74. Dayinsure Wales Rally GB 2018
WRC #11 • WRC2 #11 • WRC3 #11 • Great Britain #6 • Great Britain Junior #6 • Great Britain 2WD #6 • Great Britain Cadet #6 • Great Britain Ladies #6 • Great Britain Nat B Cup #6
4. 10. – 7. 10. 2018, Deeside • gravel 317.71 km • total distance including road sections - 1401.35 km • Other years
Info
SS23
"It was a huge weekend, it was such a tough fight! Ott was so far ahead and then he had his trouble, and then Jari-Matti was so strong. I didn't think I'd make it in the forests, it was so tough, but asphalt is a surface I like and we managed to secure the victory."
SS22
Probably better conditions second run through, nothing for us to fight for really. Hopefully Seb will win, he's had a good rally and it would be nice to see him win it. It'll be good for his championship.
"I hope the spectators are enjoying the stage."
"Big push, I want this victory so I'm going to fight for it!"
"If he has two softs he can be faster, but if he has mediums then I raise my hat to him if he goes faster."
"I was really on th safe side, I'm a bit surprised about the time but on the otherhand I was never on the ditch. My job is just to bring the car home now and watch the battle in front of me. The next stage isn't the Power Stage so I'm just going to drive through."
"We've taken a fairly dead soft tyre, so that hasn't helped."
"I had a spin in there."
"Just understeered into a left-hander, hit something on the outside. Tricky to drive today, not feeling 100%."
"Some places have become a little bit muddier, the time is similar but there is more grip this time. Great atmosphere from the fans as well."
"I had an okay run, we can see if we can try and get a little closer to Mads but it is going to be difficult I think. We were faster than Andreas this morning, so we need to see if we can Andreas and Mads."
SS21
"I was full throttle."
"Right-hand corner, negative camber, I just lost the grip. The car is fine."
"Still a long way to go."
stopped
"Yeah, I think it was actually quite a fun stage, but I don't think it would be fun if you had to push because of all the kerbs on this stage, but it's all good."
"The jump was a big surprise to be honest! It was horrific. The jump wasn't there when we recce'd it, so it was a surprise."
"That is what we can try. It has been a difficult morning, it has been tricky this morning. The Toyota is very strong but we are going to keep pushing until the end."
"I guess they are still hoping to catch Seb but I think it is not possible. Jari-Matti did a great job on the last one, a really crazy one from him. No instruction from the team to catch Seb, but I think they would be happier if I could!"
"I made a mistake here, I thought I was already at the flying finish so I braked and stopped the car early but then realised I had to carry on a bit more."
"It would be nice if we could all move in front of Mads. I think the pace notes were all a bit too slow."
"It is actually very enjoyable, but I lost the bite on the brakes towards the end so I had to be careful!"
SS20
"A small hit right-rear, we have some spare suspension arms so lets see if we can change."
"He just told me to do your thing and it is going to be good."
"It is very hard. I want none of my opponents to feel how I felt yesterday, it was the worst I've ever felt."
"I'm happy to finish this stage, it has been very tricky in there."
"Well I can tell you it was an extremely difficult stage. It was very low grip and in one places I went flat over a crest and the car was already sideways and I thought there was going to be a big impact but we kept going. Big push."
"There are so many surprises on this stage, and the road is quite narrow so we followed the line from the others - sometimes in the ditch - it is impossible to keep it on the road. It will be a lot worse on the second pass, I wouldn't mind if we don't do it!"
"I tried to go for it, but we went on probably not the best tyre this morning. I tried to give it everything in there and I just made a small mistake."
"It is extremely difficult in there, I didn't have a rhythm to be honest, the grip was changing massively. It was some places so slippery, even a lot of mud dragged onto the road."
spin
"It is hard to have a really good stage. I was feeling really bad yesterday so I didn't do any video training for today to know where to put the car."
"It is so slippy, unbelieavable how slippery it was - even more than Monte Carlo. The pace notes weren't right, we were just following Neuville's lines."
"I struggle with the handling, I tried but I'm pretty sure we will not get a lot of points with that."
SS19
All the same as yesterday, I'm feeling ok. The car is ok today.
"I don't know, I think it was a very tricky start with very tricky conditions. I didn't want to do a mistake, but that's how it is."
"It was a very, very slippy stage. We had one moment but thankfully we managed to keep it on the road, Very, very difficult stage."
