11. Rally Estonia 2021
15. 7. – 18. 7. 2021, Tartu • Estonian Autosport Events MTÜ • gravel 314.16 km • total distance including road sections - 1299.05 km • Other years
Info
SS24
"At least we got to continue today and showed good speed, we'll try to learn from this and I'd like to thank all my supporters and fans - we'll be back stronger."
Rolled
"Very difficult end to the rally, very very broken stage. We immediately had a spin and had to reverse. I'm happy I made it through and when we wanted, we went fast."
"We did what we wanted: to finish. Also some useful kilometers, kept our noses out of trouble."
"For sure it's been a difficult season and it's nice to get it here in Estonia, it's almost home rally. Felt really nice. Long season so far and not so good results, but we proved that the pace is there and we brought it home."
"Nice weekend, i've enjoyed it immensely. I'm quite pleased. Thanks Alain, he's leaving this weekend. Adamo gave me the opportunity but it was Alain who did the introduction."
"I think we did the best we could. Again a tough sunday for us, I don't know what to say, too much technical issues. It makes everything more complicated for us, but it's a part of the game and I want to thank Alain Penasse who's leaving the team. He's done a lot for the team."
"I really fought but it's just a fight, like driving a train, really bad conditions. I have to go."
"Difficult to know what's best to do here, throw it in or be tidy. Maybe not the right tactic.."
"On the ruts i'm struggling, somehow I got on the inside of the ruts. The car is here, difficult weekend."
"It was very important to finish, big thanks to the team, mechanics.. After our difficult start to the season it's what we needed."
"(Best time?) I don't think so, it's not important for me anymore but for the team. (Rest of the season?) We keep fighting, but.. as I said, we keep fighting, but just four rallies now.."
"Very proud. First of all, a big thank you to Toksport and Skoda for providing the car. It's been absolutely perfect all weekend. We came into this rally really well prepared, so I am very happy to give the team the result they deserve. It couldn't be better."
"In one way it's been a good weekend, we've shown some pace, but we had a lot of issues out of our control, if we did the rally one more time we'd have the same issues. We gave away more than a minute and we're ending about 15 seconds behind the victory, we should be proud of what we achieved."
"We are very happy with our podium and also great pace we've shown this weekend, in the end it was a very positive weekend. Very happy with the car, the car is amazing. I want to thank the team, they did a great job. The car was 100% at the exit of every service."
SS23
"Powerstage is in pretty bad shape and we don't want to break the car any more and create more unneccesary costs."
"Just gonna drive through Powerstage safely."
"(Powerstage?) To push. Maybe not maximum because the main target is to be 2nd in this rally. Now it was difficult because we can't push like we want but more important is podium."
"Actually I think everyone is preparing for the powerstage, we did the same. We did one mistake in the forest and it was not so pleasant, if you back off it's easy to lose concentration. We need to stay focused."
"Better, it was understeering and we made some changes. Now we're just going to the end. Let's see how close we get to Raul, maybe we'll push the next stage."
"Quite satisifed with this one, good feeling for us. Good to end a proper rally stage with this feeling. Completely safe and last one to go."
off road
"We have to be mechanics on the road section again, we arrived just in time for the stage, also went off on the stage into some fence.. crazy weekend."
"Was okay, getting ready for the powerstage, will be interesting - quite rough. Tried to save the tyres a bit."
"The powerstage will be a tricky one, not so natural with big ruts. Gonna take it easy there, let's see how it goes."
"Pretty good, that stage is in amazing condition, would be awesome to have a fight here."
"(Late check in?) I don't know what tactics that could be.. ****"
"It was another clean stage, didn't expect to have best time because I had to slow down quite a lot in one corner, there was big rocks on the road."
"It's not been too bad, struggling with the balance of the car in there a bit, no issues."
"Just getting through, this one is pretty hard on the tyres so taking it easy."
"Quite a lot better, we have the handbrake now working, good feeling in the car."
"The last one will be tough, we will have a lot of ruts."
"It'll be difficult at the powerstage."
