[Speaking in the mid-day service] "After some changes last night the car was easier to drive today but the feeling is still not quite there. We got through this morning with no problems but it’s a very difficult rally. SS11 was better as there were proper snow banks and a hard ice base, but the first two stages were just gravel so it’s very hard to push on those conditions on snow tyres."
Khalid Al Qassimi [BP Ford Abu Dhabi WRT]:
"What a day! I had lifted my pace a little to start with and had cut the deficit to
Matthew Wilson, who I was using as a measure, from 1.5 seconds/kilometre yesterday to 0.5sec/Km on the first few splits of the first stage this morning. Then, I tried to brake a little late in one corner which tightened and we slid off the road and down into a ditch. The spectators at that spot did a fantastic job – they literally lifted the car back onto the road but we lost around ten minutes in the process.
"On the next stage, we slid wide again and clipped a snow-bank. Because of the damage from the previous stage, the radiator filled with snow and the engine temperature started to go up. Michael [Orr - my co-driver] told me to stop and he cleared it but we had to look for a junction where we could stop. The team checked the data and the engine was fine, so we carried on.
"This afternoon, I was pushing a little bit again to rebuild the confidence and was experimenting with differential settings. However, we slid into a ditch again and with the help of the spectators, regained the road but lost another five minutes or so. So it’s been a bad day for me but I am very glad to be here – it’s all part of the experience.
"I am delighted to win the longest jump at Colin’s Crest though. To have my name associated with that of one of the greatest names in motorsport is an honour and I am very proud, both for the team and for Abu Dhabi."
Notable retirements:
Per-Gunnar Andersson [Suzuki WRT]: [retired from event in SS4 - engine]
"This is not what I was hoping from my home rally, but with any new car you have to accept that problems can occur. This was only my second event with the car and I’m happy with the pace we were able to show, which I think was good enough to finish in the points. Now we have to get to the bottom of what happened in order to make sure it doesn’t happen again - this is all part of the learning process."
![Jari-Matti Latvala (FIN) BP Ford Focus RS WRC 07. Swedish Rally. February 7-10 2008. [PIC CREDIT: FORD / worldrallypics.com]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/405528.jpg)
