79. ORLEN Rajd Polski - Rally Poland 2023
19. 5. – 21. 5. 2023, Mikołajki • Polski Związek Motorowy • gravel 182.06 km • total distance including road sections - 919.47 km • Other years
Info
SS16
"Yeah it's a new thing but we managed good, so I'm very happy, I wanted to do it two years ago! We are here with a win. We started the rally and saw we were strong so I was pushing from the first metres."
"This is nice to be here in Poland! Great practice for Liepaja in a month! For sure it's hard work to do before then, but we've shown we have the speed!"
"Great result - today has been a tough day, basically done it all with no spare tyre. Massive thanks to the BRC team, who have worked really hard. We've got goals, some of which we haven't met today, but we'll move forward."
"It's a big pleasure, the competition is higher than last year, we are performing really well, unfortunately we lost 15 seconds yesterday, but thankfully we can put on a show for the Polish fans. I am very happy."
"A Power Stage win would be nice for sure. It was a good stage for us and I'm happy to end the rally on this. It's not what I expected when I came here. We struggled a lot but kept fighting and the team did a great job. We will do our best in the next event."
"This one was really rough; the rally was tough yesterday, really really long day, I feel like an idiot for choosing the wrong setup in the car. We're not here to fight for 4th, so of course I'm disappointed. I am really grateful to the people here supporting me though and special thanks to the Michelin tyres, I didn't get a puncture which is great."
"We are really happy about the weekend, it was a nice stage to finish this crazy rally, I think it's a good thing to be at the end and seeing the finish line, I'm so proud of my team. Thank you to them, my family, Michelin and everyone. My life is a dream today!"
"Our days of pushing here are done, it's been a very good weekend from us, the spin really cost us in the race for 4th so we decided to just get to the finish. Great job from the academy to get us here!"
"It was really nice rally, we enjoyed a lot. It's a rally we really like, we felt during each stage that our pace notes are really good. Unfortunately, in some stages we aren't able to do what we want. In some we are missing the pace. It's fun, we enjoyed and am happy to be at the end."
"I think it's OK in general, but for the Power Stage it is not that good. I think we did a good job, having increased the level over the weekend. Thanks to my partners for making this weekend possible."
"At least we try to do some speed, for some reason now the conditions are better this morning. It is what it is. It's a really disappointing rally for us. For MRF it's good if Sesks win here! Thanks to all my sponsors and to everybody that's pushing for us, we'll be back better in Latvia."
"I would like to say a big thanks to the team that repaired the car, this was a good day for us to be honest, we are ending the race with a really good feeling. Let's see what the times are but we enjoyed the rally and it's a good speed and good time. See you in Latvia."
"Rally is a tough sport, everyone is on this level. Now we're back and we understood why we do this. Thank you to MRF and all of our sponsors, this is fantastic."
"I don't know to be honest, a good experience for me and everyone. It's been hard, we need to see what we can do. I know we can do much better."
"We are happy, this stage was really nice. There were many places where the stage was deep. We have the next rally in two weeks and for sure we'll be faster."
"It doesn't change life, we aren't in the pace we want but we have to be humble and improve ourselves to get to the pace of the others. Our minds were shocked as in Italy there were floods in our region. People have lost their lives, families, houses. With our heart, there is solidarity with our people."
"Tell me where the smooth part is! Not the best, we're just in get me home mode. Happy to get to the end of a difficult weekend. Really pleased and thankful for everyone that's helped me. We can take something away from this weekend, we've learnt a lot."
SS15
"Couldn't resist! Determined to get it sorted, we've had a push in there but it's so easy to do a silly mistake and undo all the hard work from this weekend."
"We will see what we can do, strange feeling with the ruts, I don't know how to manage now, but we'll see for later today."
"This particularly wasn't fun, too much ruts and really loose gravel and too much sand, so more survival than fun."
"I would say this is a difficult Rally Poland, especially in the second loop. There are deeper ruts and faster paces. The Power Stage should be enjoyable still."
"We're in a position now to get to the finish, I think we've shown our speed this weekend which is good to go forward. The pace here is incredible."
"For sure the Power Stage is the nicest stage of the day, this was maybe a bit rough but still an enjoyable stage."