SS22
Powersteering problems
"We made a small mistake in the ruts, rest of the stage was good."
"We are happy with our stage, have to continue like this."
"Everything is good, there is enough gap."
"Our (brake) problems are getting bigger."
"Quite okay conditions, if you are careful on the ruts it's pretty okay."
"Very important that we bring the car home, good haul of manufacturers points for the boys and girls."
"We keep the rhythm and we had a good first run in the powerstage, we will see if we can grab lots of points. We keep our rhythm and see where we end up."
"I did some work on this stage in the morning so I had a nice flow, had to change some settings in the stage and that made it much better."
"All fine, just taking it easy and getting through now."
"The car just jumped from the ruts, but nothing serious happened."
"A lot of ruts, wasn't easy, still two to do."
"The stage is still the same, all good."
SS21
"The road is pretty broken and it's difficult, difficult to drive here. No big risks today and driving by the feeling."
"Everything okay, today is about finishing."
"Different stages, but this is hard for me not to push a lot. We are thinking about the podium so we need to finish this rally - the situation is clear."
"We're in a safe mode now, just enjoying our driving. It's so nice and pleasant - still happy!"
"It's a nice fight with Marco this morning, it's nice and fun. We lost time in the last stage, but this one I didn't take enough risks. Many rocks everywhere, easy to make a mistake."
"On the first stage of the day we had an off. In this one we have to improve a lot, we need to check onboard, we have work to do. Put pressure on the guys in front."
"I just have some issues and i've had it all day, it's more visible on a stage like this. Brake issues."
"He took a lot on the first stage but then I pushed on the second one. So far it's looking okay."
"For sure it looks good, but we need to wait for the finish, anything can happen in the rally. Plan is to enjoy the 2nd loop also."
"I have no idea where that was from, I am so happy to get through that. Tried to stay away from the rocks, massive weight off my shoulders."
"The feeling was okay, let's hope we can push for some powerstage points later. But first, we need to finish some stages."
"It's okay, I think it was a clean run, just confirming the notes. We will push, maximum points would be good but some points would be good too."
"Paid quite a bit of attention on the videos, pretty loose out there and less grip."
"Let's see, it's cleaning up, I have a good feeling."
"We don't have a good rhythm, this one is very tricky and easy to make a mistake so we took it easy here."
"It's very slow and really loose at the moment, the grip will change and it will be different the next time."
SS20
"Bad, and the last one was also quite bad. Not in the zone. We'll try to catch Raul but if it continues like this.."
"This stage was better than the stage before, it was very tricky. We try to enjoy and go as safe as possible.
"It's a nice time. Honestly I did my best in this stage, I had a clean drive. I did my best, honestly."
"This stage was good, in the last one I went off and lost maybe 7 seconds."
"It's good. (Fight til' the end?) For sure."
"We have to drive, tried to increase the pace on this one. We'll see."
"I feel good, first pass like this the conditions are good, so I just enjoy the driving with a safe margin. It's quite nice."
"Bring the car home, we have a good cushion back to 3rd, just stay in the middle of the road."
"We are keeping the speed, I feel comfortable at this speed and all is working fine. No reason to slow down, easy to pick up a puncture."
"It's another clean stage for us, so all good at the moment. Next one is first pass of powerstage so we have to have notes ready for the last push."
"I had a pretty bad stage, couldn't hit the apexes properly. Need to make some driver adjustments for the second pass."
"Obviously these stages are hard for the tyres, just looking after them. Looking forward to the next one."
"It was a pretty clean stage, good feeling with the car. Looks like others are quite a lot faster."
"(Powerstage or driving fast?) Driving fast."
"Really slippery for us but it's okay. A lot of cleaning, not easy in the beginning."
SS19
"We have a powerstage coming today so that's important, and keeping Mads behind, that's important."
"It's nice, I just try to enjoy the driving and drive quite normally, but for sure i'm careful."
"Just trying to make it through without any mistakes."
"The goal is to keep Ogier behind. Good start in the morning, the car felt okay, the road is quite slippy but I enjoyed it."
