51. RallyRACC Catalunya - Costa Daurada 2015
22. 10. – 25. 10. 2015, Salou • Real Automóvil Club Cataluña • asphalt - gravel 331.25 km • total distance including road sections - 1253.81 km • Other years
Info
SS23
"Thanks to all my supporters, to the team, Emil my co-driver. The car has run like a machine."
"I don't really know what to say. Of course not the way I wanted to win my first rally. It's unreal! We struggled on gravel but we pushed like hell on tarmac. We gave everything we could. I'm sure I'll cry on the road section!"
"We had a perfect run. If Andreas is having a better one then I give him all the respect. With the set-up I have, with two spares, I cannot do better."
crashed - taken a wheel off 8.3km into the stage
"I'm very happy. Okay, disappointed with my puncture on the first day, but we've ended up with the position we deserved."
"Okay, not a great weekend, but we grafted out a great result. We came here to keep second place in the championship and it looks like job done."
"Nice and easy to bring the car home. We'll look at the order when we get back to service. Perhaps I can stop and get a picnic somewhere? I apologise if my words earlier were a bit harsh to Thierry - it seems he had a technical problem|"
"We can't fix it. We had to finish and take the maximum points for the championship. We are quite unlucky. I don't know what will happen with Paddon. I just have to bring back the car with the problem we have."
"In the end I'm happy, I needed a good rally after so many bad ones before. At least something positive at the end of the season."
"Still a gearbox issue, second gear not working properly. That's how it is. We tried to drive nicely. Not perfect."
"For sure we just planned to be safe. We could do more but we wanted to avoid mistakes and going off. The last stage was very enjoyable. Fantastic."
"A massively disappointing weekend, especially after the high of Corsica. We came here wanting a lot more. The pace is there on tarmac but the off yesterday didn't help."
"After yesterday I was really disappointed and not sure we could take away anything good from this event, but today we have done well on tarmac, we can see big improvements."
SS22
"Fantastic eh? The car is running well. Happy at the moment but the race is not over yet. We will see at the end..."
He stopped to change a puncture. Also had a problem with his wheel-change gun.
"I was cautious. We will do what we can."
"All okay. No risks in the cuts. I tried to keep on the clean tarmac."
"All good. No problem."
broken driveshaft
"Happy to finish this stage to be honest. Looking at the cuts I'm not surprised there have been so many punctures. The last stage will be much cleaner."
"It's very exciting going into the last stage. We need to keep pushing - that's the reality. There is smoke in our car, the jack was banging round in the back and some oil is burning."
stopped at the 8km
"A spin just after the start line. I tried to push after that."
"Just driving in the middle of the road. No cuts. I can't risk a puncture."
"The transmission broke under braking. When I came on the throttle we went off. I tried to get it back. We will try to finish like this. We will see."
"I don't know why he's gone off. He had absolutely no reason to push. It looks like he's cocked up under braking. He just had to keep the position. Now it's made our job more difficult to fight with Citroen. Unbelievable. This is a team sport."
stopped 13.2km into stage - moving again
"We have a problem with the gearbox. We have practically lost 2nd gear. It's still there, but making a bad noise."
"Today is not what we wanted."
"The feeling is really good but we have no tyres any more. We used them in the morning. The car is moving about more now. Overall a positive weekend."
"Okay, but this week for us was really difficult - with the gravel and our mechanical problem yesterday."
SS21
"Fantastic. Can I find more pace? I'll try!"
"The clutch problem is getting no worse. Some small slip in the corners, I just drive smoothly, hopefully we can get to the finish."
"This one is very, very dirty, for sure punctures can happen. I'm not pushing the limits. I should be okay."
"No clear impact, a small stone in a cut perhaps. Now the difference is too big, I cannot fight back."
"I'm enjoying the moment and the fight."
"A lot of gravel in the road. We changed the set-up a little to see if we can find more grip."
puncture FR
"The objective is to keep ahead of Paddon and Neuville. I'm enjoying the driving more today."