"I drive really slowly because of the ruts... big ruts! You can have a puncture on every corner. I just want to see the finish line."
"The hay is from the previous pass! We enjoy the stage, it's a short one but really difficult, many places where it's possible to make mistakes. There are a few corners with really high speeds."
"We'll see, the guys are going crazy, the main focus is to stay on the road. This one was tough! Big ruts."
"Let's see if we can get something in the Power Stage. A lot of people will try and keep position and they are so fast. It is what it is."
"It's always good to drive, not easy when it's too rutted, we enjoy to be here and look forward to the last stage."
"We're missing just the boost when you're jumping like this!"
"I've not done Dakar yet so it's difficult to agree! It's still rutted, in some places hard to place the car into the corner. Still good fun."
"We're looking for the Polish Championship before, but we joked for others that this stage is good training for Rally Dakar!"
SS14
Puncture
"You've got to stick it in the ruts and hope for the best really, we've made an improvement with the car. That last bit was horrendous - generally a good stage, but that last bit was a bit interesting."
"Quite rough as expected, one really bad place towards the end there, luckily we survived it!"
"It's so crazy out there in this stage, some places you think everything is fine and in the end comes something like [what happened to Hayden]. We need to keep focussed even more now."
"Lots of big holes in the ruts here, mucked up our tyre strategy for the Power Stage a bit there!"
"No I'm very happy to be honest, I really appreciate the pace notes, I like how I'm steering the car in the corner and it's looking good. Keep fingers crossed for next two stages."
"We changed the setup quite a bit before this stage, so it was quite tight on the road section. The next stage can be quite soft too so we're looking forward to it."
"I didn't make any adjustments because I saw this one was better. The grip was quite good on this one."
"This one was a bit different, I tried to enjoy it as much as I can."
"Of course we will try to catch Ostberg. Really hot day - I don't think we got any big damage. I was a bit too careful."
"For me we are a bit everywhere - unfortunate about Mabellini."
Changing tyre after hitting a bale
Rolled after hitting bales.
"Rough! Yeah this one was really destroyed in some places, so the car didn't enjoy the impact from the road. For us it's okay, we've been a little bit rough on the brakes!"
"For sure it's rough, this morning was a nightmare, we could not turn the car or anything. I think we did a good run this time though."
"We had to reverse, we keep going though!"
"We misunderstood the pace notes and I arrived too quick, but fortunately there was a fold and I decided not take too much risk. When I realised I was too fast, I went into the field."
"Interesting day for us, now I'm quite surprised on the previous stage cause of ruts. I tried to improve my driving, the feeling was really good in there."
Hit the bales with left rear of car.
"I expect very difficult conditions, the road was a little bit destroyed for sure, but much better than the first run. We enjoyed the stage."
Off road
SS13
"No we are just driving. Third fastest? Not bad."
"We're doing the boring thing of saving the tyres for the power stage, it's just about not sliding and limiting the braking, so they're ready for the power stage."
"Normally I would say the first part of the stage is quite rough, but WRC2 is worse. We were touching the ground a lot in the stage, but probably the roughest part was the first 5kms of this one."
"In the first section, it was very bad ruts and we got spat out in the fourth gear and spun. It's quite rutted at the start."
"That was really tricky, I ran the car far too low, I didn't expect that stage to be so rough. I can go higher manually."
"It's a big battle for sure, it's so difficult to push in the big ruts, so I just try to keep confidence and take maximum experience because in this moment it's not possible to be in the fight."
"Difficult to say whether it was a good or bad run, the ruts are really deep, we had to brake a lot. It's good to continue."
"It's a little bit better now, we need to follow the ruts, the first part is very slow compared to this morning, it was touching the ground a lot. It'll be an interesting battle with Simone"
"I would like to focus but not easy, we tried to enter into the stage and go fast, but we had many sections where it was really difficult to keep the car on the line."
"You can see the Michelins are working pretty well! I tried to change the style a little bit with help from my team. Good job from them."
"It's much better for sure, it's a big rut. This morning we hit a chicken and we broke the front bumper, maybe the most expensive chicken nugget I ever paid."
"Hard to say - have to do a change. We just go like we do."