"It's a tricky one still for a wake-up call, but it's short. Try to stay clean. We will have to be good at the Powerstage, a lot of points to catch there."
"All good now, car feels fine, should be no issues for the rest of the day. Possibly self inflicted. (Weekend?) Same as usual, no mistakes and see if we can improve."
"No risks really, just getting through cleanly and focusing on later."
"Quite tricky, the grip level is changing a lot, sometimes you feel like driving on tarmac and then it's super slippy."
"We need to go to the end and take no risk, difficult beginning of the season, we need to see the finish now."
"It's a demanding stage, it's very dry but still it's a nice stage."
SS18
"Oma sõiduviga hommikul rikkus päeva.."
"Not an easy day, couldn't drive the way we wanted. But being here, it's all actually okay. The race ends when the finish flag is shown."
"Our speed is a bit disappointing, we hoped we'd be a bit faster but it's been trouble free and that's also important."
"Fantastic day! I'm completely happy for our team and sponsors."
"It's been a very tough rally for us so far. We have given away so much time out of our control, so it's very frustrating but I don't give up. It's a long day tomorrow as well, and if we carry on with the speed we have done, everything is possible."
"It's been a really tough day, The second loop has been a warzone on the stages. We managed to stay away from the biggest trouble and have a clean road. We have some more to do for tomorrow, so it's full focus."
hit a big rock
"It was really great day. Yesterday the gap felt small and today we could effect it much bigger. It's really difficult to maintain the gap, but it's easier for tomorrow. I was preparing a lot for the first stage. I knew it could be a stage where you can make a big difference, and we made a big effort there."
"All okay today. I think if it's slow it's boring, so at least we have something interesting."
"It was a positive day for us. We had a good clean rhythm in the car, always controlled the speed and were able to catch a little bit back from Ogier. P3 overnight isn't a bad result, but need to keep clear of any mistakes and try to bring back a good position for the team."
"The main target was to fight for the championship and I am not fighting with Thierry at the moment, In am fighting with Elfyn. The main target is behind and that's good."
"It's not been the best weekend. There have been flashes of it being pretty good, but we've just not been able to find the pace we really wanted. Not the best weekend so far, but we're continuing to try as much as we can and see what's possible."
"We have been lacking a fair amount and yesterday some mechanical issues and my mistake with the puncture. We can't be satisfied with this one."
"It was a long day. I am happy we are at the end. Tomorrow we need to stay focused."
"Tough. That's about it really - we'll go again tomorrow. I am happy with what I have done today - obviously a lot to improve on, but I am happy with what I have done."
SS17
"All okay, perfect stage."
"(What makes you go so fast today?) What else can we do? It'd be boring!"
"It's going quite well, we optimized our tyre choice and the handling with the car is good. We had a clean run."
"Really bad dust, was difficult, had to slow down a lot in the dust. It was everywhere but one section was really bad."
"Not the best stage to be honest, lot of dust in the stage, I couldn't see at all a couple of times."
"(Dust?) It's the same for everyone, no point in complaining."
SS16
"Everything is going to plan, no point in taking too much risks."
"Happy with our pace, we need to continue like this."
"I'm really happy with my morning loop. This afternoon we had a spin in the first one. Now we have a short stage to do so i'm quite happy."
"(Hot fight for the win?) Not so hot anymore, we lost a lot of time with the puncture.."
"Very very dusty in there, struggled to see many corners. Luckily we have a good gap so we played it safe."
"It was tricky in a lot of places and with the tyres, just being careful."
"We're just trying to do the best we can, lost quite a bit of time in the dust. Keep it going."
"Tyres seem to be working, i'm comfortable driving it. The grip was okay, the visibility was not so great with a lot of hanging dust."
"Of course you want to enjoy, but if it's a competition, there's no time to enjoy. It's full of dust in here, so I don't know how much you can enjoy."
"The previous one was just surviving, here it was a nice stage."
"It's a difficult one, the tyres are moving quite hard towards the end of the stage, it was a clean run, could have been better."
"On one long straight I couldn't get 6th gear, I had some issue and.. yeah."
