[Speaking in the mid-day service] "We had a good start this morning and the feeling on the opening stage was good despite the conditions which were very slippery. We slid wide on a right hand corner about a third of the way into the second stage, hit some rocks, and were very lucky to just come away with a puncture. We decided not to change it and the Pirelli tyres held up remarkably well after driving on the damaged tyre for 20 kilometres. But the car feels good and on the next stage we set a third fastest time."
Jari-Matti Latvala [BP Ford Abu Dhabi WRT]:
"I was happy with my speed this afternoon and I need to keep the same pace tomorrow. If I can do that a top five finish is still possible. My start position tomorrow will be good if it stays dry. I had a good pre-event test and both the car and tyres felt perfect. I tried to keep the car straighter and not go sideways and my tyres remained in really good condition as a result."
[Speaking in the mid-day service] "It was my mistake and all I can do is look in the mirror to see the reason why. Maybe my pace notes were too quick, but at a downhill right bend about 18km after the start I hit a soft bank and the tyre came away from the rim and went down straight away. As it was a rear tyre I decided not to stop and change it because I would lose too much time and that proved the right decision. I had made my notes quicker than last year and although it was a fast corner, it was also narrow."
Henning Solberg [Munchi's Ford WRT]:
"We made some changes that seemed to work. Tomorrow I want to maintain the same rhythm."
[Speaking in the mid-day service] "Everything is fine. I'm really enjoying it even if it is very slippery and difficult."
Toni Gardemeister [Suzuki WRT]:
"Today has actually been a very good day for us. To be sixth fastest and sixth overall at the end of the longest stage of the rally this morning was very encouraging. We had a few problems with the downshifts on the gearbox all day, but really nothing major. I just tried to be very smooth and precise on these stages, because if you go off the line then it is easy to have a puncture or hit a rock."
Per-Gunnar Andersson [Suzuki WRT]:
"It's been a steady start to the rally, but these stages are very difficult. Maybe it's because of the changing level of grip, or maybe because the roads are so narrow, but it's been hard to find a good rhythm. It's been very slippery as well - a bit more than I expected. I had a problem with the brakes in the afternoon, but our objective has been to stay out of trouble and so far I think we've managed to achieve that. If we keep the same level of reliability tomorrow, then I'm confident that we can move up the order."
Conrad Rautenbach [PH Sport-Citroen C4 WRC]:
"It's been a bit of a mediocre day, to be honest. The problem with the handbrake this morning was quite strange. Whenever I was going into a tight corner and pulling the handbrake, the car seemed to think it was going to stall and it would dip the clutch. This is not the best when you're coming out of the corner sideways and you need the power to keep the momentum of the car going. It didn't really help my confidence much – particularly as the roads today were quite narrow, without much room to play around with the car.
