Team principals:
Olivier Quesnel [Citroen Total WRT - team principal]:
"It's an excellent result for us. When you see how the event unfolded, it clearly wasn't an easy rally, yet both our crews figured amongst the few who didn't put a foot wrong. Apart from the steering rack problem which slowed Dani on Friday, we didn't have any mechanical trouble either. The combination of two such sure-footed drivers and the reliability of the C4 has enabled us to go top in the Drivers' standings and also make up much of our deficit in the Manufacturers' points table. It's now up to us to keep up the hard work in order to leave nothing to chance with a view to repeating the same sort of performance in Jordan, which is the next round. I would also like to congratulate
Conrad Rautenbach and David Senior whose fine run took them to fourth overall with their Citroën C4 WRC run by PH Sport with support from Citroën Sport Technologies technicians. Conrad scored his first WRC points in an event that was far from straightforward given the conditions."
David Richards [Subaru WRT - managing director]:
"I am desperately disappointed for Petter and Phil. Petter is showing such renewed enthusiasm since we’ve got the car more to his liking, and despite this setback I’m feeling increasingly confident for the rest of the season. In Chris’ case, his maturity in these extraordinarily tough conditions has delivered him yet another excellent result."
Malcolm Wilson [BP Ford Abu Dhabi WRT - team director]:
"This is the worst event for the team since the China Rally in 1999. But our team spirit shone through after a tough opening day, we recovered well and we still lead the championship. We salvaged good points from a tricky situation and that was far better than it looked earlier in the rally."
Mark Deans [Ford of Europe - motorsport director]:
"This proved one of the toughest rallies in recent years. We had our share of problems but the Focus RS proved strong enough and fast enough to fight back and score the points which keeps us at the head of the championship table."
Malcolm Wilson [Stobart VK M-Sport Ford WRT - team boss]:
"This has been one of the most difficult events for the Stobart team in its short history and I am relieved that Gigi has made a comeback today to score good manufacturer points for the team. I’m really pleased with the effort of the whole team, this weekend things have not gone our way but nobody ever gave up and this has resulted in Gigi’s good result which leaves him fifth in the Drivers’ Championship. This event has been a good platform for all three guys heading into Jordan next month and especially for Henning and Gigi whose first day performances showed some impressive times."
Nobuhiro Tajima [Suzuki WRT - team boss]:
"It's clear that we have a lot of work still ahead of us, and although we are very disappointed we have also been quite unlucky here. The boost pressure sensor that stopped P-G on the opening day is a very small component, and it was very unusual for Toni to find a rock that was right on the racing line. We seem to have solved some of the reliability issues that have affected us in the past, but we need to keep working hard in order to solve all the issues we encounter. Only when we have achieved this will we be able to reach our eventual target of competing regularly amongst the frontrunners."