"Going very well. I was able to increase my speed a little bit. Nice to find some good feeling on tarmac."
"All we can do keep the pressure on."
"I'm making little changes to the set-up all the time. I feel quite good in the car now. Still more to come for sure but going in the right direction."
"We tried to brake a bit harder and later, but we ended up missing a junction. We are on the limit."
"It was okay. I didn't enjoy on the first pass when I made a stupid mistake. The car is running okay."
"Really bad conditions."
"Struggling with the balance of the car. We made some changes but they didn't seem to work."
"The feeling is quite alright, I can't complain. Really dirty in a couple of places."
"Sometimes the road is not very clean. I'll try to push some more in the next stage."
SS20
"We will see what we can do."
"We need to push because Kremer is coming fast."
"A nice stage. Really enjoyable."
"You never know. At this moment its not impossible. We will see."
"I'm fighting a little bit with the car because the extra spare wheel we have is making me understeer a bit. Maybe not the cleverest choice but we were in safe mode."
"Not really a perfect stage, not really happy but a good morning loop. Looks like we are set for an exciting repeat loop. Trying to go as fast as I can without going absolutely crazy."
"Our ambition is to be on the podium but I don't want to keep taking the risks. Now we try to keep this position. They are pushing hard ahead."
"It's all about the manufacturers points for us."
"I have two pet hates on this rally and this stage is one of them. I find it really hard to get a good rhythm."
"I'm trying. Really enjoying it today. Very happy with the car and my driving."
"I tried to do a good stage but it's not easy to drive the car in this one. My pace notes were okay but I was not committing in the tight corners."
"I like this stage but I made too many mistakes. The balance in the car is not right and the the pace notes were too slow."
front-right bodywork damage."I was correcting a pace note and we spoke at the same time. We went into the barrier, stopped and had to restart the engine."
"A fantastic road. A nice flow, a great rhythm."
"It wasn't perfect for us. It'll be a great way to end the rally later."
"Really difficult and technical in places. Trying to work a lot on my pace notes and understand the lines."
"Not bad. I tried to push."
SS19
stopped, moving again
"I saw him on the stage with the bonnet open. Not a crash. We do our best now. Okay, we will see."
"I'm not in this position to take risks. This was the worst stage today for the chance of punctures so I took it easy."
"Andreas is driving well. We have two spares and it's affecting the balance, making the car understeer a little."
"I enjoyed it. I did the best I could with the experience I have here but I expect Jari-Matti to be quicker here."
stopped
"Not so bad but a lot of cuts and I didn't want to risk putting my tyres in."
"I had a spin. I had to stop and reverse and then I stalled. It cost us about 10 seconds. The corner just tightened up on us. Rather than trying to risk it I pulled the handbrake and spun us around."
"Very good rhythm. The most fantastic stage of the rally."
"A little mistake near the beginning and I spun the car. I put a new tyre on the front and locked the wheel under braking, maybe the tyre wasn't warm."
"It was good. I slowed a little in the middle section, it was rough and easy to break a rim or something. Otherwise good. The car feels really nice to drive."
"All good."
"Good balance, I prefer the cleaner roads where you can pick a racing line."
"Struggling for confidence with the front of the car today. I don't know why."
"A proper stage. Really enjoyable. I'm keeping it steady and clean, trying to get the Tarmac feeling right."
"Not bad. My first time here and I tried to push. No mistakes but not easy."
SS18
"I will do my best today. Whatever it costs, it will cost."
"We drive safe. That's what we are here to do."
"I hope just to get to the finish - I have the same problem with the slipping clutch and diff. Coming out of the corners it's like a front-wheel drive car."
Reports a leak in the exhaust
"Some big cuts near the end there. Very dirty. We can afford to be careful. I have two spares. On this next one I have to be extra careful."
"I was very careful in the dirty cuts. It's an exciting fight."
"An okay start, a bit careful in places. Not perfect but okay. I've not given up on the fight with Jari-Matti."