"Try to mix a lot of things from what we've learned over the weekend. It is not so bad, I struggled to find the rhythm in here but it was okay."
"It is cleaning a bit, but it is too dark, really hard to see anything. We should have put the light pods on for sure."
"You can't read the grip at all, it is very slippery and you just can't see the grip on the road at all. I've got the right tyres for the forest but maybe not for the asphalt around the Great Orme."
"Very slippy, very surprising. My pace notes were a little optimistic so at one point I had to slow down a little bit because I had a few small slides and I didn't want to risk anything."
SS18
"We have seen that in previous years that the road is getting slippier so we lose the time there. Compared to the guys around me my time is not so bad, there is nothing to gain for me."
"I stalled in the hairpin, the sun was coming really badly into my eyes. I tried to go round the hairpin in second gear but that wasn't right. It is a long day tomorrow, this is just a small mistake."
"I don't know, Craig is doing good times just ahead of me. Honestly, I'm flat out, I think the car doesn't suit these stages. I'm giving it everything I can and I'll do the same tomorrow."
"It's been a really good day i have to say. Much better than yesterday, it is going in the right direction. Let's see what we can do tomorrow."
SS17
Yeah everything is fine, I just don't seem to have a massive amount of grip, but everything fine.
"It is a big fight for sure since the beginning of the day with us and Craig and Esapekka. It is a shame for Ott, he was definitely on another level this weekend. Now we are fighting for a win, not second place any more."
"I cannot do much more, I try not to take big risks either. Now Tänak is off, Ogier has the possibility to win - we need to get a good position for the Power Stage tomorrow."
"It is different now because Ott is retired and now it is key to fight for the victory of the rally. We are also fighting for the manufacturers' title but we need to be careful because if you don't get points you don't win anything."
"Quite damp but drying in places, I had a lot of sun in my eyes in places near the start - it was difficult to see - but then I was flat out after."
SS16
"Tommi Mäkinen: They don’t know exactly what happened. Sump guard is broken and also radiator but we don’t know yet. I think he first lost sump guard and then broke the radiator. Water pressure is gone. It was such a good chance to go well and he was so good through all the stages. It is a big disappointment."
Ott was parked up on the side, I didn't know it was him to be honest he was just parked up. Very low grip in some sections, difficult to find the balance.
"Now it is dry and really good grip, but now there is typical Wales - slippery places."
"I just got the information now on the radio, that is part of the game - I told you it is not finished until it is finished. The championship is only over when we cross the line in Australia."
stopped
That is not so good news with Ott. I can't keep up with Seb and with Craig. It is nice to be in the fight for sure but Seb is going too fast, I've had no chance.
"That is not good news, what's happened? Now, we need to focus and keep the concentration for the rest of the race."
"It is not going so well to be honest. I struggle a lot with understeer like on the last stage. I drive a lot more on the steering lock than on a straight wheel which means I'm losing a bit of time."
"The feeling is getting better and better. I had four softs on the car in this stage, I don't know if that will be the right choice until I see the other guys!"
SS15
broken suspension
stopped
"Maybe not quite that much! But it is drier than expecting for sure."
"A lot drier than I was expecting, we had no information like this so a big surprise. We need to manage the rest of the loop."
"Everything is okay, I had a good rhythm but the tyre was moving around quite a bit. I need to tighten the suspension, it is too soft."
"It is surprisingly dry conditions. I didn't drive this stage very well this morning, I did improve but the time's not good enough."
"I don't know what is the correct tyre choice to be honest, it was quite dry. I wasn't expecting it to be so abrasive. He [Ogier] is crazy and he is running off the road on some of the exits. I can't take those same risks."
"The guys behind are interesting! The day is very nice to be honest, very beautiful. Not as hard a push as this morning as the tyres are not as easy to manage."
"It was a reasonable enough run, not quite flat to the square right. Always have good memories of that stage, shame we're putting it to bed for another year. Very surprised with how dry it was."
"It was very difficult to judge. Obviously, we had a little bit wrong information and it is dead dry, I had to take care of my tyres."
"We're trying what we can, it is very dry now I think maybe the soft tyres might have been better."
SS14
"The pace is quite high I think, we are fighting with Gus Greensmith so we'll continue like this."
"Of course it would be nice to win the rally, but it is still a long day today and tomorrow as well. This stage was really nice."
"Obviously, yesterday was a good day in the morning and today has been difficult to be honest to find that spark again. Ok the driving is not that bad, but you need that edge to make the difference."
