68. Neste Rally Finland 2018
26. 7. – 29. 7. 2018, Jyväskylä • gravel 317.26 km • total distance including road sections - 1426.84 km • Other years
Info
SS23
"How can you complain? Perfect weekend for us, first day was tough but after that we just increase our gap. There is full support behind us, I think that's how it needs to be done - when we all work together. In terms of the championship let's see where we end up."
"I cannot believe that, wow. That means a lot to me. That was a really good stage, I'm just really happy to be fighting again. I'm really happy! I'm really happy."
"It is an amazing feeling on the last stage. The landing was the worst I've had but it was a huge jump. The tyres are hot and they are moving so that was tricky."
"I think it is too early to speak about the future but I'm happy with how the weekend has gone and it's given me a lot of confidence moving forward."
"I gave everything. The whole weekend I gave everything and there is not so much more that I can do. The most important is that we at least step in the right direction in the championship."
"It's been quite tough, we haven't been able to muster fastest times. On Friday and Saturday I was the fastest driver in the team. It would be good to get the good results this year."
"It's been not a terrible weekend from the driving point of view, or at least it doesn't feel terrible, the result wasn't what we wanted but it is what it is."
"On speed it has been a good weekend. Just frustrated - another Friday with difficulties and then starting close to the front, sweeping the road. Just need to get a good Friday like in Sweden and then it will all flow."
"We tried, a difficult weekend for us but we knew that coming here. We were nearly first on the road all weekend. Ogier was in a better position because he had team-mates who could help him move up a position."
"I was not first on the road! That was a good thing. It was a difficult weekend for us, after Friday's mistake we were penalised with road order for the rest of the weekend. I expect we'll be back fighting again in Germany."
SS22
"Just going very steady. These stages are very smooth so there is not much of a risk of a puncture."
"It means we should catch him to 2.5sec! We had a very good run, some places were slippy but we got to sixth gear at a few points which we didn't do in the morning."
"Really happy with how the weekend has gone. As a team we would have liked to have done better. But I feel I've been moving forward, bring on Turkey!"
"It is a good rally for me. Just need to have better pace here. Still one stage to go, let's see what is going to happen."
"Easy answer is to try our best, it will be difficult to take the maximum but we try to take as much as we can."
"It definitely went in the right direction, looking forward to another run of Ruuhimäki now and seeing what we can do."
"We will see what strategy M-Sport is playing and what problem Suninen is going to have. We'll push as hard as possible."
"Second pass is always a lot better grip, but still there is also cleaning. I try to drive and not take a huge risk because if I try to push like the way it is then it is not in control."
SS21
"It is good. This stage is very good, and the big jump is nice!"
"I think the gap is a bit too big, we didn't plan to catch him but the first stage was good and we've taken a bit more on this one. We'll see what happens."
"Just driving and keeping the car in the middle of the road. I think it's fun."
"Very steady and just on the road. That's how it is."
"That's all good! It is going to end in my favour! I had some bad pacenotes in this stage, I changed them now. I focused on this stage yesterday evening and made some corrections which were all wrong which annoyed me. They've been changed."
"It is a big, big fight. I just maybe backed off a bit after I saw Lappi off on the last stage, Mads was still going quick so I knew I had to give more on this one."
"Take it nice and easy now, I've got a good gap."
"Of course we have to try to get maximum bonus points. This wasn't a push it was just to validate the pacenotes, we'll be pushing on the Power Stage though."
"It is a pretty incredible section especially over the jumps, in these cars it is pretty fun."
"The last part of the stage is great, I struggled in the first part of the stage but I enjoyed the second half."
"I don't know. I tried to do a good stage to see what is possible for the Power Stage. It is hard to push the car hard on this stage."
"It will be a nice Power Stage to be fair. It is a nightmare to be first on the road in these stages. It is oversteering and understeering."
SS20
"I went wide in a really fast place and the rear caught a tree stump and then we hit some rocks with the front and then spun 360 on the road and the car is too damaged to continue. I was expecting it to turn a bit less but I think the pace note was correct I just tried to be ‘on it’. I was not expecting to finish like this."
"We were not at full speed. We can do better, I think. In the morning when I woke up I was maybe twice as annoyed as yesterday evening."