"We had some misunderstanding in the car so we were careful.."
"The stage itself wasn't as bad as the other ones, a better drive."
SS15
"I'm very happy to drive a Rally2 car in Estonia and it's difficult."
"In this stage it was not a clean drive from me, need to improve for the next stage. Need to keep the concentration because the fight is really good."
"It's hard, this loop is crazy. I tried to have a clean drive and get through. I just want to finish this loop, it's terrible."
puncture
"I had a good time through here on the first pass and I tried to do the same, but the conditions are really difficult."
"I was now slowing down quite a lot and the time is still really good, so we have to slow down more. This one I was careful for sure."
"Just trying to stay in the middle of the road, some really really big ruts, easy to do something silly and get a puncture. No risk."
"It's working quite okay. Conditions are very rough in these two, struggling in the ruts, but it's the same for everyone."
"It's difficult, difficult to know what's the right thing to do: stay in the line or out of it. Difficult to know where the ruts take you."
"The tyres were moving a lot. I juts got through, not enjoyable driving with these ruts. Noone can be comfortable driving in there."
"(Tyres?) We'll see in the next one, let's wait and see. The ruts want to send you straight everywhere, difficult to predict where they take you.."
"Still rutted. If you really push and take some risks, risk punctures, then you can get some time back."
"Just overshot a junction, don't know why i'm even trying to be honest. Just get the car home."
SS14
"(What makes you go so fast?) I have a feeling that someone is always trying to pass me!"
"That was okay. It's surprisingly broken, we knew it would be broken but that was rougher."
"We are very happy, the car is very good."
"I just try to drive. It feels horrible. Surviving."
"I think we have a puncture and had a spin also.." tyres looking okay
"Too rough. It's not nice, you have to be so careful. Demanding for the tyres. Didn't push too much but you can't enjoy it."
"That was a stage where you just wish you had splits. Very rough, trying to protect the car. The ruts are taking you off the line everywhere. Pleased with that."
"It was an okay stage, nice and clean run. Changed some settings and it took time to get used to it, in the end in the ruts it worked quite well."
"The stage was very tricky."
gets out of the car and looks around it "Looking at my tyres. Because I want to look at how they look. I didn't push at all, just went through."
"Very good push, just put the front in the ruts everywhere. Very difficult to know where to go there."
"Big big ruts, if you take big risk, you can gain time. We had to drive carefully."
"Very rutted. Tracks are very narrow but it doesn't matter because the steering has been like this (misaligned) since service.."
SS13
"Long rally to go! We didn't really know where Gryazin's car was and we took it easy there. Not the best morning but we'll try to turn it around."
"Really tricky, so narrow and pretty slow. Difficult for me."
"Safe position. I would like to keep it, we'll see and do our best. Alexey is really fast, but we don't fight with him in ERC right now, we're fighting (others) in WRC3. One start for him, so we don't need to fight with him. Sorry for Egon and Lindholm."
"(No need for risks?) Yeah, yeah yeah, you're right. Thank you."
"We were a bit careful at Gryazin's crash place. It's going so-so."
"There was a misunderstanding at the start, everything is okay!"
Stopped. Rolled
"For sure in this one I just wanted to get through, next loop will have big ruts and will be very rough."
"All good, still here."
"(Keep Seb behind?) That's the target, we're trying."
"There is no plan for today, we have to drive. We're trying different things for ourselves, we'll see what we do with this info because we won't come back to Estonia with this car."
"(Thierry?) The plan is to focus on myself and stay in front of Elfyn. I didn't drive super well this morning, was too careful. Better to be careful than risk it."
"(Catch Seb?)We tried this morning and we haven't made a lot of progress, it's not coming so easy."
"It's quite interesting, nothing special but it's cleaning. We have been using some sections, but yeah, all okay."
SS12
Stopped
"We really need to change the setup for this one. The time is not so bad."
"It was okay, a bit up and down. Trying to manage the car when it's working and then push when it's not working."
"We are working with the car, made some adjustments, but no grip on this stage, feeling not so fast."