"I have my job to do, and the other guys have their job to do. The afternoon is going to be hard, especially if these roads get more polished - it is going to be as slippy as hell."
"We continue pushing. We went with the medium tyre choice on the front axle this morning, we were surprised by the grip and went off. We won't give up."
"It was a good run for us, it is interesting this stage - some places had good grip and others were very polished. The feeling in the car was very good."
"Yeah, I tried! At the finish line I had a nice lean on the bank - it was in the pace notes! I used the handbrake a bit and understeered into the bank slightly."
"It is really, really close, up to position five it is only a 10 second gap so it is going to be a close fight."
"I was nearly backwards in that last hairpin! I tried it with the R2 car a few years ago so I decided to try and do it again!"
"Just missing a little bit of grip. So, so close, just enjoying the stages. Hope I'll find a little more this afternoon."
"Yeah, it was a Live stage wasn't it so you have to make sure you have some sponsors! The car is quite dirty so I picked up the flag in the stage to get a bit extra."
"It was very, very dry, completely dry. I just hope there is no cleaning! It is 99% dry, not what I expected at all."
SS13
"It's been very frustrating after yesterday to get back into a flat-out rhythm. With the road conditions it's been hard to make a mark on things."
"Yeah, it's been okay. I don't know why, but lacking a bit of power today but it's all consistent and the chassis is working well."
"Continue pushing this afternoon. I think we made the wrong tyre choice this morning because there is less grip than I expected."
"I tried very hard, for sure I think overall it was a good stage for us. The conditions are changing quite a bit."
"I had a good first stage - a big push - but now there is a little less grip so we can't push like we did earlier."
"A bit of polishing in this stage, I'm happy - it's really enjoyable. The sun's half-out and it's good fun."
"A lot of wheelspin at points, when the road is a little more hard packed it is better. It's not what I expected. Probably should have been on the full soft, we're all fighting for a few seconds over 20km."
"It is a little bit back and forward to be honest. The car is responding to what I'm doing. Not everything is perfect but I try to learn and adapt for every stage I do and it is feeling better and better."
"It was not bad, much drier than I expected today to be honest. Could have gone faster in some places but in others we were on the limit so pretty happy with the stage."
SS12
stopped
SS11
stopped
"Hard to say, it feels so difficult for the engine. It feels tough but okay, very clean run."
"At one point it has to come, when you're driving on the edge from the start of the year. It is my first mistake where I was stuck somewhere since Monte Carlo. The car is good."
"I don't know, it is a bit more slippy. Hopefully the guys behind are not going that fast. I think it is getting more slippery so it is good to be in the front. Craig is doing a good time also. I'm not managing to be on the limit in there - it is tricky."
"It is tricky definitely, I'm having quite a good run and the road is really polishing. I had a bit of an overshoot in the Sweet Lamb section but all okay."
"No, just very, very muddy. Maybe the medium tyre doesn't work so well on this stage but no problem."
"It was a little bit more tricky in this one, but we had a clean run. Did some changes to the car, so we had a little less understeer which was good."
SS10
damaged rear-left wheel
"It was not a bad stage for me, but not a good one also. We'll have to see, I think it is going to be a nice fight today."
"It is not where we wanted to be, and it is very slippery out there, we're just out there to enjoy it today."
"It is a long day, the road is polishing a lot - as you can see the times are slowing a lot. But I had a pretty good run, so I'm happy with that."
"We could expect that. The road is getting more slippy. It was an okay stage, a few small mistakes here and there but overall I'm happy with my drive."
"It is a surprisngly bad time, I surprised myself with how bad it is. I'm struggling with the understeer, I wanted to do some changes in the service yesterday but we ran out of time."
"You can use the exits if you are brave enough, but I wasn't. It is not good to be the slowest, but it is okay. These stages should suit the car but I can't use it, it seems."
"It is always pretty slippery in there. I had a good clean stage, but yeah grip is really low."
"The first part of the stage was absolutely beautiful, consistent grip. The second part is a bit more shiny, with inconsistent grip."
"Conditions were not so bad, not a lot of standing water. It was quite easy to judge the grip all over."
SS9
"I'm sorry! Friday mate, completed it finally! It's been an okay day today, can't wait for tomorrow morning!"
"I'm getting a bit desperate because things aren't great with the suspension and I need to preserve the car. It is not easy to drive. When I was on the brake the engine stalled and I couldn't get it restarted, that should have been rally over really."