"It should be fine but the car is just sliding everywhere. I can't control the car again, I need to make some changes."
"I'm just backing off, I have to be confident. When you have an off in Finland you always think about the corners."
"I'm very, very sorry. Esapekka was having such a good event, it looks like he ran wide and hit the trees"
"Seriously sad to see Lappi off, never expected anything like this. Stage is so slippery. Not nice for him."
"It felt quite good, quite good rhythm so I'm glad to see we have taken some time. Jari-Matti is a great driver but we need to make sure to give our all."
"We've just got to look after the position behind. We'll keep the pressure on Lappi, but we're just focused on a clean run."
"Feeling has not been fantastic, just going for maximum push on the Power Stage."
"All clean, no problems. At points maybe we could have taken a few more risks if we were in a proper battle. Not the weekend everybody wanted, but we're still here."
"Just try to enjoy it best we can. Notes were a bit cautious in places so we were a bit slow. But all Okay."
"I have no grip at all. Just sliding around. The grip will get better and better on the stage."
"The road is very slippy, in this condition you can really feel it. We have a lot of work to do."
SS19
"I think this is sisu, I just hope we didn't disrupt the cars behind, we asked for extra time but hopefully it didn't affect them."
"Obviously we managed to improve it, it was pretty much driveable. It has been really tough to drive as conditions have been rough and in this situation you see every rock on the road."
"I was driving slow on this one, to be honest I was surprised with our tyre wear for this weekend. There was nothing left when I started the final stage and I had to go really slow. We do need to work as a team to solve the tyre wear."
"So fast in places, I wasn't sure I'd keep it on the road! I gave everything. For the afternoon I'm really happy, we made some changes on the car and it has been better than at any point of the rally."
"He's been going pretty fast, we had a problem with a tyre on the last one but give him credit he's flying here. It was a good day today and we'll push on tomorrow."
"I was taking it a bit careful in a few places, I think there are guys who have less tyres left so let's have a look at their times!"
"I think we struggle a bit all weekend. I think it was more of a big test for us. We change things all the time. We only had one day of testing with this aero evolution. The set-up changes during the day maybe aren't going in the right direction."
"I didn't feel completely right, but I think that was down to low tread on the tyres to be honest. We're still okay."
"It was a quite risky game, I finished the tyres and then this one was very slippy and Hayden has tyres left. I think we will lose some time on this one, but hopefully we gained enough on the last. But my tyres are finito!"
"Reasonable enough run. Fed up of running so close to the front, in lots of rallies something goes wrong on the first day and that affects me for the rest of the weekend."
"In these conditions I can't do more than that. I can't take risks. We knew we just had to do the job, we accept that."
"I suddenly lost the rear, I tried to put my foot on the accelerator to save it but then had to brake for the next corner!"
SS18
off road
"I have to say I have no idea. On brakign on the ruts. Something broke and then we lost everything from there. I dont' know what happened, I hit something on the ruts I'm so sorry. I don't think I'll make it through the next stage."
"I've been very careful now, just being precise. I'm driving carefully."
"It was okay. To be honest I don't know how Latvala did that with only one spare. I have two spares, I feel the weight all the time. I thought that would have helped me but there are only 15km left."
"Yeah it was a bit difficult with these tyres. The fight is going on and I try to push. The time is good compared to the others except Esapekka. I was pushing as hard as I can with these tyres, I'll be okay for the next stage."
"Our tyres are really bad after the last one so we took the call to take it easy on this one. Looking at the times Lappi must have taken a lot out of his tyres as well, so we should be better for the next one."
"It is difficult to beat them but. The stage was okay, I was struggling a bit with the grip, it was quite sandy at the end and I couldn't get the grip."
"I'm not pushing. Just holding station until the end of the day."
"We hit a really bad hole in a really fast place, it shoved us wide and it gave us a bit of an imbalance. I think we should make it through the last stage but we'll have to check the car before the next one."
"Tyres are quite finished, I pushed pretty hard. A few mistakes obviously but lets see what we can do on the next one with no tyres left."
"I struggled a little bit with the front of the car, struggled with confidence with the front as the stage went on, especially with the ruts. I made a little change thinking it would help me before the stage but I don't think it did."