"We have only two new tyres, but we done the right choice and I tried to push a bit more to at least get some points."
"To be honest I didn't expect it to be so rutted, but we did another clear stage an dit's another learning step for us."
"It was completely clean and so slippery, now very big ruts and you must go like a train. I am not happy for sure."
SS12
"Put the car on gravel and it works well, same as Portugal. We're thinking about the long game here - everything is working quite well."
"We're just enjoying the rally! It's really great to be here and thanks to all the partners, MRF Tyres, and it's just really great to be involved."
"We'll still be chasing any speed we can find,. it might be a little easier this afternoon, we struggle for grip on the first pass!"
"Maybe not brave enough in the first three corners, to be battling with Mads is quite good, but maybe check the pace notes and see what we can do."
"This one is quite new for us, the first part was very past, the pace notes were a little inaccurate which made it a little scary, but 3.5sec faster would be good."
"We hit a wheel arch in a chicane, we hit a bale and it flew away."
"This one was very very slippy at the beginning, lots of small stones but we will see for this afternoon and for sure we'll be better."
"Yeah I did a small mistake on the junction, but this stage is really fast and we rely on the pace notes."
"We are like a rumba - we are cleaning the road and we do not feel confident at all. We are completely out of the fight."
"It's a short stage, it's quite okay with the grip, sometimes it was too early on the braking, we're looking more and more for the grip, but yes, a clear stage."
"It's a lot of cleaning for sure, made it through the first pass, hopefully the second will be better."
"It's really slippery at the beginning, lot of loose gravel and maybe we were a bit optimistic on the pace notes in the first three corners! WOW!"
"Basically with our starting position we can be happy with our pace, it can be slippery and we can lose times, but it's part of the game. We'll try to do our best in the afternoon but let's see."
SS11
"The fight will start at the second loop for us, I want to be on the safe side, this was a bit better than the last two but not at the same level as yesterday. After service we'll have fun and fight with Viktor and Dapra."
"This is a proper test for us, we have to understand what's going on with the car."
"We're just trying to manage tyres till the next loop now, I got a little bit of dust but doing well."
"We hit a bank on a corner on the last stage and we damaged the bonnet, disappointing but it is what it is."
"I'm happy with the time and the car, my confidence is much more stage by stage - it's quite good for me!"
"We're just trying to make the car a bit more plyable, we've tried everything you can think of, I think we're just gonna leave it alone and get to the finish."
"We focus on the Polish championship as our main goal ,but this stage was beautiful! Flow, just flow. Amazing!"
"Unfortunately we had a puncture at the end of the first stage, from there on in our challenge was over, we've just got to look after second place. We're not in a position to fight right now - hats off to Martins who has done a great job."
"Sorry for him, nothing we can say, we just keep our heads down, just keep going for the next few stages. See you LATER!"
"Tricky stage, I think the afternoon loop will be better than yesterday, so this is exciting."
"The pace notes are okay, the grip is really strange, we have a lot of forest already."
"It's okay, slippy stage, quite tricky, not 100% clean, but I was trying to push and the grip was changing quite a lot, so a few mistakes here and there."
"I think you should jump in here and take a go! Every man, woman and child should have a go at this! Good fun!"
"Yeah this one was not perfect from my side, on the two previous I was confident on the fast corners, after some distances I was struggling. But I am happy."
"It was really difficult to read the grip in places, it was really slippery. In the second loop I hope to manage somehow to be a bit faster."
"I think that it's more or less because of the road position, guys after us are improving a lot. We need to try to keep the pace but it's not easy."
"Really slippy this one, but too much sliding, there's lots to clean but we try our best."
"Couple of corners we were sliding so much, but it's okay!"
"The stage was quite slippy and very loose, it's hard to stay in the line but that's how it is."
"We are so far from the people in front and behind, so I think we need to keep the position, we are doing our best but I don't know what to say!"
"It was so hard to find the balance between a good rhythm and a good grip, it's quite a physical stage, there's a lot of changes on the road but we are feeling good and happy about it."
"The road is great but so slippery! We had big fun, we slide everywhere, fun is great but time is not!"
"A slippery stage, I took it quite careful because of the dust in the car and I realised shortly after that it's really difficult for us."