"Was okay, not a good stage to be honest. Had a nasty jump, landed on the front and after that we were careful."
"I think after this we can start to be more clever. Not easy to be clever at a rally like this, you have to keep a good rhythm and pace. In this one we had some jumps and they are not nice for the car."
"(What does it take to Match Kalle?) Full season. Simple as that. If I can get in the car more often I could do it every stage."
"That's the target: stay ahead of Ogier. It won't be easy. If you want to go as fast as Ott you have to know it by heart, I try to listen to my pacenotes."
"It's my chance to test today and this morning was damp and high grip, now it's low grip. We are here and we can learn something."
"For sure most important is to hold back Elfyn. Didn't drive perfectly the first two stages, better in this one. A bit of cleaning but a better stage for me."
"Not the ultimate push, but the car is working fine.. yeah."
"Felt pretty good. We changed the setup a bit and then I got a good feeling with the car. We are still far from the top guys."
"It was okay. Difficult to find the grip for me. Not easy, but we will continue and see what we can improve at the service."
SS11
"Struggling. First stage we had no traction. Slightly better this one, but the driving is not so good. Maybe going in the right direction, trying to hold second place. Stages are more soft and more damp than we expected."
"Trying to continue at the same pace. Not understanding the car 100% but trying to understand the road and the car."
Wheel off / Ratas alt
"Good morning everyone, not gone the best way. Not a pleasant drive, the roads are pretty broken. Long rally ahead, not the end."
"Easier than the last one, but the road is still broken and you have to do a lot of work to get through."
Puncture "My own mistake, tried to go too deep." / "Minu enda rumal viga."
"The road was surprisingly soft, deep ruts. Really slippery and it's a challenge."
"It was good in this stage not the stage before. For sure we have better pace and much better feeling, struggling a lot with the feeling and pacenotes. Satisfied now!"
"We are not happy with our pace, the pacenotes were too slow. We were correcting a lot in the stage, we have a lot of work to do to be faster on the second loop."
"Probably too careful in the first stage, today is very soft and big rocks already on the first pass. This one was really enjoyable, a bit frustrated at the first stage. We need to stay focused."
"For sure this rally is not under my control at all, it will just be a coincidence if the car is working. If there is a lot of grip changes, the car is not easy to control. I can't push."
"Difficult. Some things getting better and some moments we are losing, difficult to find a way. We'll try to find out what to do. Sometimes not pushing on this stage."
"I tried, Mads took a bit too much on the first one, increased the pace a bit for this one but stayed on the safe side. I will see the next one on WRC Live so it should be better."
"I was doing a lot of work with the pacenotes for the new stages. In this one I was clearly not so good, but it's going quite well. Let's see on the next ones what we can do."
"Very much in the middle of the road, I put everything into the first stage this morning. Need to keep the pressure there, always getting a bit further from the guys behind. Two part-timers not doing a bad job at a part-time gig!"
"I didn't take any risks in this one, new stage and high speed. Clean run through and that was enough."
"I need to push more, a bit too careful. Don't need to take all these risks, for sure I could do more."
"The feeling inside of the car is quite okay."
"Difficult to be really free in the car, so I just tried to do what I had to do. We continue like this."
"The stages are quite nice, much more flat. Good conditions, drying up pretty quickly. Trying to keep a good rhythm."
"It was a lot better than the first one, struggling with the car, it's moving around."
SS10
"Not very pleased with that drive, took it too easy and we could have been faster, easy to get a puncture here. / "Rahule kindlasti ei jäänud, võtsime liiga rahulikult, oleks pidanud tempokamalt tulema, siin oli lihtne rehv puruks saada. Suhteliselt kogu aeg on võimalik midagi ära lõhkuda."
"It's so broken up in places, it will be interesting in the afternoon."
"It's a new stage, the conditions are quite damp and the road gets destroyed quite fast."
"Took it easy, nothing special." / + front right puncture
"The pacenotes were not good, the driving was not good. We need to restart the brain and start all over."
