52. Vodafone Rally de Portugal 2018
17. 5. – 20. 5. 2018, Matosinhos • Automóvel Club de Portugal • gravel 358.19 km • total distance including road sections - 1583.47 km • Other years
Info
SS20
"Thanks, it was well overdue really. We've not had a great start to the year but hopefully this is a sign of more positive things to come!"
"Thank you! The feeling is so great, first podium ever in the WRC. It took a year, but I'm so happy!"
"It's been a great two days to be honest, I've never pushed so hard! It's been a learning curve to drive on the limit for one and a half days!"
"I had a problem with the screen because it is completely broken, on some corners it was difficult to see. It was disappointing not being able to finish on the podium but I did it for the people."
"It was a good stage, I saved it all day. It's a long time since I did a rally on this level and I didn't know if I could increase the speed but I'm really happy with my time on this stage. I'm sorry to all the fans for only doing a small jump but I wanted to save the car for the team.
"Not so good feeling about the weekend, I enjoyed it but like I said when you're the opener when you're the championship leader is nice but when you're not it isn't! I'm looking forward to Sardinia."
"It is not really the weekend we hoped for but the car was working well and we were able to push for quick stage times. The team have done a great job with the car and I hope Thierry can take the win for the team because they deserve it."
"With this position I couldn't go faster, I don't think it will be enough because it is still cleaning quite a bit."
"It is going to be okay, but I think the fastest time is going to be 39 or 38 today, the opening section was quite slippy and I think it will still clean up."
SS19
"We have been waiting for the Power Stage since Friday afternoon! The first run went fine for me, I hope an earlier time on the road will give me a good chance but we will always try."
"It is all going to plan, we're trying to save tyres!"
"I don't know how the Power Stage will go, I will follow my feeling once I start the stage, we will see. I will try and keep it on the road and if I can I'll try and claim at least 1 or 2 points."
"I smashed the windscreen on this stage, we took a stone with the splitter and it came up and hit. I think there was a cut in the road and that's when it hit the splitter. But we had more grip on that stage."
"It has been really consistent speed, now my driving has been more efficient. I've been taking it carefully and the speed has come. I don't want to think about the podium, just doing the best work I can!"
"Yeah it is still close! It is tough to gain any seconds to be honest but I'm trying all the time. Let's see how we finish, but it is tough definitely."
"This was really the first stage where the car was supposed to work and I had a nice feeling. The car worked well and it was a good stage."
SS17
"I'm now more focussing on the notes and the rocks and being careful on the tyres so they are better for the Power Stage."
"That's the only target we have for the weekend - five Power Stage points. It is great to see so many spectators, it is a magic place to rally."
"We will try and go for as many points as we can. We're saving the good mapping for then."
"It is just for safety, if I have a puncture I'll be safe with two tyres. On this stage I feel the rear is moving a lot, it is going to be difficult for the Power Stage."
"Obviously I want some Power Stage points! But let's see what position we're in by the time we get to then."
"The stage before the car was sliding a lot on the rear, okay we have one tyre used at the beginning of the loop so we don't have many soft tyres. We lost quite a bit of time to Suninen on the first stage."
"I really want to be on the podium - we are pushing quite a lot."
"It is a big battle but the gap is too big. I'm doing everything I can but I can't go faster. Teemu is doing a really good job."
"I lacked traction on the stage, it is no drama at all - the balance of the car is nice but it is too stiff for the first pass."
"Not great to be honest, it is frustrating to be first on the road. I sound like a broken record but with nothing to fight for it is tough to be opening the road."
SS16
"I tried to stay on a good rhythm through the first few stages and then afterwards we'll see what we can do, but the most important thing for us is the Power Stage."
"All ok, it was extremely slippery out there, a lot more loose than expected."
"I tried to do as well as possible but it is very slippery."
"Everything is tough but luckily it is only 0.6sec. It was soft on the first few corners, I just need to improve the driving and I believe we can do it."
"It is good to be ahead but one or two seconds is not going to be enough! We need more! It was a pretty nice drive."
"We have done a set-up for this afternoon, it doesn't feel good this morning but I knew the car would be too stiff and difficult - it should be good for the Power Stage though."
"Very loose, it has been dry - no rain. So just driving through really. Let's see where we start on the road for the Power Stage."
SS15
suspension before stage
stopped
stopped
"Yeah it was a good stage, I tried to push but I know I'm losing at the end - it is so rough and I'm just wanting to protect the car."
puncture
"Yeah it has been hard work. Everyone knows when you fight for nothing it is not much fun, but we were consistently fast this afternoon so at least there were some positives."