SS10
Off road
"I wish I could say it's better with the start order, but it's not, I thought it would be better but it's not working for me."
"We're trying to manage an issue before the stage, not a good stage but we'll try and pick it up."
"This was the craziest stage in this rally! Incredible!"
"We can really compete to the top cars, I need to push it a bit more!"
"All OK, I was too careful in some places but the car is working much better today, thank you for my team and engineers!"
"To be battling with Mads any day is not a bad day! It's good to get a clean road but it's a very demanding stage."
"I was not enough proper in this forest, the car is really good, it's not a perfect one but we're taking it step by step. The target is to put good times. I really like these stages and it's important to get progress for the next rallies."
"Yesterday I was pushing like hell, it was difficult and we made some setup changes and now it's good so. There was a lot of clean on the road and the car is much better."
"Big cut, but this one was a crazy stage. A lot of speed!"
"I think it's just a little bit more grip on the line is helping me a lot so I can just drive and the stage is quite tricky so it's always good for me when it's a little more challenging."
"Really nice stages, we are lucky we are driving, so it's a good opportunity. These stages are beautiful but with lots of loose gravel. Everyone behind us gets a better road."
"I think that, I can't feel that I'm driving well. I don't like what I'm doing. It's not enough with the guys in front."
"It was a okay stage, the performance was like normal, we will work on it and it will be much better! I'm trying to do my job and build confidence, the stages are amazing and we are enjoying it."
"For sure it's a bit cleaning, some parts a bit sandy but a nice stage to be honest."
"For sure it's a bit cleaning, some parts a bit sandy but a nice stage to be honest."
"This is a liar's smile! Honestly, on this one I didn't have a good feeling. I struggled with the pace notes in places, some surprised me at the beginning. When you start like that, you lose confidence."
"Amazingly slippery but for sure good fun, we are sliding quite a lot, we are trying our best, we had some chances to scrape a nice time in there, but it's all learning and we'll do something this afternoon."
Accident
"It was so many years since I did this stage, I expected it to be slippery but today was 500 times more slippery than yesterday!"
SS9
"I'm really enjoying, I was a bit cautious as it's a new stage compared to last year, but it's really fun!"
"These roads are incredible, it's some sensation to get through there at 8AM!"
"I'm quite happy as it's a new stage for everyone, our pace notes were working, we were quite in the proper pace. I think it's possible to go four seconds faster."
"Look, tried to have a good run through there, I had a boring breakfast this morning though, ham and cheese toastie!. We want to put up a bit of a fight this morning but not do anything silly."
"Really slippery stage!"
"Yeah, I don't understand that. It was a good stage."
"The stage is really fast, the road is not so fast. We felt we were cleaning the road a bit. We think with the second pass the road will be very clean."
"I don't know my tyre strategy! This is the most difficult stage we have done till now, there are some very big jumps. The stage is good in some places but we'll see. The day is long."
"Bit more happy with the car, lots of cleaning there but hopefully this will be a better day."
"Yeah it was a difficult one, at the beginning. There was no grip, in the last part very slippy, I think timing was not good but will be difficult for the other guys."
"Plan is to stay on the road! For sure it was not easy. New one, so can't go faster. I didn't have the confidence to go fast in some sections. Hopefully a good day for us."
"Quite slippery to be honest, after yesterday we still have some dust in the car, but we are trying and learning on the loose surface, so it's a nice start to the day."
"It was okay, a lot of cleaning, but honestly I didn't take any risk, just went through to make sure everything is okay."
"Quite okay."
"Stage is beautiful, but our road position is very bad. It's unbelievably slippery!"
SS8
"It was a long day, for me it was a bit frustrating to be flat out but not very flat out like the others. I'm happy, but we have to improve."
"Good fun"
"It was a very good day for us, competing in a Polish championship, our road position is good, we're in one piece and good conditions!"
"I have been struggling with the pace and everything - really, really long day."
"Yes that was not the easiest day, at the first stage I did a mistake and we lost about 15 seconds off it. Martins is very fast! The competition is very high. Tomorrow we will try, we are between Paddon and Ostberg, Ostberg will be high tomorrow so it will be tough."
"I'm going for it tomorrow!"
"It was nice today, we really enjoyed the day, it was really fast and challenging. Tomorrow is gonna be even more challenging."
"Honestly, it's been a great day, if you'd told me this morning we'd be battling for a podium I'd have taken it. You have to take these moments as they come."
"Obviously there was one stage that cost us a bit of time both times through, we're thinking about the rally and the championship and new stages tomorrow, gonna be interesting for all of us."
"It was bad stage, really slippery and it's difficult when you don't have the grip. Let's see for tomorrow."
"To try to catch them because we need to try, today was a good day, we had good pace, we had also top three in the stages so."
"We have showed some pace in some stages at least, what is not positive is our starting position tomorrow but we will do our best, still quite a lot of stages to go so we will continue to fight."
"It'll be a really challenging day tomorrow, this wasn't so rough, two or three cars had bad moments on there. We are okay, we ended the day and we hope to be faster tomorrow."
"It's a nice spectator stage so I enjoy it"
"It was just amazing, it was pure fun all day, the stages were really good fun also. Looking forward to tomorrow"
"Very positive day, we look good for the future!"
"I don't know what to say, we tried our best in the second loop, we need to improve, but we'll see for tomorrow."
"It was OK considering the road position, it's OK."
"It was OK but they put water on the stage, but Simo put some water on our window and we couldn't really see. But we are here and ready for tomorrow."
"It was a very long and hard day for me, but very enjoyable weekend, we go faster in the second loop, let's see what we can do tomorrow."
SS7
Accident
Rolled through flying finish
"For sure it's a shame, it was nice to continue this afternoon, we have got something in the ruts. I would like to win this stage but unfortunately we dropped seconds to our colleagues."
Stopped
"We would like to be in the fight for the top, but this is our place. If I push more, maybe something can happen. We will see where we are at the end of the dya. Big congrats for Martins."
"Difficult to say, I think the car is a bit too soft. I'm pushing but the car is not so good, I don't know why."
"Thank you! There's still one stage to go. I will try to do my best."
"I'm trying to tweak my driving and do changes to the car, I'm looking forward to tomorrow because the stages are new for everyone, so this could be an advantage for an old guy."
"Overall, it's been a good day so far, I think we can be happy with this morning's loop, we can push on in the second loop, today was quite new for us."
"Yeah happy with the day, would've been nice to fight more but just can't keep the car in the ruts. We're still second and not too far away so let's see what tomorrow brings."
"After the jump in the right side, we took it [haybale] out. Franceschi is just one tenth behind us, so maybe it's not enough. For tomorrow's stages, it's better to start late."
"Nice stage again, difficult one with the rocks! I did not need my three hands this time."
"We are pushing from the beginning of the rally, for sure where the road is rough, we miss a bit of the pace. At the end it's really beautiful, but when you see the times and people are going faster than you, the fun is not so interesting anymore."
"For sure it's a shame, it was nice to continue this afternoon, we have got something in the ruts. I would like to win this stage but unfortunately we dropped seconds to our colleagues."
"Yeah this stage I really tried, it was fun! We'll see what we can do."
"I was afraid to push the boundaries, I tried, I'm on my limit, I'm trying to push the limit a bit. The Michelins are working well and we're enjoying it."
"It's a new day tomorrow, we need to push on."
"When we did qualifying, we knew our start position wasn't good. Now, I'm trying, but I'm not confident in the big ruts, so we lost some time there."
"It is like this, it's really rough. You can not predict where the ruts will be! I had good fun though."
"We drive a little bit careful, we tried to push from the start, we have two dangerous situations with the ruts. The most important for us is the Polish championship."
"Seem to be driving okay, but just lacking a bit of feeling in some places, but we're heading in the right direction, good to have some competitive mileage under my belt."
SS6
Retired due broken oil cooler
Retired due broken oil cooler
"Maybe I have not enough confidence to go full in every corner, we'll focus on the next stage, it's not easy but I will try."
"I'm trying to push but we are losing lots. I think there is no need to push, so it doesn't help."
"I'm not fighting, we are enjoying. It's nice here in Poland. It's incredible to be here. Paddon is good."
"Yeah my car is quite a lot stiffer than it was this morning, but this stage was so slippy!"
"It's about getting more comfortable second pass, it's challenging to predict where the ruts could be. We're happy to be in the position we're in."
"Look we've gotta carry on doing our own thing, if we can stay within distance of Martins for tomorrow then we should be good. I must say your helicopter pilot is a lot braver than I am!"
"This one is really good, I really like this stage. I think we had a clean one. We have the last stage and then the super special. The guys in front are first but we'll try to catch them."
"This one is really good, I really like this stage. I think we had a clean one. We have the last stage and then the super special. The guys in front are first but we'll try to catch them."
"Look we've gotta carry on doing our own thing, if we can stay within distance of Martins for tomorrow then we should be good. I must say your helicopter pilot is a lot braver than I am!"
"It's about getting more comfortable second pass, it's challenging to predict where the ruts could be. We're happy to be in the position we're in."
"Yeah definitely, we found another road in places it was a bit rough, I tried to avoid the big rocks. For sure the guys behind are pushing faster."
"We are pushing but I am not too confident with the car and people behind us are driving really fast."
"Really fast one, in this one I can drive with three hands. It's amazing."
"This stage it's okay, it's not so rough, I don't know why when we come in the rough section, I feel unable to control the car like I want to. I feel the next stage I will try to get a better feeling."
"It would be nice to make top 10 today because of starting position tomorrow, so far it's good in the second passes. It's not something I'm used to because I'm learning still!"
"Quite tough stage, I like it, it was a nice stage."
"The rally is not easy, it's hard to say where I want to be! I need to stay calm and focussed. I had a few mistakes at the beginning."
"It's super fun, this car is so great, it's so amazing. I can't believe it's us driving here."
"We have to look at the Polish championship, this is important for us."
"Stage was OK, little bit more destroyed than the first, the car is working well and is better."
"Now that I'm pushing the car, I can extract a bit more from it. I feel like we had a real decent stage there and I know there's more to be had. The transition from the VW to this is more than what I anticipated but we can use this rally to get me comfortable with it"
SS5
Puncture
Rolled
Rolled
Rolled
Stopped second time on 10.4km
Stopped after 100m.
"In some places there are quite deep ruts, in some corners, we will try more for the next two stages. I think we were much faster."
"At least I'm not too happy with the time, the feeling with the car is better now but there is still something to do."
"Yeah but we had a bit of something - I need to check the brakes. Maybe we need to do something in the service."
"We have done quite big changes to the car and also I feel a bit better in. the ruts, so it's easier to drive then, not a bad stage for sure, we need a little more speed."
"It's OK, it's hard to judge the ruts in that second pass. It's about preservation as well in this run, as well as going fast."
"It's less than what I expected. It's hard to get a rhythm because the holes and ruts are just not where you expect them. Anyways, we're here."
"Yeah lot of ruts, we try to avoid tyre damage so clean run, we are close but it's OK for now."
"It's so difficult to keep the width in this section, for the moment maybe. We will see after."
"Disappointing is a big word - we're ok. This one was a bit more rough, we didn't feel as confident to take risks"
"I would like to thank the team they did a very good job in the 30 minutes. It was really tough because of the ruts, we are trying to be fast, but let's see where we're at with the stages."
"It was a nice stage, feeling was OK. The grip is quite high now."
"I like it, it's really fast... WOW! The stages are amazing and we are building step by step! We like it."
"I think we were super fast, I must check the split times because I don't think we had any power there. Super fun!"
"Now it's hot we try our best, it's really rough with big holes in the road. We did a good run."
"It wasn't easy! On the ruts sometimes, where the car landed in fifth gear, but it's definitely getting harder in places. Really demanding, but we had a lot of fun. Maybe the second will be a bit better because it's more hard, but the third which is sandy, will be like this."
"Now it's very difficult, the stage is destroyed in many places. It touched our car, so we have to go smart and see what happens."
"We had lots of fun on the road so, I hope everything is okay."
"We expected to be quicker but I'm still not getting the feeling on the brakes, we're learning, it's an expensive learning process!"
SS4
Oil leak after SS3 - retired
Accident
Accident
Puncture
"Not very good pace from our side, after doing so well on the first two stages, we have fallen off a bit. Not a perfect position. We'll come back to service and sort out the turbo boost."
"Struggling quite a lot. I am so happy though."
"The good thing is I know where we lost and where we can do much better. Hayden is more experienced than me, but we'll put our heads down and focus on the next loop."
"Yeah, I just got a message myself about that. I don't know what has happened. I'm an old dog so it's difficult to teach me a new rule - I've done it for 20 years so. I respect the rules so I need to learn that."
"It's difficult going into these stages with new notes, but we've got to trust it 100%! Not bad this morning though - there are still quicker cars behind me!"
"We tried to come up a little bit early, it's more mind games than anything else. This afternoon is a different rally, so it's about looking after the car."
"It's very fast - we are enjoying it! We will see this afternoon, it's starting to get a bit deeper in the forest. This afternoon will be very tough!"
"What is the difference between the most beautiful girl in your bed and being in a Skoda in Poland? Nothing. There is no difference."
"It was a good one, this one had a bit more loose gravel, maybe my car was a bit too stiff, but we had no risk and enjoyed the stage."
"We rolled, it was my mistake, I was just too fast, in the beginning of the corner I was on the edge, I thought we would do it without rolling. I hit a hay bale towards the finish line, so it was not my stage. I'm sorry to the team."
"Just reload in service, don't get too curious to get up in the timings."
"We are clean in some parts but in other parts, it was a little bit slow because I found it much more slippery. First loop is done!"
"I enjoyed it - into the forest is really challenging, you hope you mark the pace notes correctly, otherwise you find you have no space."
"The second stage was the worse, now was OK. The grip was 60% OK, our rhythm was much better than the morning."
Rolled
"We changed to a harder tyre, it's working better than the stages before. I am sorry for Nucita."
"We havent got a lot of tyre wear here, so it's a clear choice for us with Michelin. Last couple of stages have been really really loose, so that's been tough. Glad to complete the loop"
Accident
SS3
Stopped
"I think it's better because the stage is shorter to be honest. But I'm not happier to be honest, I don't have a good feeling at all, which is a bit strange."
"Enjoyed the stage a lot - had a nice clean run"
"There was a big rock on the line and it was in the middle a little bit, we clipped it. It's okay, we were lucky!"
"It's a fast morning. We are trying to do our job, I expected the grip to be better, everywhere is the same so it's easy to understand but we're still sliding more than expected."
"I have a softer rear, for the first day it was no the best option. I'm not pushing the limit, I'm just enjoying it so far. I need to get to the start line of the next stage!"
Broken steering after little cut -> Retired
"Same stages as last year, hard to push to the maximum. Hoping for the best."
"It was flat out, from start to finish. Not an easy one when you don't know the stage! We really enjoy it, it's so fun!"
"Too steep in the driving, can't trust myself in the car. It's my first rally in this car, so we are learning but it's good fun."
"Yeah we are trying, I am really happy with these stages, we did a good job with the pace notes, tyres are working well and so is the car!"
"This stage is not good for us, the road position was okay, but we catch so many small stones and slip a lot, I think the gap between the fastest will be bigger!"
"This stage is not good for us, the road position was okay, but we catch so many small stones and slip a lot, I think the gap between the fastest will be bigger!"
"Very dusty, too much sliding in the corners, I think we have a puncture in the front tyre because we hit a big rock so."
"The time is not bad, the feeling is better! But we'll keep trying - we are happy."
"This one was quite loose, compared to the first stage. We stayed out of trouble and got a clean run through."
SS2
Spin
Spin
Spin
"Unfortunately in one of the places, I was too fast in the slow corner, I lost control of the front and got stuck in a ditch. It took 15 sec, maybe more to get out of this place. I think we can do a lot better."
"So much oversteering, really slippery. We are safely through, so good to continue."
"I know there is places to go faster and do better, let's see how Miko is doing. If we are good with this pace, then we're not bad."
"I passed Tom, he was parked on the side. I was just lacking a lot of grip, really strange feeling in there, immediately when I get to the end, I know we lost a lot of time. It was not a good stage."
"Not a bad way to start the morning! It'll take a bit of time to commit to this here fully, but we're getting used to this!"
"Had a clean run, felt a bit untidy in a couple of places. Awesome stages to drive though - it doesn't matter how many onboards you watch, nothing can prepare you. It's a great sensation."
"Not so bad, a good stage for starting this really. We were still cleaning the road but we are happy because this stage is perfect."
"We tried to get used to this speed, we try our best!'
Stopped - gearbox issues
"It's gonna be close, let's see what the times of the guys behind us are. I was maybe too careful in the stage, but I'm looking forward to the other stages."
"Struggled a bit to find a good rhythm, start like this and see what we can find."
"Yeah, for sure the road condition is not bad, every car will get better and better because the grip is changing quite a lot. I took it really easy on the braking, so I just need to fix that. I didn't race hear last year, so it's new and I feel quite good."
"It was really nice, we had soft tyres, maybe more grip than I expected!"
"We try to be as fast as possible in the first loop, for sure we're cleaning the road but we don't have a big big difference, so."
"It was OK, tried to find a bit of pace, the feeling is good, a little bit of sliding but that is normal with this starting order."
"I like this stage, and we have very good road conditions, it was slippery but no ruts, we had lots of fun to drive. I am happy and try to improve and for sure will get faster."
"Really difficult for second car on the road, I don't have grip. Will be much better for the guy behind."
"We're just gonna forget the road position, we're justy having fun. It's so easy to make a mistake when the grip changes and that's easily done when you're first out."
SS1
Mechanical - driveshaft
"We are confident for tomorrow, I think we have a good setup, the tyres are working well. The rally starts tomorrow."
"There's only one place on the podium we need to complete it here, we're gonna take the same approach we've taken with every rally here and try and be faster."
"For sure I was not putting all the small details correct, still a good stage and another rally I've started!"
"The stage here looks quite nice so i'm quite excited to go there tomorrow! Hopefully it will be better than Fafe!"
"We are here to enjoy the rally, and to try and get faster!"
"Alway when I go to rally, I have smile on my face. OK this stage is not like the rest of the rally, for sure we try to push and fight with so many good drivers."
"For sure it's a very nice stage, long rally, but let's see if we can find some rhythm here.""
"It could be better, but tenth position for tomorrow is better than to be at the start."
"We had a good result in Portugal last weekend and want to carry that through to this rally. In here it's quite tricky to get right but tomorrow it's flat out so we'll take it from there."
"This stage is so fantastic, I am happy with the second time, let's see what we can do!"
"Fight from the beginning, I love the stage, tomorrow we'll fight, but here, it's very good!"
"I didn't really have this in the script, it is what it is. We'll be on the telly - that's a positive so. We'll do what we can to salvage it tomorrow!"
"It was great fun, this stage. The proper stages are tomorrow. As a starter for the rally this is really good!"
"It will be flat out - let's see what happens!"
"I had fun! It was a funny one, especially over the bridge, I was in the limit!"
"Honestly, it was a nice stage, all the work for the car is OK. Time is reasonable."
"Yeah we just try to enjoy the car as much as we can, and not start it like we did with Canarias!"
"Tomorrow will be tough - I am totally out of my comfort zone! But we will do it!"
"We have 16 big drivers, all young, it will be a very difficult championship, but we'll put 100% in our performance. It was very wet, but tomorrow we start the race so let's see!"
"This rally is to gain experience and to have some fun!"
"I'm quite happy with that. I took it a bit easy and am trying to hold the tyre for the rest of the rally, so quite happy with that."
"It's a really strong championship this year, the competition is really high. I'm looking forward to it - I'm really happy to be here."
"Yeah I'm loving it so far, the rally doesn't start here it starts tomorrow, so we'll get on out there tomorrow and have fun."
"It was a tricky stage, it's a little bit wet in there, but I had a good feeling. We will see tomorrow."
"It was going quite fast, not all of us are driving yet and we have a long weekend. New co-driver - let's just try our best!"
"It's gonna be a really competitive class this year, I saw some really good times from the youngsters, but we are here and prepared to be there, at that top level."
"It was a nice start to the weekend, proper action starts tomorrow. Looking forward to my first Rally Poland."
"Interesting weekend now that we have more competition, I wasn't expecting to have so much fun in there! I was able to throw the car around somewhat, which was nice. It all starts tomorrow."