I'm getting a bit desperate because things aren't great with the suspension and I need to preserve the car. It is not easy to drive. When I was on the brake the engine stalled and I couldn't get it restarted, that should have been rally over really.
"We just tried to have a clean day today. Road position played a bit of a role in things this afternoon. Hopefully we can have a good day tomorrow."
"I think this one. Really lucky to be here, there was a really soft inside and I got caught out and almost span."
"Really not on the pace today. Okay this morning the car didn't have a good feeling, but in the afternoon I had the feeling but just didn't have the speed."
"It was quite an okay stage time I think. The rally has a long way to go."
off road
"It would have been better to be further up. Still it is not a great time, it has got very slippy on the afternoon. Not the best day for us but we need to keep trying."
"Generally good this afternoon, just this one was tough. The previous two stages, the conditions were more consistent."
"Things are working better, we have improved the set-up but the stage conditions are getting better as well, The conditions are much better for the handling of our car. I couldn't do more to be honest, I liked this stage and I was pretty much on it all the time."
SS8
"I'm driving my normal drive, I think we have to be quite brave to get a good time. Every where you go it seems like it is very slippy. I was just taking it quite careful on this stage to avoid the rocks."
I think it is getting a lot slower to be honest. The heavy rain always cleans the roads and that's when the guys at the front benefit. I thought the stage was quite good, but you shouldn't lose 22sec with a drive like that so the grip must be fading.
stopped
"I tried my best, some time from Ott! The car worked well and looking at the guys around us we took good time, but we're up against it."
"Really surprised by the time actually, it felt quite good. Looking at those times maybe the road is deteriorating?"
"I spun on one junction and I lost a lot of time."
"The changes are helping and the car is more consistent. Some small mistakes here and there, losing the front a lot with the understeer and I had to use the handbrake more than I would prefer."
"It was not a good stage for us. I struggled to find a good rhythm, I hit a stone and broke the windscreen. Bit too cautious then after that."
"It is getting better, but still way, way too slow. I'm not brave enough, I'm scared of the mud."
"I tried to push hard, the time is not great but I pushed as much as I could on this one. There are more cars in front that we need to catch."
"Feeling is okay, but got damage to the front-left wheel. It was quite a rough stage."
"The conditions are much better. The car was working quite okay, I had the feeling that this was better. Maybe a bit more we could do but there is more grip."
SS7
"Definitely could have done better than that, we'll go better in the next one."
"Good stage for us. I was really surprised by the grip level. It was much higher than I expected."
"The pace is not so bad, I don't think it is developing better - the conditions. I would like to be faster but I think we have almost reached the limit. We changed the suspension in service and it feels better now."
"Difficult to tell if the changes have worked. Just keeping a comfortable pace at the moment."
"We made some changes to the car, it feels better and more like I want it to. The feeling in the car is much better now so let's see what we can do."
"The car felt quite good. A couple of junctions I think I was coming a bit too close and braking a bit too late."
"No mistakes this time, better start definitely. The car was pretty nice now. We have changed much again, and it feels better."
"The car is fixed. The grip is better now but I didn't trust it at the beginning. Good time from Ott."
"The road has a lot more grip than this morning so let's see how it develops. I think the guys on the mediums will be quick as well."
"The grip was better, I was more happy with the car but now the car feels different as well. Maybe we can work a bit better with that setting."
stopped on the road section
SS6
retired for punctures
retired for punctures
It's been good. Difficult stage in here to be honest, the fog was moving around. But overall it's been ok.
"The second time through a bit of fog was coming through. A nice little stage, a shame the fans couldn't see more but a bit of fun!"
"It's been a pretty okay morning. Really tough fight with all the guys."
"It is still a long way to go, we'll be looking to change something on the differential at service."
"The water is coming more and more and more. There is a lot of standing water and the car is really feeling it."
"The morning was close to a disaster to be honest. The gearbox has to survive a 100km road section back to service, no one knows if it will hold on or not."
"We can't find follow the pace of the Toyotas, when we try we make mistakes. We are not setting any good times, it is frustrating but I'm sure we can solve the problem for this afternoon. We are missing grip and the car is not reacting when we're correcting our line slightly."
SS5
"It is very difficult, there is a very tight hairpin and a start where I only have third gear."
"It's tricky, there is no visibility on this one."
"Quite tricky, very narrow with a lot of stones. We had a good stage."
