"The afternoon was much better. I was enjoying it and getting into the right kind of feeling. Because we have softened the car so much, we’ve taken some fairly big hits on some of the rocks out there. It’s been quite hard work on my back at times, but we’re getting there. I’m looking forward to tomorrow now – providing we don’t have any more rain or fog, that is!"
Andreas Aigner [Mitsubishi Lancer Evo - PWRC leader]:
"At the moment I am just so happy. Everything was going our way today. We were quick out on the roads and at the same time managed to ease up at exactly the right moment. I was able to keep extending my lead and lay what are hopefully the foundations for a very good result."
Notable retirements:
Per-Gunnar Andersson [Suzuki WRT]: [retired from day 1 before SS1 - boost pressure sensor failure]
"Actually what halted us was a very trivial problem, but it meant that we could not do any of the stages today and that was very frustrating. Having said that, I have already drawn a line under today: my rally starts tomorrow. The most important thing now is for me to have time in the car and by the end of the rally I hope we will have achieved that and learned some useful things. It's good that the weather is so bad: it means that we can test the car under extreme conditions."
Mikko Hirvonen [BP Ford Abu Dhabi WRT]: [retired from day 1 in SS5 - hit a rock and damaged the suspension]
"I hit a big rock in a left corner with the wheel on full lock and the impact broke the bolts in the track control arm. The rock was in a rut and became exposed after the first pass through the stage so it's not something I would have had in my pace notes. I was unlucky and I'm disappointed because the rally started well and I needed a win here and the points."