"I landed a bit on the front on this jump, I tried to go full on this one but we lost some time because of the engine power. I want to try and get as many points as possible on the Live TV Power Stage tomorrow."
"I knew I could make the difference again here. I had a nice clean run, it is a beautiful stage. There are some wet corners and I can see some people went wide, I just braked early and turned in tighter."
"I wasn't entirely happy with the stage to be honest, felt the same as it did this morning in the second half. Overall, I'm happy with how the day has gone."
"Wasn't the best run for me, at the beginning I was struggling the balance of the car when the hard and softs were crossed - I need to learn how to drive the car when it is like this."
"It has been a tough day for sure. Today I think we managed the set-up well in the morning but in the afternoon not everything worked out from the changes we suggested. It is hard to do 38km when you are not happy with the car. Some sections are nice but at least I could enjoy the landscape!"
"There was bits and pieces of rain, probably more at the start and the humidity was up at places. But we got through and got the day out of the way."
halfspin
SS14
puncture
"I didn't know with the tyres in the abrasive parts so I pushed a bit more, I lost a bit too much in the first stage when I wasn't pushing as hard. I knew the last 30% of the stage was humid and then all of a sudden there was standing water."
"The grip was very low most of the way through and towards the end there were some corners which were like ice - I think I just about judged corners in time! I think we could have gone softer on the tyres but it's difficult when it's dry in the previous stage."
"I tried to push like hell. In the middle of the stage the hard tyres worked really well. At the end I pushed like hell because it was moving at the rear - some standing water in places."
"It is hard to be faster than him, but hard tyres in the mud meant no grip at all. I think we were better in the mid-section when it was a bit drier."
"It's really nice to be in the fight with a fellow Finn. Okay I don't know how this went, but it changed - damp like this, 200kph and under braking, it is quite a surprise!"
"I was caught out by the rain, it was raining in the beginning - very slippery on the hard tyres. On the bright gravel I couldn't see it was getting slippery."
spin
SS13
Stopped. Broken axle
"I want to push to have a good gap tonight, I want to have a clean stage but I don't think the gap to Greensmith on this stage is not enough."
"We struggled on the first loop, we chose the wrong tyres. We have to keep pushing, the gap is not so big."
"It felt horrible losing time this morning, we love and hate this sport at the same time. I'm pretty sure I can get back on the podium so I'm going to push hard and see what we can do."
"We're a bit optimistic with the hard tyre, obviously at this stage it would have been working better without the rain. It wasn't the greatest stage for myself but we learnt something."
"You always want to fight but it is how it is at the moment. We couldn't have done too much more."
"I don't know if harder tyres would have been better, I took it carefully under braking as it is quite rough."
"It was a good run, I was happy with the stage. Maybe a bit aggressive in places but we'll be looking ahead to the next ones."
"The car started to move on the rear a lot and I don't know if it is with hard tyres they are better at the end. I am surprised at the time, I thought it would be better."
"That's rallying when we're driving on the limit! There's not so many places where we can gain a lot of time, the road is clearing so it is benefitting the cars behind but we are on the limit."
"Maybe I got the tyre choice wrong! First on the road I thought my choice was better."
"For sure our tyre choice for this one wasn't the best so I decided to give it everything. A bit of time isn't enough but I'm giving it my all."
"The soft would help to get some more traction, but hopefully the hard will benefit us in the later stages."
SS12
Rolled
Rolled & wheel off
"We made some small changes before the stage and obviously it is quite slippy in this one so I decided to push hard. It seems like the time is good. It is going to be rough this afternoon."
"Everything is fine but I could tell it wasn't going so well but didn't know what to do to change it. Didn't get any traction in the second half of that one."
"I do my best and I push in a good way. For me the stage was clean, I had a feeling like I would do well but Lappi is quite fast."
"Everything is achievable, but there is a long afternoon coming up. We were maybe 15sec shy of the podium before this one but we'll see what happens. It is very sandy, but is the same for everyone I guess."
"It is not easy to catch Lappi, every car on the road is helping and to be honest I don't want to risk anything. I'm just here to finish, I'm increasing my speed but he's increasing his as well."
SS11
"It is good, on this stage I took it a little more careful because there are loose stones. I hit one at one point but thankfully it doesn't do too much damage. After yesterday they are scaring us a bit more than usual."
"There is no objective, just go ahead until tomorrow. Not using it as a test as we have nothing to test."
"Finding a rhythm is okay, we are driving and it is important to finish, but we can't do much because the engine is so down on power."