"We try to push. I lost a little time in one corner when we got on some loose gravel."
"We have to manage the gap. Tricky in here, a bit of gravel pulled out that I wasn't expecting."
"I did a good stage. I'll do my best. He can try."
"We will try. The points are important in the championship fight for Hyundai."
"We have some vibration in the car, especially on the fast sections. Maybe something is loose. We'll have a look."
"It was okay. A good wake up. All good."
"The surface is new compared to yesterday, more bumpy and shiny. We were a bit cautious."
"A bit of understeer at the beginning, but okay,"
"It feels good. We don't have to push any more. We go at our own pace to practise and learn the tarmac."
SS17
"I don't know how it happened. Not important though. I'm very happy with my day - two best times and a good fight with Kopecky."
"A tricky day but we drive safe. I'm looking forward to the fight with Nasser tomorrow."
"A tough rally but I will do my best tomorrow to keep this position. I will eat and sleep well to get ready! The car is working very well, I just need to change my mind..."
"We still have a problem with the diff and a slipping clutch. It drove more like a front-wheel drive car in here. Looking forward to getting to service."
"I've really enjoyed it today. It's been one of those rallies where everything has worked right from the beginning. My title chances depend on other drivers - I'm not thinking about it."
puncture FR
"Driving here with three brakes and no handbrake it was a miracle we only had to reverse around a corner once! Okay, we showed some good speed today, we are happy to be here and tomorrow we try to learn some more."
"You don't want to do something stupid in the dirty sections. I'm picking nice racing lines and I think I'm balancing my pace well."
"Even with my issues today to be level with Thierry, and to have beaten him and Dani on a couple of stages, is very encouraging. We're going to keep working."
"Some encouraging times today. I heard some noises from the clutch before this stage. We'll take a look in service now."
"Difficult to fight, we kept losing small amounts of time. We'll do our best tomorrow."
"Very tricky in here. I just haven't hit the sweet spot with the set-up today. We'll see if we can find something in service later."
"Fighting hard [with the Citroens] I struggled a bit with the settings. It's a good battle - just a shame it's not for the rally win."
"A stupid mistake here, I stalled in the first junction."
"The speed has been there today but in the morning it just didn't go my way. I was a little bit unlucky, but that's the way it is sometimes."
"It's been fun all day, I'm really happy. The car has been perfect. Okay, with the big gap I've been able to take it easy but when the road has been dirty but when it's clean I still push."
SS16
"No real improvement but fourth place would be good for the championship."
"A great day for us. Some small problems with the clutch and the rear-diff but the car is working very well."
"All okay. Everything is working well. We just keep going. At this pace we can drive for 24 hours seven days a week!"
"We still have no rear-right brake. We slid in a cut and clipped the side of the road. We had to change the right-rear wheel."
"I enjoyed a good rhythm for half the stage, but in the loose gravel I took it easy.
stopped, moving again
"I'm trying my best. The rally is still very long. We need to try and stay in touch."
"Without the punctures we could be in a very different position. Over-driving a little in there. We need to hit the reset button tonight before tomorrow's stages."
"I've been playing about with the car and the settings today but I haven't been able to find the sweet spot."
"When you ignore the Volkswagens not so bad. The balance of the car is better now."
"I really enjoyed it. The stage is flowing all the way to the end. We lost a lot of time but I'm happy with my driving."
"Jari-Matti did a very good job in here I must say. It's not easy for me to go faster in the corners because then I get more understeer. Of course I want to fight but he's a good driver."
"This is my favourite stage. The car is like a race car and this is like a circuit. After the stress earlier everything is working better now. It's a good fightback."
"A good feeling. As soon as it's a clean road I'm fine, but I'm still taking it carefully in the cuts. No risks."
SS15
"We have two punctures and one spare. We're done for the day."
"Not too bad for us. The car is running well."
"Very happy with that. We have a good set-up in the car. A good feeling."
