"We are here to score the points we need to sew up the Junior world title. We didn't take any risks. I kept to a pace that enabled me to post some decent times but without asking too much of my car, and I did my best not to make any mistakes. It's not what I like doing the most, but we've got to focus on the final result."
Henning Solberg [Stobart VK M-Sport Ford WRT]:
"I've been quite happy with how things have gone today. Ok we had a problem on the last stage with a puncture and dropped a few minutes but apart from that we've had no problems. My driving here has been much better than in Spain and you can see that from the times, which have been a lot closer to the leaders. I haven't changed many things this rally and have really tried to concentrate on improving my driving and this is definitely the plan again for tomorrow."
Aaron Burkart [Citroen C2 S1600]: [JWRC]
"It wasn't an easy day for me. I didn't really feel comfortable on these roads. The second loop of stages went better, but I'm not happy with my position tonight. Now I need to concentrate on tomorrow in order not to let my title chances slip away."
Notable retirements:
Daniel Sordo [Citroen Total WRT]: [retired from day 1 in SS3 - went off the road]
"I started cautiously and used SS1 to find my marks. On the next stage, I was able to profit from the full potential of my C4 and we managed to move into second place, although we did push very hard to achieve that. Then, about 800 metres after the start of SS3, there was a small bump in the braking zone for a lefthand turn at the end of a particularly fast, narrow, downhill section, and that was enough to cause my car to lift slightly. I braked as hard as I could, taking care not to lock the wheels, but the rear of my C4 swiped a bank which sent the front end into a rock. That in turn ripped off the left-side wheel and we were unable to continue. It's a huge shame. I had found a good pace, I felt completely at one with my car and we had just moved into second place."
Team principals:
Olivier Quesnel [Citroen Total WRT - team principal]:
"I can't be one hundred per cent pleased with how today went. This morning, our two crews started strongly to show how competitive the C4 WRC is on sealed surfaces. After SS2, we were first and second, and Sébastien and Daniel went on to continue their domination for the rest of the day. Winning all the opening day's stages, which is a feat they also achieved in Finland, Germany and Spain, has given them a handy advantage at the top of tonight's order, but nothing is by any means set in concrete just yet. My only regret is the fact that Dani and Marc went off, but that's rallying. They were pushing hard and were caught out under braking. The team is doing all it can to repair their car to enable them to re-start tomorrow morning under the SupeRally ruling."