"Everything is okay, I was a bit too careful on the tyres. It is quite abrasive and we need them for the next stage."
"It was a good run in the stage actually, I enjoyed the driving and the car was all good. The smooth roads help, it was so difficult yesterday with the conditions we had."
"I think the suspension was really soft after the first loop so we made a few minor changes and it is getting better now."
"I'd have liked a bit more of a gap over Lappi. The surface was quite aggressive so there was a bit of movement."
"For sure it will be tight with Teemu. I have a good feeling, good rhythm, I don't want to take any risks. There is more grip today than there was yesterday."
"It's feeling quite constant so that is good, we're just trying to enjoy it and learn the car - increasing speed as the day goes on. Kris is a very good benchmark and I'm glad to be faster than him."
"Road position, the first three-four cars there is a lot of sweeping. These stages last year were horrible but today I have a nice feeling - that's important."
"It's a bit like Monte, opening the road. The car feels really nice and the rhythm is good, just a shame I'm first on the road really."
SS10
puncture
"Very pleased with things, here today I can confirm the car is very good. We had to change some things because of the suspension damage yesterday but the car is good."
"There is no target unfortunately, it is a day where it is difficult for motivation."
"That's enough! It was a good stage, I tried to be careful in places as it is quite slippy in parts. It was ok."
"It was quite slippery in places, the car was sliding quite a lot. I would say the grip is less than we had yesterday. Definitely hope I can stay ahead of Dani!"
"We don't have the same feeling in the car as we did yesterday, it was quite slippery out there."
"It wasn't the best run, I wasn't flat out pushing. I need to be on the limit to get the best times."
"All the drivers in front of me are behind already so I don't need to focus on them so much. Not the perfect run, but ok I am satisfied."
"It was a good stage, a nice feeling in there. A good rhythm and I felt good."
"I'm enjoying my driving - even yesterday. I'm enjoying being the car, I remember this stage last year was horrific but now I can really get my teeth into it."
SS9
"I don't know what I have to do, nothing is going for me at the minute."
"I think it is important for tomorrow now I'm third. Like I say before it was difficult with the tyres but we are here now."
"We are really happy, we made some improvement in the car and I was able to push really hard. Finally the tyre choice, probably not the best, but it seems to have worked here. It is a good day for us with Ogier out, but obviously it is a shame for them."
SS7
"No problems, but very difficult, very rough. We'll see what the others are doing to properly judge it. Very difficult conditions."
stopped - mechanical
"I lost the tyres, I don't know. It was really bad on the soft tyres today."
"I felt like I'd used all the tyre. I pushed very hard, the car was working nice, I went up with the ride-height and tried to save a bit of the car. I changed the diff mapping as well and I feel better in the car."
SS6
"I tried, but still I lost a few tenths but it looks like we need to drive flat out and hope for the best. The next one is a long stage and it is difficult to make all the corners perfectly."
"The car is burning somewhere, during the stage I thought something would happen but on we go."
"We're trying to play the long game with tyres at the moment, there's no right choice with tyres at the moment. We've got softs on board which probably isn't the right choice - it seemed like it was when we left the service park!"
"It was very rough, clean enough run though. There were places where you could take more risks but it was about balancing that with a clean run."
"The car is definitely better but unfortunately the rear damper is fully broken."
"That happened about 3km into the stage and just carried it all the way. It delaminated towards the end. It was so rough - my god!"
left right puncture
"I drive very slow now, three tyres are okay but I think the rim on one of them is broken. I need to go slow, I made a mistake taking the soft tyres. After the first stage it was really, really bad. We need to finish the loop, and for that we need to go slow."
no powersteering
"Very rough I have to say, many, many surprises on this stage. I tried my best, I didn't think about what happened on the stage before and I tried to save a bit on the car."
SS5
"It was quite okay run, a few mistakes meant I good have gone a bit faster though."
"It's really amazing, the car felt really good in there. The team explained to me how the buttons are working so I can fiddle with it a bit during the stage. Thanks to them for showing me that. I still know how to drive as well which is nice."
"It is pretty hard on the car that's for sure, probably hard on the tyres as well. We've got a few softs which probably aren't ideal."
"Starting to get back in the rhythm, but it's rough! One or two sloppy mistakes but it is a lot better."
"Not too bad this afternoon, struggled a lot to get the hard to work early on. Perhaps not patient enough at the beginning. Hards were maybe the right choice."
"I think so, a lot more grip to be honest. The road is getting cleaner as well, hard to say for tomorrow morning but at the moment it is better."