"I still don't have much confidence. I try to drive without risks and it should be okay."
"A small problem with the clutch and the diff. I cannot use the launch control, so that costs us a second or so."
"I'm backing off in the cuts. I can feel the time loss but I don't want to take risks."
"We have a brake problem. The rear-right brake is not working. On the last stage whenever I braked the car went sideways."
"We went off the road in the last section. No damage."
"Not bad. I'm trying to go as fast as possible. Just on the cuts I'm not pushing to the maximum. I don't want to take any risks there."
"Very difficult. We are here for a fight. Maybe I can give some more, but not much."
puncture FR - "It happened right at the start, we cut a corner and damaged the rim."
"It's not the objective to fight with Mads. The Hyundai's are our target."
"Okay. I try to work on the settings all the time. I think we are going in the right way. We have stiffened the set-up to try and find more lateral grip."
"I tried my best at least. I've felt I've done two good stages after service. It feels like this is our speed."
"I was not so happy with the beginning. I thought I had a puncture. After five or six corners I realized I didn't."
"It was alright. We had a puncture after 1km on the first pass here so I couldn't push as hard as I wanted."
"A clean drive. A bit too cautious near the end. I'm relaxed but still concentrated. The rally is going well but I still have to finish!"
SS14
"I'm on the limit. No more to give."
. "Okay, Kris has taken a bit out of us here but we'll keep trying to catch Mads. We want to try and get some points out of them."
"It's a pity we have to test during a rally."
"I enjoyed a lot. The car is working okay but I'm sliding too much. I think the tyres are getting too hot. That's when we lose the consistency."
"I was very happy with my driving. Driving to the limit of the car and a couple of seconds quicker than before."
"Struggling a bit with understeer but this was the best stage of the rally for me."
"It's getting exciting now. I might be attacking too hard in the corners. I know I can improve on the stages to come."
"A good stage for me. Very clean. No chance to avoid the cuts this time. Happy with my car."
SS13
"We had a puncture and the jack was in tarmac mode and I could not change the tyre easily."
"The throttle is stuck open. We have to turn the power off every time we want to brake."
"My pace notes towards the end were a little too slow."
"It's difficult to make up time in these stages."
"I was hoping to catch up some places today on tarmac. This was a nice stage, I was really careful."
stopped, stuck in a ditch
"We have to fight for second place. That's all we can do. Now I have a good feeling. A nice pace. Enjoying the driving."
"A great loop. We were pushing hard this morning to make a difference. When Latvala had a puncture the gap became bigger, so it's not the same level of attack. I'm enjoying the driving."
SS12
"Not easy. A lot of good things with the car, but I am still learning. Okay, we're in a good position for the championship now. We need to do a good job here. Top three would be good."
"The power steering is fixed. I'm really happy we can continue. I'm trying to enjoy these fantastic stages. I'm pushing to regain the time lost. Everything is possible."
"Its okay. Not a killer stage but no problems. No risks."
Retired at the start of SS11. Broken differential.
Very happy and very good. When we had our problems yesterday I knew we would regret them more today."
"I had to back off in the cuts. Driving with my head."
"We hit a wheel on the stage before and now we have a bad vibration through the car. It's very distracting in the long corners. We will have time to change it before the next stage."
"Yeah, but it's very difficult to drive at this pace. The stages are dirty and we have a lot of understeer. We made some changes before this stage, and we will try to do something more now. We can't stay like this."
"The grip is a little better in this one. We've softened the car set-up a bit. No problems."
"Okay. The car feels better. We have made a few changes to the set-up. It's as much as we can do at the moment."
"The feeling is alright. Still a bit more to come in some places I think."
"Better - we make some changes to the car, moving the right way. I'm much more confident. I thought we had a puncture before the end [he hasn't] we need to have a look now."
"I'm trying. A lot of mistakes."
"I have been fighting all morning with the brakes. I got them right here and attacked. My mistake though, I cut in a corner and hit concrete. I broke the tyre or wheel straight away. We drove 10km like this. The podium is the target now."