SS4
"It was an ok stage, it was quite muddy and I think it is getting more slippy."
puncture
"Fairly flat to the square right in there, made a couple of adjustments to the car and I was carrying a lot more speed, but it seems I need to carry a bit more."
stopped, continue
"I struggle a bit with the feeling to be honest. I feel I have no suspension left, the car is like a boat - I crash a lot. I have no feeling with the car."
"A lot muddier this stage, really hard to read the grip, sometimes it is good and then other times it just goes away from you. A bit of fog for the last 3kms and I don't know what goes wrong with me - I end up going faster through the fog!"
"Difficult stage, very changeable grip. I was being careful, it was difficult to read the grip to be honest."
"I can't get any feeling with the car, from having grip I suddenly don't and it happens really quickly. It is hard to push when it is like this. I'm doing the best I can, but it is hard."
"This stage was a lot better than the first two. Still I have understeer and hopefully we can sort it out. I don't understand because we didn't have it in the test, I'll have to work with the engineers."
"It is very slippy in places. A lot of grip changes but this is Wales Rally GB. A lot of surprises in the end. This one was a bit better but it was really tough. I don't understand Ott's speed to be honest."
"Gearbox problem, don't have first and second gear."
"It was hard. So many grip changes and loose mud. When it is consistent it is nice."
"The feeling was that it was a little bit better. It was working a little bit better, but not like it should be. Once a little bit wide."
spin
SS3
off road
It was ok stage, on the asphalt section I was too careful on the muddy places. Not too far away from Seb so that's good.
puncture + spin
"The time looks quite okay, but this stage was really nice and technical. We had some hits from stones so we have to check the wheels now."
"It's not a good time, Eric and Kalle will go a lot faster than that. I made quite a few mistakes."
"I think I'm too careful. Struggled a little bit with understeer, I don't think the settings are right."
"The asphalt is covered in mud. Disappointing that we're back here, we'll keep plugging away at it. The asphalt isn't asphalt, it's just full mud."
"It was tricky, especially in the beginning I struggled a lot. Second half was a lot better, car was working better and I had a better rhythm."
"Just can't get a feeling. Probably not so happy with these tyres, there a bit too soft. Went off a bit at a junction and lost a bit of time."
"There was more in there for sure, the majority was pretty good but we had a puncture alarm go off early on and there was a lot of communication. Thankfully it was just a false alarm."
"Trying to push, if I could push more I would be more sideways and we'd be all over the place. I don't know how the rear aero is missing."
"We have a lot of understeering on the car at the moment. I didn't have this on the test. The surface is too slippy, I can't get the front working."
"The car is working, but no confidence. I cannot explain, it is just on me. It is very slippy, at least it feels, I'm just too slow."
"It is difficult, I'm not perfectly comfortable. The grip is quite low and Ott seems to have set a good time."
"I can say the feeling was not great but I guess it is because the conditions are really tricky - they are changing all the time. I want to have better feeling!"
"I did my best to be honest, but I struggled with understeering. The car is not doing what I want, I hit the chicance and I almost had to go backwards a bit."
SS2
The last rally of the season, third in the championship, so might as well go for it and see what happens. Not going to do anything stupid, we want to get the result, but we've been playing the game all season so now we just want to go for it.
"Bit careful I would say, but no so bad stage to be first stage!"
"Really tricky and slippery in places. Just middle of the road trying to keep it safe. Flat to square right in the next one though."
"It is a good stage, quite slippery in there. A few surprises, but we had a good push and the time is quite good so I'm pleased with that."
"The shakedown stage from yesterday is like ice, this last part. The first part isn't too bad, but you just need to watch out for those corners that can catch people out."
"That's okay. Massively changeable grip in places."
"I missed one junction and lost the time."
"It was okay. I did two or three mistakes. It is very slippery which was a surprise in a few places. We were pushing quite hard, which looks like what everyone else is doing."
"There was one junction that was slippier than I expected. I understeered a bit, killed the speed and that was it."
"Not a good start. I don't say anything."
halfspin
"It is very close so I think it is not too bad a start. Very slippery in there, I think the big one is coming in the next stage."
"Clean run, good run. Road changing a lot, it is slippery like hell - maybe even more so than yesterday. At the moment I'm on soft tyres but I can put some mixed on."
"Very slippy, really difficult to judge any of the grip. It was not a bad stage, generally I try to adapt myself and just make a clean stage."