"My problem came in a section about six kilometres into the stage. It was a left-hander going into a tighter right. I was too fast into the left and then couldn't gather the car for the next right. The car started to drift and then went off the road on the inside of the corner. The front was buried in some deep sand. A couple of people were there to help, but there was no way the car was coming out until I found some wood to go under the wheels. By the time I had done that and we got back on the road, we were OTL (Over Time Limit). I had a slow puncture from earlier in the stage, but the problem was my speed not the tyre. It's really disappointing. I need to be in the car and driving stages right now, so there is a lot of frustration when this happens. We all want to show what the SX4 WRC can do."
Toni Gardemeister [Suzuki WRT]: [retired from event after SS2 - engine]
"I was happy with the first couple of stages. In some corners, we were going a little bit wide, but the times were quite okay. I thought this was going to be a good event for us. We had a real chance to get some good points here. I knew P-G had had a problem and I was thinking that we needed to make sure there was one SX4 at the finish, so I wasn't pushing very hard. I wasn't flat-out and didn't want to take the big risks. I don't know which stone it was that caused the problems - there were so many of them about! As soon as I heard the engine starting to sound like it wasn't right in SS3, I pulled over and switched it off. I am also upset for the team because I wanted to get a result for them on this rally. I came here to drive well and to compete with the other cars on even ground. I do believe we could have made a result, particularly when you look at how many of the cars are having problems in these really tough conditions."
Petter Solberg [Subaru WRT]: [retired from day 1 in SS6 - hit a rock - will re-start on day 2 under SupeRally]
"This morning was good, but then it is so, so disappointing for me and the team to have this problem and to have retired on the first day. Into stage six I hit a small rock on the inside round a left hand corner, and after that the front suspension dampers just broke. Oil came on the screen, and a bit caught fire under the bonnet. We were lucky to put it out before any real damage, but I came here feeling good and looking for a good result. We had the pace notes and things were looking pretty good, but that’s just how it is. We just need to keep going and see what happens in the next two days."