"The rears are going off, it is a little bit too hot for those tyres and they're starting to slide a bit. Small problem with the brakes at one point in the stage. I had to slow down a bit."
"We had a moment on a right-hand over crest a little bit, the rear tyres are starting to move a little bit. If I try to push harder I go out into the loose. It isn't easy."
SS17
"It was good fun. Fast! I was too soft on the setup, moving around a lot and crashing though. It's going to be a tricky afternoon but we're here still."
"Second pass was quite rough in some places. I really gave it all, pushed as much as possible."
"I made quite a few mistakes there. We hit something and the steering wheel is now skewed. There was a stone in a rut when we were at full speed."
"I think it is working well, hard is the right compound and two spares is just for safety. I was driving normally but being careful to avoid all the stones."
"It was a tough stage, really rough. Some issue with the power steering but okay I think it is driveable."
"A lot. It makes the car quite difficult to drive, fighting for the stages now rather than just driving. I don't know what to do exactly."
"I was maybe a bit cautious with the stones, otherwise we had a good run. There were quite a lot of triangles from national cars that had gone off so maybe I was a bit cautious yeah."
"It's a great stage, from the start you've got a smile on your face - that's what Finland is all about."
"The car felt good, but I think the cars behind us are still coming faster."
"The feeling is OK, like always you watch the times of other people and you just think what can you do."
"A few corners went really perfectly, okay there is not much space to make a mistake but it was a nice run. There are so many people stood at Kakaristo Junction I can't believe it!"
"Little bit too low in some places, it was quite a clean stage. Would have liked to have had just the one spare to see what we could do."
"Conditions are completely different now, much more enjoyable."
"We try to test some different things and the feeling is better. Okay it is really hard to compare because the grip is night and day. But this set-up allows me to be a lot more direct."
SS16
"It went well. The power steering stuck a bit, which is bad. We changed the car quite a lot; it is stiffer now."
"Still struggling with the notes even if the first loop has helped. The level is very high in WRC2 and the car is much faster."
"It's getting rough, we didn't get a good first pass because of the car. We lost a bit of time but no problem."
"Quite OK, we catch over two seconds over Jari, we seem to be on the podium so it's good. I've been through the next stages already once so we should be able to push a bit."
"OK, the conditions were not that bad. I think that going flat out is the easiest. It's going very well for us with a big lead, a safe loop with good speed."
"Conditions are much more rough now, I had to avoid a lot of stones, I had to be careful. I am having to back off a bit to avoid the stones."
"Good stage, was a very good feeling. Made a few little changes in the service and to be fair now I have a really good feeling. Don't think I can catch Mads with normal driving."
"Yeah I'm happy with that, the brakes are working perfectly which helps with the confidence. Just looking after the tyres, thinking about the whole loop."
"We made small changes for this one, it felt okay. Let's see how it will be for the next stages."
"Another set-up, we keep working. It is a short stage but first impressions seem okay."
"I really hope the battle is with Paddon because the cars behind I don't need to focus on, quite a clean stage. I could have gone faster but then the risk is quite high."
"Good, but quite a big jump. First time I was too hestiant but this time I went for it, and got a bump on the skull when I came down!"
"When it is good like now on the second pass it is a lot better. Plan is to keep it on the road and watch what happens in front of me."
"It is much better now, much more enjoyable but there is still cleaning on the second pass. We had more grip than the first pass though. We made some changes in service, still quite good, I think it's in the right direction."
SS15
"At the end of the last stage, I think something went wrong in the damper. It's just bottoming though and I just can't keep control of the car."
"It felt good, but we lost a little. We will see. I think the evening loop will be quite interesting."
"For sure everybody wants to win, but it is far too up and third place we need to target and second would be very good."
"The last junction we had a big drift and lost a few seconds, but we have a big gap and we didn't spin."
"I had one small mistake in my notes from recce so I missed one second. Seem to have gap to Latvala under control and Ott seems to have things under control as well."
"I have a feeling that might last! It's been a really, really good feeling but there is not much more I can do, Ott is in his own class."
"Different stage, the surface is quite different here. Just had a small problem that disturbed me quite a bit but we didn't lose too much time."
"At least if you look at the timing board it doesn't look like it."
"My pacenotes were not precise enough so I was braking many times too early."
