[Speaking in the mid-day service] "We hit a gatepost in there [SS9], so there's a lot of damage at the rear. It's quite slippery in there, but I'm happier than yesterday."
Henning Solberg [Stobart M-Sport Ford WRT]:
“It has been going OK today but we are just getting through and seeing what we can do. I have been trying a new driving style today and basically using the day as a bit of a test. Today has been much better than yesterday and at least now I can see out of the windscreen. I will try and concentrate more on my driving as I have a better feeling today and hopefully we can improve on this tomorrow. There was a bit of fog on the last stage and our lights were a bit too high which lost us some time but I have set some good times today which I am happy with. I will try my best tomorrow and finish the event which is very important; to have as much experience in the world rally car as possible.”
Federico Villagra [Munchi's Ford WRT]:
“That was a great day - and stage 12 was really nice.”
Sebastian Lindholm [Suzuki WRT]:
"In terms of development, we are more or less where we expected to be. Of course we are trying different things all the time, but that is why we are here. Testing on a real rally is much more revealing than simply testing at a private venue. If you are on a test stage, you very quickly learn the road and you can compensate for any problems that might arrive. On a real rally, every corner is different. We've really enjoyed today, but we are not looking at the stage times: it's all about development."
Notable retirements:
Sebastian Lindholm [Suzuki WRT]: [retired from leg 1 after SS2 - mechanical - re-started on day 2 under SupeRally]
“It's a pity that we had this setback so early, but at least now we have a chance to get our car back to service and fix the brake pipe properly, so that we can continue to work on our testing programme for the remainder of the event. However, even during the short distance we have run, I can feel that the fundamental balance of the car is very good and that is an extremely positive sign for the future.”
Jari-Matti Latvala [Stobart M-Sport Ford WRT]: [retired from leg 1 in SS6 - went into some logs - re-started on day 2 under SupeRally]
“In the last stage everything went wrong. The visibility was really bad and my wipers were not working properly. The rain was so bad I couldn't see anything and then I hit a bank quite hard on a very rough part of the stage which damaged the bumper and made the wipers stop working completely. I really couldn't see anything at all and had to stop and get out of the car a few times to clean the mud off the windscreen. There was so much water coming up over the screen that I had no option but to stop in places. It was a really frustrating end to what was a very encouraging start to the rally.”
[Speaking in the mid-day service] “It was difficult in the fog and I could have done better but I just couldn't find my rhythm driving in the fog. We started off slowly but I really want to concentrate and improve my driving. Things did get much better on the next two stages though but I am still making some small mistakes and sliding too much in places. I don't want to play a risky game so early in the rally.”
Henning Solberg [Stobart M-Sport Ford WRT]: [retired from leg 1 in SS6 - re-started on day 2 under SupeRally]
“I was not happy this morning which started off with a puncture but that is a part of the game. I couldn't really find my rhythm today and then on stage 4 things got worse when the heater started playing up and I couldn't see anything for the whole stage. This got worse over the final two stages today and in the end Cato [Menkerud] had to use a stick with his hat on the end to try and clear the windscreen because the mist was just too bad to see anything. I just couldn't see a thing at all when the screen was misted up. Then it was even worse in the dark and I had no option but to crawl through the stages. I am so disappointed with today as we were hoping for things to start off well here.”
[Speaking in the mid-day service] “I am really not happy with what happened this morning but that is a part of the game. We had a puncture on the second right-hand corner of the first stage and it really did lose us a lot of time by the end of it. It has been ok by the end of the loop but I just didn't find a good rhythm this morning. We will change some things with the suspension and hopefully find a better feeling for the next loop.”
Team principals:
Malcolm Wilson [BP Ford WRT - team director]:
"Neither of them [Mikko or Marcus] can do any more. They have done everything we asked them to do and it was a copybook performance from both of them."
Guy Frequelin [Citroen Total WRT - team principal]:
