"I tried to lift the pace – my confidence was high, I had good grip and things were going well. I entered a blind corner around 10km from the start that was hidden by a bush and saw this huge bedded rock - with an edge sticking out into the road – too late and hit it at speed. I damaged the front left of the car, including mechanical components like the driveshaft and steering arm. It was a bad corner and there was no way we could continue. I'm disappointed because I was gaining pace and time but this is part of the sport."
[Speaking in the mid-day service] "The first stage was wet and I had a couple of spins where the car completely stopped. I've had no major problems though and I'm more confident that I can find pace in this rally now."
Team principals:
Olivier Quesnel [Citroen Total WRT - team principal]:
"Looking at tonight's leaderboard, I am delighted with the work put in by everyone at Citroën Sport. The speed of both our crews confirms what we saw in Jordan, and the work of our technical staff to adapt the C4 to its Pirelli tyres has borne fruit. Sébastien and Daniel took command on SS2 before managing their lead from in front, and their overnight advantage is an encouraging sign for the rest of the weekend. Dani and Marc followed up their recent performance in Jordan with a great day, too. Although our two cars are in the lead, nothing is by any means over yet. There are still two tough days to come.
"I am also pleased with today's runs from the two crews competing in privately-entered Citroën C4 WRCs run by PH Sport with support from Citroën Sport Technologies technicians.
Urmo Aava has managed to keep up the momentum of his strong display in Jordan and is 9th tonight, while
Conrad Rautenbach – who is 12th – is improving all the time at the wheel of his car."
David Richards [Subaru WRT - managing director]:
"The positive improvements the team has made to the dampers since Jordan are obviously paying off and both Petter and Chris should be very pleased with their performance today."
Malcolm Wilson [Stobart VK M-Sport Ford WRT - team boss]:
"It's been a superb performance by Gigi but he just got caught out on one of the many rocks that line the roads but he has put up a great fight-back and is very much within striking distance of a podium finish. His puncture proved just how strong the Pirelli tyres are as he was able to make it to the end of the stage in one piece. Matthew struggled this morning with his general setup but seems to have made some important changes at midday service and he is now very focused on improving his pace tomorrow."
Paul Wilding [Suzuki WRT - team manager]:
"We're very pleased with the result at the end of the first day. The team has achieved its goal in these unusually rough conditions, and we have been able to learn a lot. We look forward to building on this solid foundation tomorrow, which will be the longest day of the rally and every bit as challenging as the conditions we faced today."