"The oversteer seems to be more of an issue when it is very loose. Everything is generally okay. We'll have to sit down with the engineers to discuss changes."
"We did this stage in '16 in the old car flying high over the jumps but not so much in this car which is OK."
"We knew that at some point being first one on the road was going to be a disadvantage, we'll be happy as long as Ogier doesn't take too many points."
"It felt better in here with the adjustments we did. There's not a lot of grip. I could go with the same tyres this afternoon I think."
SS14
"What a stage, it's really nice - I think this one is my favourite one. The last part of the stage is amazing - incredible!"
"A bad feeling. The car is not working; there's a problem with the pop-off valve (in the turbo). It keeps cutting out and there's no traction. We'll try a trick at the service. Someone had stopped on the stage."
"Yeah it was going pretty well in the first half of the stage, but in the last third I think something broke. We'll have to check that."
"The first stage of the morning was quite okay, the second one was too cautious so I tried to drive like normal on this one."
"We try to give it a go, some mistakes quite early in the stage but the end was quite nice for me."
"Very nice to drive, really enjoyed it. The beginning of the stage was pretty slippy."
"Still the same things, just need to go flat out. Need to go as fast as I can. We need to push but not taking stupid risks."
"A little bit better this one, I'm changing set-up every single stage. Struggling a bit with the new aero on the rear."
"To be honest it was a really nice stage. The big road at the end is quite crazy."
"A couple of stupid moments in places, I think the rear tyres are dead now. Lost a bit of confidence towards the end."
"Every car is going faster but I'm pleased to not be the first on the road any more."
SS13
stopped
"I lost my anti-roll bar at the rear and it is sliding everywhere, not good on these roads."
"It was quite good fun. I did a few kilometres without any notes at all. We are trying to get a good rhythm and training for the co-driver."
"I think we've broken a driveshaft. It probably happened in Päijälä. We'll try to fix it and see if we can continue."
"Try to catch third and second place, we're still a bit away but it was a good start."
"This one I didn't feel so good, it was not a good stage for me, I didn't like it. We'll have to see how the others are doing because I was being too careful in some places."
"Looks like it, it is definitely not as hard a push as yesterday but on this one the rhythm is better. The gaps are normally small, but they're not so big."
"We are just driving slowly this morning to see the speed of the others! We are trying to increase the speed step by step, it feels quite good. We're not willing to do anything stupid, at these speeds you want to stay on the roads."
"Ott is now in his own class, I don't have any chance for that. I was pushing quite hard, I was hesitant in a few places but it was generally a good run."
"I really enjoyed this stage, but I have a small little problem with the brakes which threw the confidence a little bit so we'll have a look at that now."
"No issues, struggling with the rear. Couldn't keep the line and now it is limiting me from going faster."
"No issues. Made a lot of changes overnight and I'm not really confident."
"I would say it is a bit more loose in here. We had a pretty big moment at the start so I was pretty lucky to get away with that one."
"I made a mistake in the beginning so I maybe lost two seconds. I'm enjoying it, it's really nice. Nice feeling with the car and we try to do our best, but if you push too hard you risk making a mistake."
"It is a pity because I have a nice feeling with the car and I'm really enjoying it. We'll keep pushing."
"The grip isn't really better. When you go at that speed and it is that loose you can't take any risks. Now there are some lines so I can push a bit harder. It is more enjoyable than yesterday."
"It is very tricky to drive, it feels like the car is floating on the road, not biting into it. We try to raise the attack a little bit on this one, the car feels better than yesterday."
SS12
"went into the ditch and the car spins around in SS12"
puncture
“My notes were very vague in the last split. We lost a lot of time but it was going well up till then. I’ll check them at service”.
"Not pushing at all, yesterday was flat out but wanted to see other guys' pace this morning before I take any risk."
"Felt pretty good, no mistakes but against Esapekka time does not look great."
off road
SS11
"Lost the brakes, on maybe fifth or sixth corner. Lucky I hadn´t crash."
Lost the brakes
"I did everything I could, our start position was not in our favour so I had to take the maximum available to get the best start position I could for tomorrow. It will be a much fairer fight tomorrow now we are closer to the other guys."
"Very nervous watching my team-mates, I had never experienced that problem before so I don't know what the problem was. I was waiting for 45 minutes so maybe that's how I avoided it?"
"I have a better start position [for tomorrow]. Today we try as hard as we can, but this year's Finland was the driest I've ever seen. My hat goes off to Tänak, there was no way we could compete with him, he did a great job."
"Of course it feels really nice, we also had a scary moment during this last loop. We hit two rocks with both tyres."
"Actually not too bad, I think I had almost the same time as yesterday. A disappointing afternoon, sorry for the boys. Let's see what we can catch up tomorrow."
"It is what it is, overall it is not been a terrible day. We would have liked a little bit more of course, but tomorrow we'll keep trying."
technical problem with fuel pump
"The time is not so good though. Big struggle in the morning, first my mistake and then we found at service that we had an issue with the centre diff which the guys repaired. Still we are here, let's try to fight tomorrow."
"Same thing as Khalid, a fuel valve issue, it started alright but then it shut down later into the stage. Definitely had enough fuel, it was the opposite - too much fuel."
"We touched on the last chicane, I tried to push and get at least one good time today! Not the best day."
SS10
"It is a good fight between all the drivers. Good to have had better pace."
"The afternoon has not really been good. The first two stages were very nice but after that the tyre wear was big. I've had to save the tyres since Urria. We are not losing a lot of time which is good because the end it was all about getting through the afternoon for us."
"Losing the brakes at the end of the stage, had a lot of travel on the pedal. A little strange to be honest. It's a pity we couldn't get up one or two more places on the road order."
"I did a mistake earlier in the day but we have not been up to pace at all."
"I just realised I could have improved a bit, I went wide on a long left-hander and killed the speed. At least I have in my mind what I can do for tomorrow."
slow down to allow Ogier take position
"For sure I would like to pass Seb to get a better starting position for tomorrow. But I think today showed starting position doesn't really matter.
"I wouldn't say that, obviously in some places the feeling wasn't so good, but we made some changes and the feeling came back."
"We did everything we could today, starting second on the road. Thierry had it bad but so did we."
"It's not much to do, it's lot about road position. We struggled with grip and consistency in the car, there's not much I can do."
SS9
"The risk is quite high, we had some tyre wear and I could not push. I just had to go a decent speed and take no cuts. I'm not happy with my speed, again it's on purpose and I can't do anything else."
"I struggled a bit in some places, it was pretty rough and I was knocked off the line in a few spots. But I'm still in the rally."
"It was a bit more rough in there, we went a bit softer on the car. Sometimes I lose grip completely when I'm in the lines. It is better when there are no lines."
"It's okay, Ott is going very, very fast at the moment. I tried to be a little bit more cautious here because of the rocks, I didn't want to get a puncture."
"Everything is fine, it is pretty rough with many, many rocks. One was on braking and it caught the front-right, hopefully it didn't give us a slow puncture."
"Tomorrow is a fair fight, so then we will push hard. Today was very important to get a good position for tomorrow. It was very rough. I believe road position will make a big difference, he's quite a bit down the order."
"Really rutted, I didn't expect that at the beginning of the stage, which was smooth. There is too much gap to get past Elfyn so unless he makes a mistake I can't imagine we'll get past him."
"I can't be happy about the position, but we knew from the beginning it was going to be tough. Being first on the road has been a disaster but I can't do more than that."
SS8
"off the road on SS8"
off road
"Absolutely not, brakes only on three wheels so it is not very easy to drive. I'm still trying to push and not lose too much time."
"It was quite rutted and maybe I was too low, I was touching quite a lot. We need to do something."
"I had to back off on the rough sections, if you're driving for nothing you can just take the rocks but I knew Ott wasn't as fast through there and I was backing off on purpose."
"It seems Esapekka has a good run, it would be good if we could keep up this pace."
"The last stage as well we lost a bit to Esapekka. Can't put my finger on why we're losing time, but maybe we need to put another notch on it."
"Better and better. It's really, as I said on the previous stage, now everything is working and I can trust the car."
"The situation is not so bad actually because Ogier is only two positions ahead of us. We have to do our best and keep the car on the road."
stalled in junction
SS7
"I try, it is not easy to drive at the moment but I try to not lose as much as possible."
"I've always struggled with this stage, it's never been a favourite. We have a couple of stages ahead that we enjoy now."
