A woman in ski, I don’t remember her name. She’s from Switzerland and just beat Lindsay Vonn. She is very young – 18 or 19 years old. It was the first world cup I saw. She beat all the top athletes. It was nice to see.

Who tells the most jokes?
Giedo: I do. I love jokes. This week for example we had a technical meeting with Chris Murphy who was late. He has a funny way of seating behind the computer with his glasses on. I imitated him. Everybody laughed.

What would you cook to each other if you invited your teammate for dinner?
Giedo: I can’t cook. My girlfriend would have to do it. She is a very good cook and likes it.
Charles: I will order some Japanese food (Laughs)

Who has the most contacts in their phone?
Charles: I don’t have that many contacts.
Giedo: I have 367
Charles: I don’t have my phone with me, but you definitely beat me!

---