"Up to now going well for us. All going well with the car. A great feeling."
puncture FL
SS11
stopped
Confirmed retired. Crashed just before the El Molar hairpin. Crew okay.
WRC tracking shows his Skoda stopped just before the El Molar hairpin. He was second in WRC 2
"I tried to push really, really hard. If I go faster I risk going off."
stopped
He has taken a wheel off.
"Very difficult to get the right feeling here. A lot of understeer."
WRC tracking shows his car stopped 21.7km into the stage.
"Not perfect. The car didn't feel perfect in the first one. I tried something different here."
"I thought I had a puncture for a few corners - that knocked my confidence at the beginning."
"I'm fighting with the car to be honest, the balance is not quite right."
"It feels not good at all. So much understeer I cannot drive. Horrible."
"An okay stage."
"I managed to make it a little better but it's not where it should be. I don't have a chance. There is air in the system but we didn't have enough time on the road section to get it out."
SS10
WRC tracking shows his Citroen stopped 900 metres into the stage.
"The Power steering failed after 500 metres."
"We are happy. This stage is really cool. It's very important for me to finish this rally so I'm not pushing flat out."
"All good. The feeling is good but it's a bit too cold for our tyres. We have more gravel on the road than the guys ahead so we lose with the road position."
Confirmed retired on the road section from service to SS10. He was unable to cure a problem with the rear brakes and handbrake.
"I expected the car would be better, to be honest. We are understerring a lot. A bit disappointed. It's not good."
"I tried my best. I pushed as hard as possible - that's not so easy for me after Corsica."
"We hit a small stone on the inside of a corner. I didn't see it on the recce. We've driven for three kilometres like this."
"A bit careful at the start, too cautious, but it got better as the stage went on."
"Not perfectly happy with my rhythm. I can't seem to get the front of the car to turn in. We have to try something."
"Not really happy, to be honest. Understeering in the very tight corners. Maybe I'm too late on the brakes? i will try to do better."
"Not a good stage for me. I tried - but too much."
"The brakes are not good at all. I have a horrible feeling with the brake pedal. I knew we had a problem before the stage and I tried to fix it. I have no chance today if I can't get it better."
"This one is very special, very twisty. I had to slow down a little because Bertelli was in the middle of the road - he's crashed."
WRC tracking shows him stopped 4.8km into the stage.
Stopped outside service with a brake problem. He is working on the car.
SS9
"I completely broke a damper today. After service I was not too far away, but on these rough stages the car was bouncing like a pogo stick. I just need a bit of luck - it's just horrific, isn't it?"
"I like these stage a lot. The car is working well today - thanks to the team for that."
"A bad day for us. Maybe five punctures? One was down to me, the others I don't know. All I can do now is complete this rally."
"An engine problem all day. A long day. I'm looking forward to getting to service."
"A slow one - it happened two or three kilometres before the finish. A good day though, for sure Sweden is my favourite rally but Spain is my second!"
His earlier handbrake problem fixed by disconnecting it.
"I took it easy because I didn't want to break the car. No risks, we are 10 minutes off the pace and I want to get to tomorrow's Tarmac stages for the experience."
slow puncture
"Okay, but a small mistake in the first afternoon stage cost us a lot of time. I touched a stone and broke a wheel rim."
"A few problems today but I'm keeping my eye on the dark red car [of his title rival Al-Attiyah]. So far everything is still open."
"Okay, we finished the day. We want a good result here. Let's see tomorrow. "
slow puncture
"We got stuck in first gear"
"It happened a few kilometers before the finish. I tried my best to save the car, there were so many impacts, so many sharp stones. I wanted to save the car for the tarmac roads tomorrow."
"Today has been a difficult day. Of course we want to challenge the Volkswagens here. We will try our best tomorrow."
FL puncture
"It was particularly rough in there and I struggled to find the confidence when the car was crashing through. Not what we wanted. I'm ready for the Tarmac tomorrow. Looking forward to it."