"Everyone has went with a dolly mixture of tyres! I've gone for four hards. Sorry for Ogier - but it makes it interesting."
"The tyres are destroyed!"
"It was a clean stage, warmer than expected so I'l have to look at my tyres later, hards might be the way to go. There are a lot of rocks, there are so many of them."
"The weekend is still long, the conditions are much rougher than expected. I tried to take care of the car, we need to look at the next stages and see if we need to make any changes."
off road
SS4
"Grip is getting worse and worse, it is like the beach. You can't put any energy into the ruts because they are just so soft."
"Not so happy with that time, feeling was okay but the car was moving around a lot more. You can only do so much with the grip you've got. We'll have to look to work with what we've got."
"Yeah, it would be nice to know what to do. I was completely flat-out but I just don't have grip. I'm on the limit all the time, we just don't have grip."
"My rhythm wasn't so good on this one."
"I was pushing like hell, I didn't make any mistakes and with this road I couldn't do much better. I'm happy, okay time is a bit close to the others but that's alright."
"It is getting better, the rhythm is going better and better and the car is working really nice."
"It's really difficult to get the car turning, I struggle a little bit with this. It is difficult to go quicker than Ogier but I'm trying."
"I was quite happy, at least with my drive, not with the conditions - but that's what I expected."
SS3
"I don't have a good feeling to be honest. It doesn't feel like this morning for sure. The car is very inconsistent and I can't push because I'm getting surprises. A few times I lost the car completely."
broken suspension
"We had a lot of tyre wear on the first one so we're just managing it on this stage because we're going to need it on the next one. Don't want to push too hard - just trying to be smart at the moment."
"Yeah not so bad, just improving a little bit. Made a small change before that stage and we're going in the right direction."
"I had a spin, I went a bit deep and then when I went onto the throttle it just kept rotating so I had to reverse."
spin
"This stage was no better. I just can't do any better, I don't know why. No problems with my car, everything is fine. I come as fast as I can but I don't feel like we have a lot of grip. I can't go any faster without going off."
"My intercom is away again, it's the third time this year I've had a problem with it."
"I think at the moment I'm happy. I didn't really push hard at the beginning, I was a little bit too cautious."
Some places I was lifting where we could have pushed a little bit harder."
"This one was okay, but I tried to do my best. There is not much more I can do, I am struggling with the handling at points, on some corners I am also going in too fast and losing speed."
"It's been a bit difficult to limit the damage but I can't do more."
SS2
front left puncture
"I don't know how it happened, it punctured at 15km. For me the road was smooth but it doesn't help when you have a puncture."
puncture
"It is a new car for me on these stages, I did some mistakes but let's be fast on the next one."
"It's not bad, the beginning of the stage was very nice. I hit a rock halfway through and the car didn't feel as good after that, I think I lost pressure in the diff or something."
"The feeling in the car was terrible! It didn't feel the same as it was at the test. Okay the time was good so I have to be happy with that but the feeling in the car wasn't very good."
"Mediocre really, but definitely a lot better than yesterday. Just getting back into the rhythm again."
"It's a good start, pushing hard to do that but it's what we came here to do. I worked on a few things and the feeling was OK in the car so I was able to push."
"I can see I have been missing the driving, I didn't drive enough in Argentina and I can feel I am missing the feeling with the car. After I saw Tänak I was a bit more cautious for the rest of the stage."
"I tried but not brave enough. Everything is working fine, car is alright but I need to be braver."
"Important thing is the feeling, first time I've really felt at home in the C3 - I can really do what I want. Sure there will be some cleaning but I feel really happy with that time."
"The road is getting better and better, I am a little bit surprised because I had a good feeling with the car. I'm happy to do a time like this!"
"The feeling was very good, the car is working very nice - it is very easy to drive now. There's a bit more speed to come, but it was a clean run."
"With the dust hanging in some sections I didn't take enough risks, but it is the first stage. I slowed down a few times because I didn't want to risk anything. In some sections you couldn't see the braking zones because of the dust."
"It is not the same story as last year, I'm flat out - I can't do any more."
stopped - mechanical
SS1
"I feel it will be tough to dominate, we know how loose it will be tomorrow and there will be a lot more cleaning than in Argentina."
"I feel good, Argentina and Mexico were strong rallies for me and I feel good in the car at the moment."
"Aim is podium. I'm pretty satisfied for the lowest place on the podium already. I'm ready for it."
"I don't understand what happened, I came to the last hairpin and the engine cut completely. We need to investigate as it is very strange."
stalled in the last hairpin