"Pacenotes were a bit slower, we corrected a lot. For the second pass we will be faster."
"Struggling a bit, need to come back and continue."
"It was a proper wake up call, most difficult stage of the rally. I was just counting on it and we didn't do anything special."
"It was a good start. It's very slippery."
"(Kalle?)That little man is in the car more often than I am. Honestly I did a perfect stage, if he is 8 seconds faster, he can have it."
"My car was moving too much at the end of the stage, the stage is getting more loose and less grip. The timeloss is not too bad."
"Didn't feel fantastic, the ground is pretty soft. All okay."
"It's okay, obviously new notes, difficult, quite narrow. All looking okay."
"I was going a bit wide and stalled the engine. The stage is super tricky, narrow. Like driving in the darkness, can't see behind the corner."
"Struggling a lot, very careful in the stage."
"(Powerstage points?) It's not like a rally stage, nothing we can learn from here. We need to keep pushing."
"It was a little bit more damp in there. The grip felt okay, it was quite consistent, but I just had a bad run through there. Some work to do at lunch for that one."
spin
SS9
"A water pressure alarm popped up on my dashboard near the end of the stage. The same issue as before. I don't know what to say."
Rolled, blocking the stage
"Not looking at positions right now, not enjoying the car. The car is good but I can't understand the difference in times. Feels same as before but the time is not here. For me it's a test, trying to figure out what's going on."
'It's been a difficult afternoon. Things didn't go our way - we are unlucky with the weather and unlucky with the puncture. It seems like everything is going the wrong way at the moment, so we need to collect everything and just start again tomorrow."
"Not the best loop this morning, okay for the afternoon, we found the pace back. Tomorrow is still a long day."
"Didn't really expect rain, I did my best. We have a gap so trying to manage that. Staying focused and setting good stage times."
"In this stage I lost grip in the middle of a corner and I went off, after that I did the rest of the stage in road mode."
"Same issue as before.." water pressure alarm on dash
"I have to say, this is Kalle's stage, he's on a different level on this one. Lost the tyres in here, it's been a really nice day, the car's been awesome."
"It has been a nice day, going according to the plan. Second loop was better for us, pushing and I had a huge moment near the finish, the grip is not there. I can't do much more."
"Our target was to catch Seb and to increase the gap. Small advantage with the road position. Our target is to stay clear of Seb and keep the car on the road. Except for the puncture, it has worked fine today."
"Not the day we wanted. The time loss in the morning ws one thing, but just genuinely not being fully at one with everything. The car has the pace to do it, but I'm just not clicking into place at the moment."
"It was a big attack the whole day. I am extremely happy with my day. I have been on the limit, no mistakes and the car was working well. I couldn't really expect better from this day - whatever happens with Thierry doesn't matter at this point."
SS8
"A clean drive, we didn't want to make any mistakes and be smooth. Could be better." / "Sõit oli vähe puhtam, ei tahtnud erinevaid vigu sisse ja saaks sujuva sõidu. Saaks paremini aga võib praegu rahul olla."
"Now it's okay, we're having fun. Car is working really good, absolutely strong - good test for him (car)!
"It was much better road, but I did some driving mistakes here. Enjoyed, the fast parts were amazing, the jumps were crazy. Doing it as planned, satisfied at the moment."
"Really really enjoying it, not as rutted as I expected and really quick & fun. Took it easy on the jumps, the first pass I hurt myself here. Nice good run, we enjoyed it."
Seemingly angry, doesn't really say anything nice
"Not bad, the time is not good. I tried something but still it's not enough."
"I'm enjoying the stages, careful at the beginning and then I picked up the pace. Improving and getting closer and closer."
"Not really as confident as it should be and we were a bit careful. It seems to be causing some issues it seems."
"I came over the finish line and said to Paul it was the worst stage of the day - I think we need to do worst stages all the time!"
"I can not do better than this. We are lacking some grip on the second pass. I tried to push as hard as I can but there is no grip. I think Craig can beat that, but let's see what we can do on the next one."