"I don't know, I think that was quite a clean run for me but it looks like we are using a few seconds."
"I saw I was leading with 0.1 before the stage, so I though here on I'd just play it safe! You can see I'm sweating, you can tell how hard I'm pushing!"
"Yeah it is unfortunate with the puncture, I didn't get a quick run through this stage this morning so I was a bit hesitant at points on this run."
"I think we made some progress there. It was better now, the car was more predictable."
"I try, but I don't know! I can't do any more, that is the speed I do now, let's see what happens. A couple of ruts on the stage but not too bad."
"The Toyota guys are very fast. For us, we had a lot of occassions where the car was jumping out of the ruts."
"It is much better than in the morning for sure."
"I have to say, this afternoon the feeling has not been good. I've not been happy with the handling. I don't know what's changed since this morning."
"It was okay, much better conditions than in the first pass, it was much more enjoyable. In these conditions the car is definitely working better."
SS6
"I had a flat right-hander in my pace notes and I went a bit wide and apparently hit something on the outside."
brokem rim by off
"A long way to go, really tricky stage this one. The hanging dust was incredible. I was probably a bit too hesitant in the dust."
"It felt pretty okay, but there was a lot of dust. When we are driving fast and we don't see it is quite dangerous. I think it would be good to get some pretty small rain."
"Really tricky stage, the dust was incredible. I did take some risk in the dust because I know what Ott is willing to do and I must do the same. I really enjoy the car and I enjoy to work with Citroën, I just enjoy my time for sure."
"Yeah clean run, we were way too low, we were crashing out a bit at the start of the stage. The dust caught me a lot of times, but it's good fun and I'm enjoying it. We just have to keep pushing."
"The car is back to normal. But struggling to get any feeling at all. No confidence, always questioning the amount of grip."
"The time is not as good as I hoped. I thought it was good because I had a good feeling. We had some dust in places. But an incredible drive from Ott."
"Just a few splashes of rain, more annoying than anything else. All new notes for this one."
"Yeah, it took a while from the beginning to get into the rhythm with the car. Now I can trust the car. Much better feeling now definitely."
"I don't know, Martin said it was good but for me it was quite rubbish. At the start it was very loose. I tried my best, it seems like it might rain soon. I didn't feel good."
"I try, but it is not working. A lot of loose, especially in the first pass being first on the road. Towards the end it felt like I was at the maximum. The rain wouldn't change anything."
SS5
"It's quite slippery compared to the others. On this one it is still cleaning so I think the ones behind will be faster on this one."
"We haven't been the fastest but we've been consistent. The pace has been about right today, you don't want to push too hard just want to get set-up for the rest of the weekend."
"I went wide a bit. I had a long crest and I didn't expect the car to be that light on the brakes."
"Very slippery, I didn't have an easy stage for sure. I tried to push but I made a few mistakes because I was trying to push a bit too hard."
"Yeah I just made one little mistake, little bit distracted. I knew it was a corner someone else had gone off on, but apart from that it was clean."
"It was okay, little bit disappointed. It was slippier than I thought and I didn't have the best confidence on this one. The fight is on with Ott!"
"Getting into a rhythm, I was a bit too committed in some places so I lost a bit of time, just need to be tidier next time. Overall, it has been OK."
"I really struggled to see with the broken windscreen. It is not so much you can do when it is like this. The bonnet is really raising while driving as well."
"I will try, there is nothing else to do. For sure I will try this afternoon. I don't know what we will do with the car. I just can't match Ott, I almost rolled now, I don't have enough grip."
"Yeah we had the maximum on every stage, obviously everyone was sleeping this morning! Now it is going in a logical way, we are topping everything. Tomorrow is the proper day for us."
"I think I am happy, there are a few places I could have pushed harder and gained an extra few tenths. But the fight is with Thierry and that is what the focus is on."
"I went off on this one, I made a mistake. It was a pace note that was too optimistic. I was thinking about changing it but I then didn't hear the next one."
missed junction and spin
SS4
off road
"It's been an okay morning, first stage I was surprised at the grip, on the last one I made a mistake at a junction and lost a couple of seconds. On this one I hit a stone in a cut and now it doesn't feel so nice to handle."