"It hasn't been a great day me but we changed a few settings for this last stage and they have given me some encouragement for tomorrow."
"We had a strange feeling in the last 5km but overall it was not such a bad day. We have to say thanks to the organisers for the three minutes gaps to reduce the dust."
"I tried, but I struggled. I think the front-left suspension strut is broken. It gave no support to that corner. I had to be careful all the way through."
"It has been better and better with each stage. Not perfect, but I'm happy with this stage."
"Seb did very well. There were so many cuts in there, so much stuff on the road, I couldn't drive like I did earlier. A few small mistakes early on, but I couldn't have done much better. We are on the pace, much better that last year, so anything is still possible."
"I tried for sure. We wanted to make a difference, but this tyre wear is not enough!"
SS8
"I lost the rear tyres on the tarmac section. There was really no chance to go faster after that. But we've had a good day today. We have shown again that we have good pace on gravel."
"This stage was an improvement on the morning but it's not a stage I enjoy. This morning was alright but I was never really comfortable. The car never felt right all afternoon."
late start to SS - locked-on handbrake
"Not so bad but I am struggling to change gear with this gearbox."
"It was okay. We had another puncture on the previous stage. I'm just driving and trying to enjoy it. Rallies are about setting good times and avoiding trouble."
puncture
"Not really good, I braked too late in some junctions. The next one is the proper one."
"Everybody is managing their tyres here because the next stage will be critical. There's something strange at the rear of our car, it is moving around a bit and there is a knocking noise."
"I think I'll have some good tyres on the front for the final stage."
"It was okay, a bit more confidence. Working in the right way now. Maybe not the best tyre management this afternoon. I have one badly worn on the front. Maybe six tyres would have been a better idea."
"We mixed the tyres around a bit, putting worn ones on here to save the good ones for the long stage."
"I made a mistake in a left-hander. I lost one or two seconds. I still can't find the perfect stage."
"A good feeling going on. I'm enjoying the driving and the car feels good. I enjoy these moments. They should happen more often."
"I have to be patient. I'm looking forward to the long stage, but it will be difficult to make much time there - I expect Jari-Matti will be right behind."
SS7
stopped
"No problems - just trying to manage the tyres. We had two worn ones here to keep some new ones for the long stage. We knew that would cost us some time."
"We pushed as hard as we could. The feeling is good, so why not?"
"More grip, but it's still tricky if you get the rear tyres off line. I'm trying to save tyres."
"The grip is better now, but I'm struggling with the pre-load setting of the rear diff."
"I'm trying to save my tyres as much as I can. This was an okay stage. Not perfect but clever driving."
"A good stage. The grip was very high."
"Better conditions, but still difficult. I try to save my tyres."
SS6
broke a wheel rim
stopped 1.9km into the stage
stopped, moving again
"All good. Much more grip that before. We had bad luck on the long stage, but that's how it is. We try to enjoy this day and look forward to tomorrow's tarmac."
"Better on the harder tyres - there is much less movement."
"Better than this morning but the surface is still difficult to read. We made some changes to the car and it's better, with more grip at the rear. The intercom is working too."
"Not so bad. We are in the fight and that is important."
"The car is driving very nicely. It was a nice, clean run, but there were some nasty impacts kicking back through the steering."
"More rutted than I thought it would be and a lot harder in the compressions. We broke the windscreen in there, the car was bouncing around at lot."
"The stage was okay. The car works a bit better in the cleaner conditions, but in one corner we had no [engine] response, I thought the turbo pipe had come off. It only happened once but we have a problem and will investigate."
"Not quick enough I think. Quite a good stage, but not as good as I was earlier."
"The brakes are working well now. I have to look after the tyres. I thought I drove cleverly."
"A completely different approach to this morning. I had some attack. I was not thinking too much about my tyres, I have two spares."
"This morning I thought this stage would be the worst (for road cleaning) but it wasn't. Okay this time, but no big attack. We have to think about the tyres for the long stage."
