"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 - re-started on day 2 under SupeRally]
"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."
[Speaking in the mid-day service] "I couldn't see much in the first stage because of fog and visibility was down to 10 metres in places, but I'm not afraid to drive fast when I can't see. I had no idea how good my speed was and at the finish my first words to Jarmo were 'we've either lost a minute or won a minute'. My pace notes worked really well and in fog that is so important. There was also a lot of rain and the stage was treacherous. The roads will be even muddier this afternoon but I need to continue at this pace."
Henning Solberg [Stobart VK M-Sport Ford WRT]: [retired from day 1 in SS5 - hit a rock and damaged the suspension - re-started on day 2 under SupeRally]
“I am very disappointed with what has happened today. We hit a rock on the inside of a right hand corner on stage 5 and broke the right suspension. It is a shame because the feeling was starting to come and we set the third fastest time on stage 4. The mechanics will be working hard tonight and hopefully they can have the car fixed for tomorrow’s stages.”
