Mikko Hirvonen [BP Ford WRT]:

"Leading is always the best position to be in but I know there are two difficult days to come. I have the same fantastic feeling with the car that I had during Rally Finland in August. Conditions this morning were difficult with fog and ice on roads that were narrow and slippery but we survived. Visibility was down to 100m on the first stage. It was a shock to lose Marcus and now I have to drive to win to help his title chances.

"Tomorrow will be especially hard because there are long stages and a lot of kilometres and after the rain tonight the roads will be extremely slippery. They are even narrower than today and one mistake could prove costly."


Sebastien Loeb [Citroen Total WRT]:

"It hasn't been the easiest of days and I'm glad it's behind us. The gap ahead of us isn't big and we are still in with a real chance."

“I'm not very happy. We can say, on one side it has been a good day because we have now a good chance to lead the championship after this rally but I'm not satisfied with my driving. The set up of the car is not perfect. There is understeering and I cannot keep the car in line. With Latvala around and Hirvonen in front, it's not easy to fight for the win. My plan for tomorrow is to modify the set up of the car at first, then, not to take too many risks even thougH if I finish only third I'll have only a two point lead in the championship.”

[Speaking in service A] "For once I was wide awake for the first stage; it was on the second test that I dropped time. It wasn't the easiest of starts; there was fog on SS1, plus ice, and the handling of my car wasn't perfect. That said, it was by no means all bad because we managed to set the fastest time on the longest stage (SS3), our main rival has hit trouble and we are not that far behind the leader."


Jari-Matti Latvala [Stobart M-Sport Ford WRT]:

“It was a fantastic start to the rally for me to be leading even though the conditions were quite difficult this morning. The grip was changing a lot and in some places the roads were dry but very damp, and sometimes muddy, under the trees. This afternoon has been harder as Mikko has been going a lot faster than me. I have had a really good feeling with the car but on stages 6 and 7 I had slightly less confidence and lost a bit of time as I didn't want to make any silly mistakes. We really need to get to the finish of this event, the experience is extremely important. The car has been fantastic today and the tyres are working very well. To be leading here has been an amazing feeling but I know not to get too excited, I made mistakes in Sardinia and Finland when leading so now I will concentrate on my driving. Tonight we will make some changes ahead of tomorrow's stages which I am more familiar with.”


Daniel Sordo [Citroen Total WRT]:

“I'm happy but Latvala is very fast. I'm happy both with the car and with my driving on gravel especially here where the roads are so difficult.”

[Speaking in service A] "As if these stages weren't difficult enough as they are, we suffered from a lack of visibility this morning because of the fog and there was even ice about. There was no question of taking any risks but my pace actually wasn't bad. Our split-times on SS3 show that we were up there with the leaders until I was forced to come to a sideways halt to avoid hitting a bridge. I was able to continue and I went on to win the next stage (SS4).”


Henning Solberg [Stobart M-Sport Ford WRT]:

“The first stage this morning was difficult because of the fog but generally it has been a very good start to the rally for me. The feeling with the car is good and my confidence is high again now that we are back on gravel. I am very happy with how we have started this rally. I had a big moment in the afternoon stages and a spin on one of the shorter stages where we slid wide on a fast right hand corner and stalled the car losing about eight seconds; but most people seemed to be making mistakes there also. Some of the stages were quite rough and slippery and if it continues to rain overnight then they will be even more difficult tomorrow. I have been driving as fast as I can today but haven't been taking any big risks.”


Manfred Stohl [OMV Kronos Citroen WRT]: