58. Ardeca Ypres Rally Belgium 2022
WRC #9 • WRC2 Open #9 • WRC2 Junior #9 • WRC2 Masters #9 • WRC3 Open #9 • Belgium #6 • Belgium Junior #6 • Master Cup (B) #6
18. 8. – 21. 8. 2022, Ypres • Superstage • asphalt 281.58 km • total distance including road sections - 687.24 km • Other years
Info
SS20
"To win here is a big surprise for us - more or less the same like it was in Finland. We didn't expect it from anywhere basically, but somehow we were able to pull it together during the rally. It's great to see some results are coming but there is so much we can improve and we could still be a lot stronger, so there is still some work to do."
"You're never really pleased with second. I think overall it was a solid weekend. That puncture on Friday probably cost a few seconds but overall it was a strong weekend and the car has been good."
"We are trying our best to deliver results and I believe we have been a bit unlucky a few times this year. Now things are coming together. We were not the fastest in this rally but we didn't make any mistakes, and that paid off big time."
"It was a long time since our last win in WRC2. I am so proud of what we achieved this weekend and I want to thank the whole team. It was tricky to come back to WRC2 and this victory is for them."
"With our zero scores from earlier in the year, we knew we needed to score maximum points here and in Greece. But still, second place is still not so bad and it's still possible. Stéphane's pace was very difficult to match and he did a great rally."
"The feeling is not bad. I searched for good settings all the time and it was not easy because the roads here are completely different. For the championship this result is not bad and that's the most important thing."
"It's been an amazing weekend. We're hopefully back in the lead of the [WRC2] Junior championship now, so full attack in Greece!"
"It was a tough weekend definitely and it was not easy on such difficult roads. I didn't have a good tarmac rally last time in Croatia and after Finland it's been a very tough couple of weeks. It's nice to finally have something."
"I must be happy because we survived this weekend and it was a tough weekend for us. Big thanks to the team - of course some things were happening but everything was working well."
"I think for everyone we just need to get on the flight, go home and have a few days to ourselves and then we can get together next week and go again. We just need to keep going until it comes right, and it does come right - that's the thing. It does come right."
"Unfortunately I had some transmission issue - the gears were jumping from second to fourth and I had to downshift many times. It was good to see the speed was there and the car was somehow working quite okay. Not where we want to be, but it's going in the right direction and that's positive. Unfortunately we couldn't get the result we wanted but we had some fun for the spectators."
"It felt pretty fast anyway. It was not easy to step up the pace after what happening, but at least we tried."
"We've got a small technical issue that we've carried since the last one. A bit of a disaster really and nobody is happy. For everybody inside the team and the fans it's not so much fun at the moment, but we're all trying our best."
SS19
"This stage was very tricky with a lot of dirt and many surprises. I had a good stage - I pushed, and this is a good margin with one stage to go."
"It’s been very consistent. We have not done any mistakes. We have had smart pace throughout the weekend."
"It was a bit more stressful almost because I had cold tyres at the start and it was quite tricky! We just need to bring it to the finish now."
"Quite a boring stage because we have no hybrid again. I don't say anything because I don't want to make any drama but this is frustrating.
"It was okay. A lot of pollution in the stage,:"
"We are trying to save the tyres a bit. Hopefully it's helping us for the next stage and we can at least get some points from the weekend."
"The Power Stage has been the target since the first day."
"King of the cone! To be fair to the boys, they did a lot of work in service to try and give us a bit more confidence and they've been working flat-out all weekend. Let's see."
SS18
"Some brakings were a bit slippery and I was cautious in some places. The first loop is more important, but now we know the places (to watch out for) and it should be more consistent."
"I was a bit conservative in a few tricky places. Let's see, it was a clean run but I don't know if it will be quite enough."
"I don't see any reason why I should drive faster, so this is good. It was not too bad, but a couple of spots are really slippery even though they are dry. I can't imagine what it would be like if it was wet!"
"It was a terrible stage. Very tricky and easy to do a mistake, so I took it very easy and if I lose a few seconds on the next two it's not a problem. The time is okay but I am just playing it safe."
"I am happy with my run. It was quite slippery with some dirt coming onto the road, so I didn't take any risks. It's a nice fight for sure but we still have two stages to do."
"I was not so confident in myself. If I am confident then it's quite okay, so I am going to work on myself."
"The pace notes - they are so slow compared to the rest of the weekend. I don't why."
"There were a few corners we could do better, but it's only the first pass through and there are quite a lot of grip changes. I enjoyed it - after yesterday, it's good to have a bit of a smile when you are driving."
"It doesn't really matter in the morning - let's see what we can do in the afternoon. It's quite a tricky stage and the conditions are not going to be easy on the second pass with all the gravel, but let's see how it goes."
"It's disappointing but obviously we have a little bit of speed in the car, which is nice. We're first on the road which is an advantage but we're just trying to enjoy the day."
SS17
"That's the action plan - to protect the lead. At the moment we can lose two seconds per stage, so one second is okay."
"Feeling pretty good - it was quite slippery at the start, but otherwise everything was working pretty okay."
"For sure, I am not closing any gaps and I hope the car behind us will not close our gap."
"Adrien is pushing so it will be difficult definitely, but I will do my best. It was just a clean and simple stage with nothing special - we are just driving."
"I had a really clean stage. It was really nice to drive the car and even better than yesterday. I didn't feel very well before the start but it didn't distract the drive at all."
"I wanted to see - that's it."
"It was okay. A little bit careful in my braking points, but other than it's all good."
"It was a huge disappointment yesterday, so today I am just driving through and trying a few settings on the car."
"The stage was okay. Just a careful run through to see how everything is - nothing special."
"Not so much. I'm just trying to get back into some sort of rhythm yesterday, so it’s all fine."
SS16
"The speed is not here, honestly. In the afternoon, I am happy with the car but I don’t push. Third is not bad for the Championship."
"We could have pushed harder but there is a lot of gravel and a lot of risk to go for it. He knows the roads better and if I go off the Championship is gone. I try to balance that but it is not easy."
"We tried to push hard after this morning. It was a hard loop but I am happy."
"I don't really know. Like [Neuville] said before that probably I don't have an issue. It's a shame what happened, but I think inside the team we shouldn't fight with each other - we should be fighting the others. I don't know what he was thinking."
"It felt like a pretty okay run to be honest. Ott's going well obviously, but it's still close. We're trying everything we can and we're going to continue doing that."
"There's a long way to go still! Like we saw on the previous stage, it's so easy to do the mistakes. I don't want to be happy yet - I want to finish in a different style to the last rally!"
"Crack on - that's all we can do. Go to bed, get a nice sleep and do a better job in the morning."
"It's not too bad, but for sure it's sad to hear about Thierry. It's never a nice thing to happen in front of all of your fans and family."
"I am really happy with my day. It was really good for the confidence and it's really positive. We will see if we can catch Oliver in the last day."
"You can guess what happened! No hybrid! It's okay, I am getting used to it."
"It's never easy to start to drive when you have nothing to drive for, but I think we did a few nice stage times. We were just driving and that was the mindset."
SS15
Broken struts
"It was a good stage. I am pushing a bit and it was a clean stage."
"More of the same really. It didn't feel so good in some places but in others it was alright."
Off road
Off road
"This was a very clean stage. It's in good condition and it was enjoyable."
"Not perfect. It was quite slippery and I was using the tyres too much. The car was floating a lot, but it's okay."
"There were a lot of people on the road section so we were trying to pass people but we were stopped by police. We need to have a look if we can do something but yes, we were two minutes late."
Stopped by police -> late in TC
"It was okay. In the morning on the first pass I was quite careful, but now I was enjoying the driving. It's all good."
SS14
"It was like the first pass for me obviously, so I was discovering the stage. I felt I was a bit cautious but our gravel crew told us it was very dirty. Now we know more or less where we have to be careful on the suspension side. There is still a bit of room for improvement but we will stay like this - it's fine."
"It is fantastic. There is a lot more crowd than last year so everything is so nice. This stage was really difficult and I didn’t want to take a lot of risks because there are big gaps."
"It was very dirty. We are being careful and pushing where we can but the last two were very dirty so no risks."
"It was difficult and dirty will all the cuts. No mistakes and no punctures, so that is the best for now."
"The feeling is quite good. The car worked very well. It is better than this morning and I am focused to not make a mistake."
"It is fine but quite slippery. With the gravel I don’t feel the confidence to push to the maximum."
"It was ok, but I don’t the know the rthem on this one as it was the first pass for me, let’s see what the others can do."
"No stories to tell. It's a demanding stage but we had a very clean run. The car is working fine."
"The target doesn't really change. We're doing what we can in each stage and just going through them to see what's possible. It wasn't perfect, but 100 per cent effort at least!"
"Everything is okay. I had a clean stage - all good."
"It's not very nice going into an afternoon where you haven't done a first pass and it's covered in gravel. It's hard to know where to push and I don't want to make any mistakes."
"I was way too careful - way too clean. It's a very slippery stage and easy to do a mistake. It's okay."
"The rally is still really long and I don't want to make mistakes. As long as he is only taking two seconds per stage, it's okay."
"When you have no hybrid boost it's quite boring and you don't feel the power so well, but when you have it, it's a lot more entertaining and funny!"
"In places it's dirty, but it's quite good. The conditions are quite changeable on the Tarmac but everything is okay."
SS13
Accident
Accident
"I had a clean run. I don't really like this stage so I am too careful in the cuts all the time. I am trying to avoid the punctures and be nice and tidy - it seemed to work.
"The problem is fixed - it's just different settings so I need to get used to it. It's working okay."
"We're trying what we can but it's quite dirty out there. To know whether to speed or slow down is quite difficult to be honest."
"It was quite slippery to be fair. More pollution than yesterday or in any stages before. It's tricky."
"There's a lot of loose on the stage. The guys did a great job of fixing the car so we can go out and learn some stuff this afternoon."
"Very tricky. It was better now with the car and I could play a bit more with it."
"It's been a clean stage for us - it's quite dirty now so I was being very careful in places. "
"The car is good, it's just a bit difficult to carry the right speed into the corners because of the gravel."
"All good. There is quite a gravel now with the second pass conditions, but eveeything is okay."
SS12
"I am not really sure if Ott has problems. I think if Ott has problems then I have only three cylinders! Of course, we want to fight for victory and I had to give it a go. We are getting a bit better with the car but I feel like there is some more in it - we just need to find it."
"We got through, so we can get to service. It was my fault - we dropped a wheel into the ditch and hit the rear left."
"A lot. I came through as smooth as I can but we have very inconsistent four-wheel drive at the moment and it's so disappointing. You can drive it forever, but not like a rally car."
"Not bad - but I'm never happy! With new notes there are always a few places you can go a bit better, but overall it was a good run. It all adds up."
"I don't have many highlights but it's been a very clean morning with no mistakes. Nice driving - I can even say that I am maybe even enjoying it a bit!"
"The car is very difficult to drive, so it's quite scary sometimes. When it's narrow I am really struggling with front and I know I am losing time."
"The road was a little bit dirty in some places so I didn't take too many risks. We still have a position to defend with Solberg and the rally is still long."
"The hybrid unit is all okay, but I was not so confident in some sections. It's tricky with a lot of surface changes."
"It's quite a challenging stage. There is a bit of everything and we are here. Nothing special for us - we are just trying to enjoy the driving."
SS11
"I don’t have the confidence to push more. I tried different settings but I don’t have confidence in the fast sections."
"It was not a great stage to be honest. Some surprising slippery places."
"There were some cuts and I take more risks while I find my rhythm"
Stuck in ditch
It's okay but the car is a bit nervous. Somehow the time is not so bad so we must be satisfied with it."
"I broke something on the rear left in the stage before. We tried our best to fix it, but I think it needs a bit more fixing to get us back to service."
"I didn't have any problems with the gears - it's just more transmission."
"We didn't have any moments. To be honest I am not happy - the rhythm is not there and it's tricky to be honest."
"I am just relaxed. I am surprised to be fair - I braked many times too early. But okay, I'll take it as it is!"
Broken brake disc
"It's crazy understeer and an awful stage."
"We were really lucky in the last one and I am really sorry for Craig. For us, in here we just wanted to get through. Last year I finished my rally on Friday so I wasn't taking risks on this one."
"The hybrid is on now, so I am happy. I don't know why it happened."
"This one was okay. A bit slippier sections than in the first one in the morning, but all good."
SS10
"We started to have some transmission issue on the first one, so let's see how far we get."
"I just missed my braking. I carried too much speed on the entry to a corner and I just couldn't get to a line - that was all my fault. We just stopped and made sure Craig's car wasn't catching fire, but they'd put it out all okay."
"I am really struggling with the front. It's very difficult to drive. If you try to brake late you get a lot of understeer. I am just trying to do my best to drive and we'll see."
Rolled
Off road
"I had no hybrid boost again. I had nothing since the start."
Changed a wheel
"This one was a bit tricky with the grip. It was maybe not as enjoyable as the first one, but all good."
SS9
"It was quite a tricky one to start. It was quite dirty in places and I was a bit careful. The feeling in the car is good, so that's the main thing."
"The road is very dirty with some tricky places. It's all okay - we are here."
"It wasn't the cleanest run. A lot of gravel pulled out already and I went wide in a few places. Not an ideal start."
"I am just trying to keep the position where we are. At the moment it looks okay, but it's easy to improve on from my side - I did not have a good stage."
"It's fairly simple today. I tried some things on the car and in some areas it's better, but in others it's worse. It's a work in progress."
"I'm struggling - the car is wandering like crazy. At the beginning of the stage it was doing whatever it wanted and I don't know why it's so different to yesterday. It was horrible in there."
"It was a tricky stage with a lot of understeer. I couldn't trust the front. We did some changes yesterday and it wasn't very good, so I just took it easy."
"The tyre choice is much easier than yesterday! I had a good feeling with the car, so it was positive. It was quite slippery in some parts of the stage and it's easy to make mistakes."
"Today I will try to be very smart with the driving. It's no stress - I will just try to improve my tasks and the weather looks very good, so I try to enjoy me day."
"It was a good stage and the car is working fine, so a big thanks to the mechanics. It's all good and we will just try to enjoy the day."
SS8
"It was a clean day to be honest. We know where we are on the stages and there was not so much risk, I enjoyed it."
(A tyre off the rim after going into a ditch) "Under breaking it was gone."
"It is not a bad day but our choice is bad for the moment. Now with the wet tyre I lose a lot of time. I am not a meteorologist! I will see you tomorrow."
"It has been a good day. We are trying to find a risk level that is tolerant for the while rally. For sure you can push more but the risk goes high. We had a good day and are happy with our performance."
Retired in service, engine issue
Accident
"I am really happy with this morning, it was just a shame and unlucky with the rain. This afternoon Craig's rain dance was definitely not working! The weather is unpredictable, but tomorrow the sun should be here and we will enjoy."
Puncture
"In this one the gearbox is completely stuffed. I had to lift off for every single gear change and I lost so much time."
"It's clear everybody kind of thought the same thing about the weather. It's a shame, but it's okay. This was more like a first pass for me."
"In this one the gearbox is completely stuffed. I had to lift off for every single gear change and I lost so much time."
"It's clear everybody kind of thought the same thing about the weather. It's a shame, but it's okay. This was more like a first pass for me."
"The day has been a lot better than we expected. We really didn't have the feeling yesterday to be in the fight, and even if it's been coming the hard way we are in a surprisingly good position. We have been lucky that the weather has been quite consistent."
"It's been a whole different afternoon in terms of the handling with the car. I am much happier now. I feel like I have seen some areas where we can improve and get a bit more speed, but with this afternoon we can be very happy. Our weather team has done an amazing job with some very precise information and I have felt confident to trust their predictions. That's very important on a day like this."
"Nearly the worst day I've had. We've been very unlucky with the way we planned our tyre choice. We were expecting the rain and it's unbelievable that we've done the whole loop without seeing a drop of it."
"Of course, today was not what we expected, but we are here. Already this morning everything went wrong, so now I just need to focus on what I can improve in these Tarmac rallies.
"There's that - and it's just not been a great afternoon. We had a slow puncture after the second stage, so we were having to use a rain tyre on this stage which was not ideal."
"This stage was good. Very clean driving and no mistakes. I think we have done a decent job - the tyre choice was not the greatest for the afternoon, but that's how it is sometimes."
SS7
"It started to rain 1km before the end but it is not a drama."
"I made one big mistake so I lost some time. I slide wide."
"I am overawed and on the slow part it is ok but on the fast section I don’t have the confidence to push more."
"The conditions are quite easy to predict. Dry the whole stage. We had a clean stage and stayed within the lines. Lefebvre is pushing hard which means we have to push too but we can’t go over the limit."
"We are leading the class with the wrong tyres! It's okay."
"All okay - not as bad as the other two. I wasn't happy with my first two stages this afternoon so I tried a bit harder in there. It seems to be better, but we still have a bit of work to do."
"It's a very tricky stage, so I was a bit careful. It's my first time doing these stages in a world car, so I have top be smart and do things step by step."
"I had a little bit of luck! I was surprised that the grip was quite low on this braking point, but it's fine. We are doing our best and we have to be careful."
"There were a few places where I lost time for sure. It wasn't a great run, but that's it."
"I was hoping we could get rain two hours a go but it's not coming! We are getting a lot of drifting experiences!"
"I took a gamble on the tyres but the rain is just dancing around us, unfortunately. It's so difficult to predict and it's not great."
"This afternoon has been more consistent actually. The final bit was messy but it's been more enjoyable than this morning. For me it's okay."
"Like I said this morning, I was really uncomfortable in the car. It's getting better now, but it was getting interesting in there when the raindrops started to fall. I thought we would lose a bit but we managed."
SS6
"It was a clean run. It was rough in some places with some dirt. No risk."
"It feels ok but the time is not really good. Hopefully it starts to rain."
"It is a great battle. I push very hard by my tyre choice is not a good choice. I hope for rain."
"We had a clean stage. Lefebvre had a really good one in the last stage but we aren’t willing to take those sorts of risks so early in the rally."
Accident
Accident
"Better now, but I have some problem with the gearbox. It's not gearing correctly. Those are impressive times from the top guys but my rear was very loose - three times it snapped away and you lose confidence when that happens."
"It's quite dirty and I think there will be even more dirt. Some rain was expected in this stage so we didn't take risks. We are not in the fight for anything now but still things can happen, so we will continue."
"It's all okay but the time is not good. I'm not sure why because it felt fine for me. We had a couple of slides at the beginning but nothing big."
"We didn't get enough rain to disturb us at all. A good stage from us."
"Not so bad. It's still tricky and we were hoping the rain was going to come a little bit earlier. I'm off to do a rain dance now."
"We have rain tyres on, so it's okay. I am just enjoying it."
"It was okay. It was quite difficult now - we are probably more geared up for rain and obviously it's fully dry in here. It's okay but it's not so easy to be fast."
"We had a clean run but I am still fighting in the bumpy sections to get the balance between the front and the rear. It's still moving a lot and not where I want it to be."
"This time it was a clean stage..."
SS5
Off road and stuck in the ditch
"I am just waiting for big rain to come and then maybe I can gain some big time."
"The rally is not finished and there is a long way to go, but with our position there is a lot of pollution and it is easy to make a mistake."
"I am just doing my best. We changed a few things in service which improved our confidence with the rear. It's easy to make a mistake but it's quite good fun anyway."
"It was very loose with lots of pollution. I could have been braver in some places but apart from that it was all okay. You'd be having a big crash if you didn't have a good gravel crew here!"
"Pretty good. It's not too bad - we had some nice slides for sure - but we need to play the game. It was decided together with the team that we wanted to be a bit aggressive. Let's hope it starts to rain soon."
"Obviously we're preparing for the rain. Our weather guys were on it this morning, so hopefully it arrives. We think it should come within the next hour or so - we'll either be in the game or it will be a long old loop!"
"I am just waiting for big rain to come and then maybe I can gain some big time."
"It was a clean enough run. Maybe not as clinical as we would have liked, but no mistakes."
"It's a mix of tyre choice for this afternoon's loop. The weather is changing constantly as you can see. We were hesitating to even take the rain jacket, so it could be worse, but we are going to find out."
"The grip is changing so much and there are many places with full dirt and many surprises. It's tricky now."
SS4
"Except that we started on wet tyres, and we penalised ourselves with extra 100 kg, everything is going well."
"We took a calm start without any risks, with the focus on the championship. We are even first Belgian, if you count Grégoire as a Luxembourger for a moment."
"I do feel that I lack competition rhythm."
"We have some power loss, which hopefully we can fix during the service."
"I'm having fun, and there's definitely more to it. In Langemark we were on slicks when the heavens opened."
"I'm really frustrated. With last year in mind, we had the intention to start cautiously so as not to happen to the same thing. In the meantime we have already pushed straight three times."
"The pain in the right hand is not too bad, although it is well bandaged. We drove a good, but cautious first lap, and are certainly happy with our current second place."
“We completed a good loop, although we had to change a wheel between the stages due to an puncture. The stage in Langemark was difficult because of the rain, and the grip changes constantly."
"I think it's always the same! We get the rain at the end. I could not do anything else - it was full of water and we lost all the hard work we did this morning. It's like that."
Accident
"All the rain came from the start! The wipers are so slow so I couldn't see anything in the straight and it was like ice sometimes. It's not easy."
"I saw EP set off in the dry and then around two minutes later it started hammering it down. I had to wait for another minute before going!"
"For sure, when you need to put the wipers in flat-out mode it doesn't give you much confidence that the grip was okay, but it wasn't bad. Let's go to service now to try and improve the car."
"We got some rain about halfway through the stage. The speed wasn't anything fantastic up until then and we have a lot of work to do."
"We got some issue at the end of the last stage and we could not fix it, but at least we are here and we could go through the stage with only one or two gears."
"It was a pretty okay stage to be honest and we were finding a better balance between cleaning and pushing. I am happy with my driving but of course this is only very early and there is still a long way to go."
Mechanical
"It's so different compared to last year and I am struggling so much to find the confidence. We are going to work a bit on the setup now and see what we can do for the afternoon loop, but I don't feel good in the car at the moment."
SS3
"I didn't expect that, but it's good. I just tried to drive sensibly because in the junctions there is a lot of dirt. I have really good confidence with the car and I am enjoying."
"I had some gearbox smell on the previous stage and we are just driving through and learning."
"On the recce notes there is one corner where both times we went the wrong way. I had to put in my notes for Jonas to shout: 'Go left, not right!'."
"On the previous stage I hit a fence pole. I don't have any confidence on the corners. On the junctions it's okay, but on fourth and fifth gear corners I have no control."
"Not bad. I know this stage from last year, so I felt a bit more confident. We need to make some changes to the setup in service but we're going in the right direction."
"It's a technical issue. It's something mechanical - that's all I can say. It's a shame."
"Not the best. I had a couple of little slip-ups, but nothing too major. It all counts."
Mechanical issue
"We had a clean stage but on a junction we were a bit sideways. I am fighting with the car at the moment and compared to last year it's not enjoyable. I have a lot of diff openings and the wheels are locking under braking - you can not judge where to brake."
"I thought I had something broken in the rear, it was really searching the road, but then I realised it was just the car. It's like this."
SS2
"We were told there would be no rain until later in the day, so to get a bit of a downpour in the middle was a surprise. Apart from that it was okay."
"Very difficult. It started to rain quite a lot in a few places, so I just backed off. It's not easy and it's hard to find confidence in these conditions."
"It was a clean stage but we had a little bit of rain, so I tried to get confidence that the grip was still there. The pollution is quite big in some places and I think the afternoon will be even worse."
Accident
Accident
Rolled
"I was too slow and too safe everywhere. The time is not great but that's how it is."
"I had a couple of drops of rains and problems with the wipers getting stuck on the screen. It was fairly atrocious in there."
"I just overshot and nothing else - that is it. I am just trying to improve myself, nothing big."
"It's not too bad in terms of confidence to be honest, but I feel like there is more to come. Maybe we were a bit more on the careful side."
"I do not feel comfortable at all at the moment. This stage is bumpy and I had no confidence. I had a clean run through without pushing, but we need to work on the car."
"We had a puncture for the last six kilometres, so we were just managing it through."
Puncture
SS1
"I just tried to really listen to my pace notes. There is so much different grip and we were careful in the dirty places, but there was so much pollution on the road."
"It's nice to get through the first stage at least. We are just building it up step by step now, but it's a very long rally and anything can happen. We'll see how it goes in the end."
"I didn't expect there to be so much loose and pollution on the road, so for sure the stage is a lot slower."
"I think it's a decent start from my side. We had a few surprises but we didn't do any mistakes, but at the same time I was maybe a bit too careful. There is such low grip in some places and a lot of pollution on the road."
"I have zero confidence with the car. I know how fast I should be going, but I really don't feel it well at all. In the cuts I don't feel the front very well - we have a bit of work to do."
"It was slippy under braking, so I just went wide. I didn't stall but I maybe lost a few seconds there. It's hard to see where the Tarmac is changing a lot and it's slippery in some places."
Spin
"Dirty already. Very, very loose in places and quite difficult - as to be expected."
"Already the road is getting quite dirty and I went straight on in the braking, so I had to turn around. There was zero, zero grip."
"I will say it's the fastest stage, but it's quite tricky still. I am not comfortable at all - I am actually quite struggling."
"We were not sure what's coming and we tried to cover every weather a bit, so that was the choice. Not an easy stage and much slippier than I thought - there is no line for us. I think it's really tricky to be fast."