SS5
"A terrible morning. After only one kilometre we hit a small rock on the line and we broke the brakes. It's finished for us."
broken something on suspension
"The car is working well. Maybe sliding too much at the rear. We lost some time here in Maurin's dust - he stopped to change a puncture."
2 punctures
"I'm really enjoying it. I'm feeling no pressure and the times are quite quick. Perfect."
"Very, very bad, we have something wrong with the set-up. It's almost undriveable."
stopped
His soft-compound front tyres are badly worn but he's leading the category and is satisfied they were the right choice.
His car's rear-left tyre is soft, and there's another flat in the car. So two flats in the stage. "The first one happened when I went into a right-hand corner too fast corner with massive over steer. I hit a bank and we stopped to change the wheel. The next one I have no idea. It always seems like this. Okay, I'm happy because I won a stage on gravel but we cannot seem to get it all right."
"I think I have a problem with the rear diff. I think I lose a lot of time."
"Horrible. I had trouble getting off line early in the stage. Then rough like crazy - lots of impacts on the car. And low grip, lots of wheel spin."
"We overheated the brakes on the tarmac and the surface was extremely dirty. Lots of gravel, and big stones too, it was easy to break the suspension and it will be worse on the repeat."
"I'm quite surprised because it's been a long time since I have been here. I pushed hard but the tarmac section was extremely dirty."
"I've always struggled with this one, this time has been the cleanest yet but after the Tarmac section my tyres went off. And then you see the pace of the Volkswagens. They seem to look after their tyres better."
"A better rhythm for me. I'm sorry for my team-mate - he has been on fire this morning."
stopped, move again
"I did absolutely nothing," he says. "I had a good run but suddenly I started to feel a slow puncture. We drove 13km on the puncture."
puncture RR
"I lost the brakes for many kilometres. They came back later but I couldn't trust them. We'll go and bleed them now."
"Towards the end it started to get quite difficult with the tyres but I think we managed it quite well. I drove completely differently this time to last year - the car set-up is changed and my approach to the corners is a lot more brave."
I struggled a lot with the grip - especially near the end. I thought at the end my tyres were gone but in fact they were okay."
SS4
"All fine now. Maybe it's not wise to have a full attack on the next stage but if I get a good feeling I will push."
"Three good stages done but it's not easy to drive for the first time here in this car [the Skoda Fabia R5]. I'm sure we will learn more on the next stage."
"A good start but in one slow speed corner we clipped the front-right wheel and now I have a strange noise. We have to go and check."
"We had an intercom problem on the previous stage, now I have to listen very carefully to hear my co-driver. Luckily I remember some of these corners from last year - even if they are in the opposite direction. With no service today it's not easy."
"It's been a great start, I'm really enjoying the stages. I'm pushing hard and it's good to see it paying off."
"It was a bit better than the previous stage but I'm not very happy with my driving this morning to be honest. I'm not attacking enough. I'm thinking too much about the next round in Wales."
SS3
"The feeling is getting better. Difficult to find a smooth rhythm but we are improving."
"The road position is helping but it's not easy to keep it in the lines."
"It was okay. I was a bit steady at the start. Slippery in places, more grip in others. A step forward from where we were in Australia for sure."
"I've only every done these stages once in my life, in 2011. They are slippery and I'm just learning."
"The beginning of the stage wasn't so good. The end was better."
"I pushed very hard in the beginning but my soft tyres overheated towards the end and I lost the rhythm. Not so bad though."
"I haven't been finding the perfect rhythm. My driving is okay but I need to find that fighting rhythm."
"I did a little change with the car set-up but also with my mind. I had to attack more - especially in the braking points and where I attack in the corners."
"A real challenge, but we always knew that. I expected this would be better than the first, but it was difficult. I did my best. I could not have done any better."
SS2
rolled, crew ok
stopped again - looks like the end of the day
"I'm in am older spec car with the manual gear-selector lever. That is taking some getting used to. My feeling in the car is not there yet."
