"When I saw Jari-Matti stopped in the stage I knew I just had to finish. However about 9km from the end I realised I had a slow puncture on the rear right tyre. I've no idea how, or where, it happened. Then a kilometre before the finish I spun and the impact on the bank dragged off the front bumper. It just wasn't meant to be."
Petter Solberg [Subaru WRT]:
It's been a tough rally for us but fourth place is good after this weekend. What an incredible finish, the Whaanga stage was like a scrap yard! Today the car felt the best it has this weekend, so we are definitely making steps in the right direction but it's taking a little time. Of course, we are here for winning though so we have some more steps to take, but we have to lift our heads now and keep working so we can start to fight at the front.
Urmo Aava [PH Sport-Citroen C4 WRC]:
[No Quote]
Per-Gunnar Andersson [Suzuki WRT]:
"I drove a little bit like my grandmother this morning! Iknew there was so much to lose by making a mistake today, which meant there was quite a lot of pressure. The car was really good, but it was tough to find a rhythm and get into the morning stages, they were really loose at times. As well as that, I was struggling a little bit with the pace notes, they were too fast for the corners. It was such a shame for the last run through Whaanga Coast, that's a great stage, but a couple of kilometres into the stage we got a puncture, so we had to do the whole stage like that. Then later on, we got another puncture and dropped more time. Okay, this wasn't the best way to end it, but it has been a great rally for the whole team - and our faultless SX4 WRC."
Toni Gardemeister [Suzuki WRT]:
"I really enjoy these roads and today, like every day on this rally, the SX4 WRC worked very well. I had a spin on the long one this morning, it was quite tough to find the feeling on the gravel in there, but after that the day has been getting better and better. The team has worked really hard for this and we deserve the points and the finish. I'm really happy."
Federico Villagra [Munchi's Ford WRT]:
I am very happy to be here at the finish with both drivers' and manufacturers' points. It was our goal to finish in the top-eight on this event and that is exactly what we have achieved so I am very pleased with this. It has been a tough rally and we have had some small problems with the brakes but it is great to finish with no real problems all weekend. We are improving our pace on each event and learning more every rally and this event has been a good step forward. I am looking forward to the next rally in Spain as we will be testing before it and hopefully this will help me as my experience on Tarmac is limited.
Henning Solberg [Munchi's Ford WRT]:
We have made some good steps this rally and I will take a lot away from it. After our problems on Friday I got this opportunity to drive at my own pace and it allowed me to try new things and set some great times along the way. We threw away last year's notes and made new ones for this rally and I think this also helped a lot. It was great to set seven fastest stage times and also to finish ninth which meant we could score a point for the Munchi's team and help them in the championship.