"The speed sometimes is there. It was working quite well. I have to try everything I can and continue like this - if we can stay ahead of Ogier tonight it will be good for tomorrow's road position."
"I just feel like I am not pushing enough basically. It feels fine, but it's not quite enough on the edge."
"The secret is driving well and having a good car. I have a feeling I am on the limit and so far we have minimised the time loss. Between Elfyn and Thierry it's very close, so that's very good for us."
SS7
"It's very easy to get a puncture. We tried to use our head, be clever and not take the biggest risks. We are enjoying."
"Quite rutted now and the jumps are crazy. I am just wondering how bad a headache the others are having at the top!"
"I knew that was going to happen. In the last part, I was stuck in the dust this morning. I really needed to be committed and unfortunately I didn't have a clean run this morning."
"I wasn't pushing too much on the rough parts, so there is still some time to gain. Let's see what his time is on the next one."
"It's not enough. I have the feeling we should be faster because I am trying very hard, but the times are not as good as I would like. Usually our car should be very fast in there, but at least we catch back some time."
"I wasn't happy, especially at the beginning of the stage. I didn't have the commitment needed. It got better towards the end, but it's funny how it you can tell towards the end."
"It [the rain] didn't effect so much the road for us. The grip was okay. For me, I am still doing everything I can, so far I am happy with my day."
SS6
puncture
"The grip is getting better now. The showers are not affecting it too much."
"It felt quite okay, so we'll just go and see now."
"That's the plan - just cotinue the same way. It's always tricky on the second pass. You need to push but also be clever."
"The dust is hanging and with the clouds coming the visibility is not good."
"No big dramas in there - the rain wasn't too much of an issue."
"It's raining a bit towards the end. So far it's not really an issue. I still tried to push as much as I can."
SS5
Rolled
"We had some issues with the intercom, so there is no two-way communication. We have a broken front right suspension as well, so I am glad to see we are not losing time."
"Over a crest, Ola pulled his feet back because there was this thing on the road and he thought it was a trailer coming in the other direction!"
"Same troubles as Gus is having..."
"I have been watching the others and I was very cautious on the jumps not to land at funny angles. A clean loop - okay, we had some dramas outside of the car, but everything is okay and we are enjoying it."
"I like this stage. Last year it was the power stage, and now the soft tyre is moving a lot in this stage and the grip is starting to be much more difficult to drive. It was not a clean run, but let's see how Craig is coming behind because it's cleaning also for us."
"I tried to do a good stage. I got some small issues - I was losing a bit of power but it came quickly back, and I also lose the rear too much. I should have been faster than them with the cleaning, but I can't."
"It seemed to be quite loose to be honest, so we probably should have done a little bit better if possible. No drama."
"I think I did a really good job this morning, I couldn't do any more. This one ws probably the worst of the loop - very very loose. So far, we can't do more."
Reports say Takamoto Katsuta has retired following SS4 after his co-driver Dan Barritt suffered a back injury.
SS4
"At the beginning of SS4 I went wide into a corner and went out on the field and knocked off two tyres. I had two punctures so we had no spares left and it was not possible to continue."
double puncture - retire
rolled
"I just got a puncture and... yeah."
left rear puncture
"There was a guy in the middle the road slowing us down - I went into road mode and everything."
"This stage has much less grip, and the car was doing a lot of oversteer and understeer. It's not so easy."
stopped - mechanical
"It was a good stage. Maybe some sections were too much pushing and I went wide. This is rallying, so it's fine."
"We had a puncture 7km before the end. I had to carry on but we lost too much time.
left rear puncture
"This one, the start was okay and not too bad with the loose, but the second half of the stage was much more difficult. So far I am dong everything I can."
small off road
SS3
"I am not happy with my driving. It's okay, it's just the begnning of the rally, but this is not what I wanted from the beginning of the rally. I try to push more in some sections and let's see."
broken driveshat
Bad news from SS3... we went over a jump and landed too hard on the front. There was a leak on the radiator and we tried to fix it but couldn’t, so we decided to retire and bring the car back to service to try and fix it so we can restart tomorrow
“A very fast section. Our pace is competitive, but we must improve in some parts where we still hesitate a bit.”
