Rally reactions: Wales Rally GB - Leg 1.

Mikko Hirvonen [BP Ford WRT]:

"I couldn't see more than a handful of metres on the final stage - it was the worst I can remember. It was like having a white wall in front of the car and in some sections it was easier to drive with no lights at all. Driving in the dark, the fog and the rain was scary. I tried to drive through the conditions. My pace notes were perfect all day and I trusted them 100 per cent. I've not taken split times for the other drivers because there was enough work to do keeping the car on the road.

"I guess I took more risks than the others and I felt confident with the car and tyres. That allowed me to keep pushing and build my lead. Tomorrow I will try to maintain it, but I've not driven those stages for a few years so it won't be easy."

Marcus Gronholm [BP Ford WRT]:

"I was too cautious at the start of the first stage this morning because it was uncomfortable in the fog and I couldn't see much. I don't have to take risks and I didn't drive flat out. I didn't try to catch Mikko, I was just trying to control my pace, but my confidence wasn't so good because the weather this afternoon was some of the worst I can remember in my career. There was water on the car, under the car and all around the car - there was even water in the car!"

Sebastien Loeb [Citroen Total WRT]:

"We have a lead of six points over Marcus Gr?nholm. If he wins, we mustn't finish any lower than fifth to make sure of the title. For once, I didn't set out with the intention of winning. It would have been stupid to throw everything away by trying to take the lead. We spent the day trying to adapt our pace to the difficulty of the stages and how we felt. Despite the thick fog that marked this morning's stages, for example, I had confidence in my notes and I managed to find a good pace. I didn't take any risks through the muddier parts where braking was very tricky, though. I tried not to cut across the deepest ditches and did what I could to avoid the rocks. There is still a long way to go but I'm glad today is behind us."

Petter Solberg [Subaru WRT]:

"I've never seen Rally GB conditions like this before. Today has been very, very stressful, but quite good also. It's been good fun as the surface is so slippery. It is good we are in fourth, but I hope we can climb from there. We will try everything we can here to improve on our position, so we will see tomorrow how we go. It's going to be a tough rally and a long rally so I am not giving up for a podium."

[Speaking in the mid-day service] "I had a huge moment on the second corner of the first stage. It's incredible - I still can't believe we got away with it. If I'm going to rate the lucky escapes I've had in my career then this was number one. It was foggy, I came too fast into the corner and then we were spinning, turning around, going backwards, the lot. I can't really describe how crazy it was - you have to look at the onboard tapes. Other than that the morning was okay. The car doesn't feel so bad, but the engineers are looking to make some changes in service to allow us to attack a bit more."

Daniel Sordo [Citroen Total WRT]:

"Stages shrouded in thick fog wasn't the easiest way to start the Wales Rally GB. I managed to find a quick but safe pace, though, and my confidence gradually returned. Our Citro?n C4 WRC performed perfectly; it's just me who needs to loosen up a bit. That said, the stages are so slippery and so difficult that it would be easy to make a mistake, and that's the last thing I want to do."

Matthew Wilson [Stobart M-Sport Ford WRT]:

"In the afternoon there was so much rain which made things very difficult and that last stage is one I will never forget, that's for sure; it was one of the most challenging I have ever done especially with the fog making it almost impossible to see. I just cannot explain how bad the visibility was; it was just a matter of damage limitation. I'm feeling quite good at the moment and it's great to be in a points scoring position but there is still a long way to go and a lot of tricky corners left in this rally. My times today were very encouraging and it's great to be sixth after the first day and even better to have stayed out of trouble today."

[Speaking in the mid-day service] "This morning was very tricky because sometimes the visibility was fine but other times you really couldn't see anything which made it hard to pick the right braking points. Things got better though as the fog began to clear and it was really fun on that last stage with some big long slides and our time was pretty quick too. I'm feeling quite good at the moment and it's great to be in a point scoring position but there is still a long way to go and a lot of tricky corners left in this rally."

Chris Atkinson [Subaru WRT]:

"We struggled with the screen which kept fogging up in the last two stages, and it was always on my side so I couldn't see much. I was driving with my head tilted, trying to see round the side. I drove the last stage with my window down which helped, but there was mud coming in. The conditions out there today have just been unreal - torrential rain, full fog, just no visibility. You need absolute confidence in the car, and you can see a few people having problems today."

[Speaking in the mid-day service] "This morning the stages were tough and the conditions made it very tricky. I think we got caught out in the second stage with fog, as at times visibility was so poor I couldn't see my braking points. We are lacking in a little confidence when the routes are so slippery like this, and can't push as hard as we'd like. Stage one wasn't so bad, but in the next two we had some big sideways moments, especially on stage three when we went into a dip in sixth gear and got 90 degrees sideways; it's so slippery."

