"We decided to push hard this morning to try to move into the lead. Our Citroën C4 WRC was very competitive and I was feeling particularly comfortable. The road section between the end of SS11 and the start of the following test though was very narrow and there were lots of places where we couldn't see much of the road. Coming out of one such corner, we were unable to avoid running into another competitor coming in the opposite direction. It really is an enormous shame: we were in a good position with regard to both championships, but this is only the fifth round of the season and such a lot that can still happen."
Conrad Rautenbach [PH Sport-Citroen C4 WRC]: [retired from day 2 after SS10 - head-on collision with Loeb - re-started on day 3 under SupeRally]
"I'm really sorry for Sebastien [Loeb] and for
Citroen, both of whom are fighting to win this event and the championship. Sebastien had pushed really hard to get into a good position and to build a good lead. It's really unfortunate. I'm pretty fed-up myself – I'm out of day two as well. It was an accident, nobody's fault."
Petter Solberg [Subaru WRT]: [retired from event in SS16 - crashed]
"We had so much go wrong today. We knew we had a brake caliper leaking, and in the last stage I braked and the car just didn’t slow down enough. It’s so, so frustrating and just boring, you know. I want to be able to push and drive properly but we just haven’t been able to this weekend."
Per-Gunnar Andersson [Suzuki WRT]: [retired from day 3 in SS19 - went off the road]
"This is a really disappointing end to the event for me and for the team. I don't really understand what happened on stage 19 and how I ended up off the road. It had been going well for me. It was very loose, with a lot of gravel on the surface of the road, but we hadn't had a problem. We came into a slow left-hand bend, which led into a hairpin right. I had a half-spin after the left, which dropped the front of the car down into the inside of the hairpin. The car went nose in. The rear wheels were still on the road. I put the car in reverse gear straight away, hoping it would reverse out, but the gradient was too steep. Jonas and I jumped out of the car to try and get some more people to help us. Only two people were around. We tried to lift the car out, but it was impossible. On the stage before we'd been fourth quickest, and I was really enjoying it. Obviously I didn't want to retire from the event, but it was an honour to meet His Majesty King Abdullah II. He was very interested to take a look at the SX4 WRC."
Team principals:
Olivier Quesnel [Citroen Total WRT - team principal]:
"What a rally. I don't think we will forget the inaugural Jordan Rally in a hurry; a real emotional roller-coaster. Dani and Marc did all they could to win today and only narrowly failed. We can leave here with our heads held high. True, our rivals go away with more points than us but the competitiveness of the C4 WRC and the superior performance of Sébastien Loeb are positive pointers for the rest of the season. I would also like to congratulate Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia on their second consecutive Junior win with their Citroën C2 S1600."
Malcolm Wilson [BP Ford Abu Dhabi WRT - team director]:
"It was almost a dream weekend, but it was a fantastic team performance. Our strategy worked perfectly and it's great for Mikko to claim his first win this season and for us to lead both championships again. Full credit to Jari-Matti for nursing the car back to the service park after his problems. Compliments to the rally organisers - on their first time in the WRC, they created a classic event."