"Not too bad, probably a bit slow to wake up this morning. Pace notes are a bit too slow for this one so we'll correct them for later."
"Not really found a good style, lost some compared to the fastest times. We will still try to improve."
"I pushed like anything. I'm very happy with that!"
"We have an office like this it isn't hard to readjust. Okay I was a bit too hesitant in some places, the notes were maybe not absolutely right but we'll be faster this afternoon."
"I misheard a pace note. I think it was my mistake, I just heard wrong. Car feels a bit strange but it is hard to see with the broken glass."
"It is getting better I think, this stage was quite enjoyable even with all new notes."
off road, now he's back on road
"We try do the best, we need to fight with the cars starting further behind but this stage might be a bit less loose than the other ones."
"Yeah we do what we can but obviously it will be difficult to fight with the guy starting behind. Ott is starting third but he's setting some great times, especially on the first stage."
"We are doing our best but the conditions are very loose and I can't do any more to be honest. The car is not behaving as it should. We focus on our main goal of keeping in touch with Seb and finishing ahead of him at the end of the weekend."
SS3
"I think the stage is a bit better, quite tricky on the new sections as it is rutting up already. Certainly enjoyed that one more than the first one."
"Yeah it was quite soft and quite rough, more than I expected but it is the same for everybody. It will be rougher on the second run but we'll set the car up for that."
"Well there was quite rough sections, cars in front are cutting and I didn't want to risk going over the big rocks like the cars ahead. Wanted to avoid the punctures."
"Just trying to keep the rhythm and try to push to get the best road position I can for tomorrow. Just hammer and tongs for the rest of the day. Geometry is mighty, feels really good."
"It was a lot better, it was not an easy start for me on the first one. A lot of waiting and there is more pressure in Finland. Now the rhythm is good and the confidence is higher."
"I don't know how it was last year, but we still have to do some work on the car to get it to where I would like it."
"No issues, everything is fine. That's how it is. Win is already gone."
"Definitely not a good stage, very slippery and loose."
"It is very, very slippy for sure. A lot of loose gravel. We had a nice clean stage but it is very hard to fight with the guy behind."
SS2
"The issue for Lappi was an engine stall while he was braking going into a corner. Acording Lappi it happened a lot during the test and should have been fixed."
off road
spun and stalled
"Quite good start, was a lot more grip than I thought. There are a few places I could have gone faster but it was difficult to know where you could have done that."
"Very average. Very, very loose. I just didn't adapt to the conditions, I was sliding around too much."
"Puncture, about 6
puncture
"I'm braking too early, I'm not confident enough in the fast places."
SS1
It is a totally different feeling to two years ago when I made my WRC debut. We had some small rain but it wasn't an issue.
"For sure, a good result in shakedown was good for the team. We need a good result and it gave everyone a good spirit to start the rally. Hopefully that continues all weekend."
"It is going to be a close fight this weekend, I was careful through this stage. I'm hoping the improvements mean we are going to be faster this year than last. We'll have to see what happens this weekend, we are in a championship battle and I don't want to take risks."
"I don't know, we'll have to find out this weekend. I had very little testing and very little experience of it."
"The home guys know how to manage these roads. I can't complain though, I have the same tools this year. I just need to be quicker - it's all up to me."
"At least this was 10 times better than last year!"
"I feel good, we'll see. It's going to be a tough weekend, we know that. Let's just do the best we can and we'll see, we'll be pushing as hard as we can."
"It's the same as any WRC weekend, you have to be on it from the very start. Make no mistakes here because it is difficult to get the time back. I think we're in for a decent weekend."
"It's been a tough time for me for sure, so it would be good to change the course and get a good result. In this car I know we can get this stage done, it suited us quite well, there were a few small mistakes but it was generally good."
"We'll try not to get carried away with shakedown today as it doesn't always mean much by the end of the rally."
"For this I have no clue, because it is not a stage that suits us really well but in shakedown the car was really strong and suits me really well."
"I have to go flat out, I still need to concentrate to try and get the good run."
"If you're comfortable in the car here you'll get a good result. We'll be pushing all weekend."
"It is quite tricky, some places we had grip and other places very slippy."
"Of course it is different feeling, it is more excitement than pressure. It is a shame it was raining because it was very slippery so I just kept it safe."