Manfred Stohl [OMV Kronos Citroen WRT]:

"We face the same problems like during the whole year. I still had hoped for more here. But even if I gave 150 percent I would win one place, if at all. But this would also mean to provoke an accident. Therefore it is our goal to win points for a final time. The conditions are typically British - rain and a lot of mud. The difference is, normally I feel right at home when it's like this."

[Speaking about SS6] "It was incredibly foggy. We couldn't see our hands in front of our face. Additionally our low-beam light didn't work optimally. So visibility was almost zero which easily explains the time-gap."

Xavier Pons [Subaru WRT]:

"The screen was just completely misty for the last three stages, and I just didn't see anything, it's incredible. And also the last stage, it was very foggy so it was very difficult. For me, it's my first time in these conditions, but okay, I have arrived here at the end of the day. This is important. Tomorrow I think will be better if the screen is ok, as that is more important than the conditions so I am looking forward to it."

[Speaking in the mid-day service] "Okay, the first stage was not bad, and the car felt well balanced, but on the second stage we had a lot of oversteer and I spun near the start. We had a lot of fog in SS2 and in places visibility was down to a few metres. From then on it was okay, but we continued to have more oversteer and I haven't felt comfortable in the car. In service now we'll try to make the handling more consistent, and hopefully we can improve things for the repeated stages."

Andreas Mikkelsen [Ramsport Ford Focus WRC]:

[Speaking after SS6] "That's the worst stages I've ever been through. Still, it was good. Yes, I'm enjoying it. I was a little scared at the beginning of the stage, but I got through. I just couldn't see beyond the end of the front bumper."

[Speaking in the mid-day service] "We had a puncture on SS2 and again on SS3. The car is new to me and I am finding it difficult to drive."

Jan Kopecky [Czech RT Skoda Fabia WRC]:

[Speaking after SS6] "I'm glad to get out and back to service tonight. The weather is ruining everything."

Mads Ostberg [Adapta Subaru Impreza WRC]:

[Speaking after SS6] "It's madness out there. You cannot see one metre in front of you."

[Speaking in the mid-day service] "It was very rough in that first stage of the rally and in SS2 the car started to misfire and has been running rough ever since we came out of SS3. We're looking into it now at Service and hope to have the problem fixed."

Luis Perez Companc [Munchi's Ford WRT]:

[Speaking after SS6] "I actually stopped in the stage to get my bearings, the conditions were so bad."

Federico Villagra [Munchi's Ford WRT]:

[Speaking after SS6] "I've had problems with fog and low cloud all day. You don't learn in these sorts of conditions, you just drive as best you can."

Notable retirements:

Sebastian Lindholm [Suzuki WRT]: [retired from leg 1 after SS2 - mechanical]

"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]

"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]

"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]:

"They couldn't have done better. This was exactly what I expected of Mikko. He has a good lead and Marcus is in the ideal position if anything happens to Loeb over the next two days."

Guy Frequelin [Citroen Total WRT - team principal]:

"This is never an easy event. How could I not be anxious? We have a chance of winning the Drivers' World Championship and the outcome will be decided here in the forests of South Wales which probably pack more potential pitfalls than any other rally! The stages are very complex. They are very fast and the amount of grip available changes all the time. You need to find a rhythm that enables you not to get caught out. S?bastien and Daniel did that very well today, but there are still two days to go."

Richard Taylor [Subaru WRT - managing director]:

"All our drivers started this difficult event at a steady pace, as planned. Every competitor has experienced horrendous weather conditions on the stages, and with two days to go we are happy to see Petter in fourth place with Chris and Xevi also in the top ten."

Malcolm Wilson [Stobart M-Sport Ford WRT - team boss]:

"Matthew has done a great job today and has put in a very solid and impressive drive in extremely difficult conditions; a very good start to his home event. The weather conditions, fog and extreme rain have led to atrocious driving conditions but he has coped remarkably well and made no mistakes today. Jari-Matti was also doing well and in a strong fourth position until his problem on the last stage. Hopefully tomorrow both Henning and Jari-Matti will be able to salvage some manufacturer points for the Stobart team. They are not out of the fight yet."

Nobuhiro Tajima [Suzuki WRT - team principal]:

"This is what testing is all about: identifying potential problems and solving them. Our objective at the start of the rally was to bring our car safely back to the finish with plenty of valuable information and this remains unaltered. Thanks to Sebastian's experience and his sensible approach, I am sure we can still get a lot out of the Rally Great Britain in these very difficult conditions. What we have suffered from today was just pure bad luck: we start again tomorrow!"