"Same god damn thing as the rest of the year. I've got it to the end of the stage, but I don't know what to say. I am fed up."
"It's taking a bit of time to get back the rhythm here."
"I hope that they [rally organisers] look aftrer me because the stage was really nice. It upsets your rhythm so much."
"I need to take the small mistakes out. The time is better."
slowed by Greensmith
stopped - mechanical (water pump?)
front right puncture
"Overshoot 2 junctions, stupid."
"I am actually happy with my drive so far. There is not much more I can do - it is extremely slippery."
SS2
“We have to improve on the slow parts. We were very cautious perhaps. The feeling with the car is excellent.”
"I was careful. We know what is our target this weekend, so no risks."
"I need to drive flat-out. That's the only way to get some times here."
"Holy Jesus Christ heaven above! It's really incredible. The car feels amazing - all the boys and girls are doing the right things back in the workshop and it's a pleasure."
"I was trying in there. A few places I could have carried some better speed, but generally that felt like a pretty good run."
"We have a lot to work on to get better. I made many mistakes and I lost easy seconds."
"It's quite tricky and slippery in some sections, but I was probably too careful. I was not sure about grip levels. It's okay, I will try to improve in the next one and let's see."
"We are here competing, so we need to take the maximum and not enjoy too much. If we are enjoying it too much that means we are too far away."
"The car was feeling was quite okay to be honest. I had a clean stage. I was a little bit cautious maybe, but I really enjoyed the car and it looks like our time is not so bad."
"It's very loose actually, really really loose - even to the point that it's dragging the car on the straights."
"It's a bit like expected. The conditions are very slippery. It's going to be a difficult day for us, but we will keep fighting."
SS1
"It will be challenging for everyone. It's not easy - you need to jump high and understand where you can risk and where you can not risk. I hope we will have no issues - just jump and have fun!"
"The roads are super gorgeous, stupid fast with so many jumps. We were a bit slow in there, but the car is in one piece."
"I had to get some help from the national Estonian team to get my back back on track after about 800 jumps in two days in Finland! I feel good again now and I am ready to break my back once more!"
"I love these roads and I love to attack. I had the pop-off [valve] opening every corner, so the time was really bad. We have to get it back tomorrow."
"The start was good, but tomorrow we will see. Let's see what we can do."
"It's a nice stage to drive. You can easily damage the wheels, but it's good for the spectators too. We are focussed for tomorrow."
"Tomorrow will be completely different. On this stage, there was so much to lose and minimum things to win, so we took it easy. Tomorrow will be the real start."
"Looking forward to the weekend. I feel good with the car, so it's all about getting into that good rhythm with the car first thing tomorrow, then let's see."
"I feel okay. I was very cautious - I didn't want to do any stupid things. It will be a long rally and I hope it will be fine."
"I would say the first stage was kind of a relief we have finished it now. It's of course an important rally for us, and we have to prove again what we can do - that's my target."
"It's a joy to be back again - everything feels so nice. This is real rallying. The things this car can do, it just blows your mind."
"It's going to be something completely different. It's just flat-out from the word go, so it's big kahoonas this weekend. Let's see how things go."
"On Sunday we will see the result, but like in every rally I will do the best I can. This is one of the rallies where I like to drive and like to push, so hopefully we can fight."
"The feeling is better and better after every rally. This stage was very slippery, so I was overdriving and hanging the rear everywhere. I am really looking forward to tomorrow's stages."
"On this level, to be dominnant is something very rare. The first target is to take the fight with the Toyotas - for sure, they are fast."
"We need the win for us, but also for the team. We are going to fight. We have revenge to take from last year and also from the last rally in Kenya, so hopefully we are going to have some luck with us."
"Looking forward to it. It's very high speed for the majority, but it's all looking quite nice and I'm looking forward to it."
"I think we have a tough weekend ahead of us. Already here, it's quite slippery. Opening the road I have no idea what I can achieve, but like always I will give everything I have and we will find out what's possible."