[Speaking in the mid-day service] "Today's wide, reasonably smooth stages were similar to what we found in Spain last week, so it wasn't a surprise to see Marcus go so well. We knew that before coming here, and we were very aware that it wouldn't be easy to repeat our one-two finish in Salou. That said, this rally has only just begun and the day is far from over."
Malcolm Wilson [BP Ford WRT - team director]:
"It was a superb day for Marcus and I'm pleased he is still in the fight for the lead. Mikko made an uncharacteristic error but he will return tomorrow so he can build his experience of these roads and hopefully score a manufacturers' point. The damage to the car was heavy. The suspension mounting on the chassis was broken which required a lot of fabrication work to the mounting point before the replacement of the entire suspension system. The rear differential was also replaced but the car is now restored to full health for tomorrow."
Richard Taylor [Subaru WRT - managing director]:
"We have finished today with all three cars in the points, but we are still not showing as much pace on asphalt as we had hoped for. Tomorrow's stages have a slightly different character, and the team will be pushing to make progress up the leader board.
Malcolm Wilson [Stobart M-Sport Ford WRT - team boss]:
It's been another great day for the Stobart team to get the two cars in points scoring positions. Jari has had another sensible, solid drive and is now in a close battle for fourth place, hopefully tomorrow we can see him make up a place or two. Both Henning and Matthew have upped their pace from Spain also and haven't made any mistakes today at all. I'm sure they will settle in tomorrow and improve even more.
Nobuhiro Tajima [Suzuki WRT - team principal]:
"It's been a very exciting day, and I'm proud of the performance of our team under these very challenging conditions. The circumstances of our 'retirement' today were bizarre, but we look at every problem or misunderstanding as just an opportunity to learn more. Before then, the SX4 WRC had shown some very encouraging potential and we hope to continue like this tomorrow."