"We had a few issues. It's difficult to get a clean stage. The car was sliding a lot ."
stopped - he is moving again now, but slowly.
"The car was sliding about."
"Clean, no dust, but we had the hard tyre and really bad grip. Difficult to stay on the line, and to hold the line. I expected this stage to be horrible."
"The road has more grip for me, but it's still very slippery. The rear of the car was moving a lot."
"Very hard to get a good rhythm but not too bad. The tyres choice [ four hard compounds] was right. A good start to the rally."
"Amazingly slippery. Sliding a lot, so trying to drive tidy lines. The time is good but I expect the road will keep cleaning a bit. Let's see what the guys behind do."
"Not so bad. Quite difficult to read the road and judge the grip."
"Fine, but I still have to find the right rhythm on these slippery stages."
"Not easy to see much in this dust. For me the three minute gap is not enough"
"Mads was very quick. For me it was okay, but we are too soft at the rear, there is too much movement [he has soft compound tyres at the rear too]. We have to adjust the settings a bit."
"I was pushing hard. Quite a good rhythm. This could be promising! There is some dust, but it's not so difficult, you can still go flat-out."
"I know I'll lose time here with the road sweeping."
SS1
"The gremlins are back. That stupid pop-off valve is giving us problems again."
"One stupid mistake around a hay bale but otherwise a really good time for us. No problems. We try to build our confidence tomorrow."
"I want to win again here but the start is not good. Not a good feeling on the first corner with the hard tyre. Okay, the real beginning is tomorrow."
"We have a good car set-up. I'm looking forward to tomorrow's stages."
"It's difficult to drive in this sort of half-light."
"It's great to be back. Not an easy start, I tried my best, but I was maybe a bit too excited near the beginning. A few small mistakes."
"A good stage. Not so bad. For us, it is important to finish here. A top three would be good for us."
"I'm absolutely happy. I tried to save my tyres. Okay, Nasser has a different set-up, but for me it's a perfect start."
"We took the decision to use tarmac dampers, even though we had never tested it, and it worked really well with the gravel tyres! We can change them in 10 minutes tomorrow."
"It's good to start this way but I remember in Corsica we started like this and then it didn't go so well! The real start is tomorrow. I'm happy though, it was a clean drive. Now I'm looking forward to tomorrow. I'm going to go for it."
"A good drive for me, we have saved some tyres for tomorrow. It's okay."
"We had a mistake on one of the [donut hay] bales. I couldn't get the car shifted into first until half way round."
"I didn't scrub my tyres so much, and I knew the others would do that more, but even so the time is a bit of a disappointment."
"Everybody scrubbed their tyres. I'm happy with my time. Last year Volkswagen eclipsed our times by about 4sec."
"Not a perfect one. I didn't scrub my tyres like I did last year. It was okay but I braked too late for the first corner and then I made a mistake at a hairpin. So not perfect, but I saved some tyres for tomorrow."
"Neuville has done an amazing time. Okay, 2.6sec off that is not perfect but it's not so bad. Tomorrow we will do some proper stages. I'm really looking forward to it."
"I had two soft and two hard tyres, split left and right, but I had a problem with the handbrake and locked the wheels a couple of times. I think the guys behind will be quicker."
"It's my first time here and this is a tricky stage. A few surprises but a clean run. Now I'm really looking forward to tomorrow."
"Big concrete walls take no prisoners. Cold brakes and tyres almost caught us out but overall no problems."
"We have something wrong. "For the last three or four hundred metres we have no power - like no anti-lag."
"I tried to enjoy it, but made two mistakes on the first two corners, I missed the braking points, but the rest was good."
"I really enjoyed that. Last year on the first corner here I made a mistake so this time I took it very cautiously."
"Okay, but I had a problem with the downshifts. I couldn't find first gear at the roundabouts, but it's okay."
"Difficult but this is all for the spectators. Lots of donuts - it was a lot of fun."