Driver quotes Leg 1: SS 1 - 7 & Services 

SS 1 – Våler 1 (30,30 km) kl. 07.45

1. Henning SOLBERG:
It was slippery. I’m driving as best I can but the grip is poor.

2. Daniel CARLSSON:
It was as slippery as can be. Lots of loose snow in the road.

8. Anders GRØNDAL: Not really into the swing yet after rolling it last weekend in Sweden.

16. Patrik FLODIN:
It went fine all the way. Had a few problems with the notes, we were missing a corner! Otherwise, OK. Better grip than I expected.

11. Eivind STEFFENSEN:
Good conditions. Overtook Martin Stenshorne who had stopped. Couldn’t get past so had to back up and lost a lot of time.

25. Markus FOSS: It was fun at the end of the stage but we’re suffering a bit with a new and unfamiliar car. There’s a long way to go, so this is going to get better. Overtook Levyatov. A surprising number of spectators.

SS2 – Løten (24,42 km) kl. 08.32

1. Henning SOLBERG:
Not satisifed. I just couldn’t get it together. A lot of snow in the road, I was properly beaten by Daniel here.

SS 3 – Våler 2 (30,30 km) kl. 11.11

1. Henning SOLBERG: We properly beat the Swede there. That’s what we’re here for!

2. Daniel CARLSSON:
This was poor. Awfully difficult and really rutty after the first stage here.

3. Thomas SCHIE:
We stopped twice. Got stuck in the snow bank. That wasn’t good, but we’ll have to keep battling on.

7. T. LINNERUD:
Schie got stuck so we had to just drive.

8. Anders GRØNDAL:
We totally spun so we had to back up about three times or something. We lost at least 20 seconds!

11. Eivind STEFFENSEN:
Not going quick enough but there are beautiful roads and loads of spectators.

SS 4 – Kongsvinger (20,52 km) kl. 13.33

Jens Stoltenberg, Spectator & Prime Minister of Norway:
Great region for a rally! Rallying is totally fantastic.

1. Henning SOLBERG:
It went very well. Loads of people and brilliant conditions.

2. Daniel CARLSSON:
It was severe driving to begin with. There’s a lot of loose snow in the road and poor grip. But that’s how it is to drive first.

3. Thomas SCHIE:
We’re lacking rhythm. Lost it after we set off on SS3.

7. Tord LINNERUD:
We had ice tyres and they were not suited well to the loose snow in the road.

8. Anders GRØNDAL:
I stalled the engine at a crossroad, but luckily it started again straight away.

10. Martin STENSHORNE:
We lost a lot on SS1 so now we are hunting down better times.

12. Juha SALO:
Fantastic, beautiful roads out here. I like it very much, this is very fun. It’s wonderful. We got 20 seconds on Flodin too, so I’m satisfied.

15. Henning NYBERG:
It went okay here but we have a very noticeable vibration at the back of the car. I thought we had a puncture. It doesn’t look serious so the goal is to increase the tempo a bit on the last stages today.

16. Patrik FLODIN: Everything that could have happened did happen. We went off the road after 200m. I was trying to make up the lost time and spun, nearly went off again. In the end we had a puncture. Quite unbelievable. But we’ll be back.

18. Trond SVEINSVOLL:
I’m satisfied now. No problems. It’s the first stage that we haven’t overtaken Sulland, but we had two minutes between us to start with.

30. Mads ØSTBERG:
It was alright. It was slippery and we couldn’t get it 100% right. But the car is working perfectly so we’ll up the pace a bit.

31. Christian A. SELMER:
I still have a lot to learn in the car, but it’s going well. There was poor grip here.

SS 5 – Roverud (14,18 km) kl. 14.35

1. Henning SOLBERG:
It went quickly. Everything OK.

7. Tord LINNERUD: (kartleser Henning ISDAL): Well we’re here. A bit more satisfied with the car now. Changed the diff at Service.

10. Martin STENSHORNE:
It went well. It’s only SS1 where we lost time, so we have plans to recoup it.

15. Henning NYBERG:
There was a lot of ice in the rear wheel arches, so we have some terrible vibrations. Otherwise we have a good rhythm.

16. Patrik FLODIN:
No problems on this stage, but I haven’t really got into the rhythm again. We have to chase the time we lost on SS4.

30. Mads ØSTBERG:
It feels great. We’re taking no chances and driving within our margins.

Service A: kl. 09.54

1. Henning SOLBERG:
The snow in the roads is loose and grip is poor. Daniel has better tyres than me. He’s got eight with longer studs, and gets better grip as a result. But the car is totally fine, and there’s a long way to go.

2. Daniel CARLSSON:
We didn’t have an extra light on SS1 and lost a bit of time to that, but SS2 was fine. But the snow layer in the roads is loose so grip wasn’t the best.

3. Thomas SCHIE:
SS1 was OK, but on SS2 we were a bit outside the road and we got a lot of snow over the bonnet and windscreen which meant we got condensation on the window. We have no heaters in the car so it just iced up the windows. So those were two demanding stages. Very twisty.

7. Tord LINNERUD:
This isn’t working. We are struggling with the set-up and have to do some adjustments in the Service now. It’s both understeering and oversteering. I’m hoping for a bit of help from the Bozian team.

8. Anders GRØNDAL:
I am driving a bit too carefully, I don’t think I’ve really got into it yet. At the same time I’m thinking about the Norwegian Championship. Now Dalsjø is out and we have Sveinsvoll behind us, I’m not taking any unnecessary risks.

10. Martin STENSHORNE:
We suddenly stopped on SS1. It turned out to be something with the alternator. We stood around for 5 minutes before we found that out.

11. Eivind STEFFENSEN:
We were stuck behind Martin Stenshorne on SS1 and lost a bit. We’re also struggling with getting into the right rhythm. But there’s a long way to go, lovely roads and lots of spectators.

12. Juha SALO:
SS1 wasn’t good. We overtook Steffensen and lost about 20-30 seconds. SS2 was totally fine.

14. Bernt KOLLEVOLD:
I haven’t got the right rhythm, we have to just adjust the height of the car a little bit. I have not really got confidence in the car, so it doesn’t go fast enough.

15. Henning NYBERG:
On SS1 we were off the road in a crossroad and got stuck with the front handing on the snow bank. We haven’t got into a good flow so far. We tried also with our own notes but found out they weren’t good enough so we’ve switched over to the organisers’ notes now.

16. Patrik FLODIN:
It’s gone brilliantly on these two stages, but the car stopped on the transport stage into the Service now. It was a fuel hose problem and we got here three minutes late. So we’ve got a 30 second penalty.

18. Trond SVEINSVOLL:
We were blocked by Sulland on SS1, overtook him on SS2 and left him in our snow spray.

24. Mika SALO:
It’s alright. Nice roads. I am a bit slow in the start, it’s always like that. We were lucky to have enough fuel to get us back to the Service!

30. Mads ØSTBERG:
Not totally happy. We overtook Svein Roger Andersen on SS1 and then got stuck behind him in the snowspray on SS2. There was a lot that wasn’t right there. One of the bonnet locks wasn’t fastened so the bonnet was flapping all the way.

32. Heikki WESTERLUND: We have to change the set-up a bit otherwise it was OK. We lost a bit when we overtook Selmer on SS1, he was stuck in the snow bank.

Servicepark – Vikingskipet

Service B: kl. 17.42

1. Henning SOLBERG:
A nearly perfect day. We adjusted the diffs a bit after SS2 -that is all we did and after that we won all the stages. We’re not doing anything to the car at the Service. We will definitely not lose to a Swede this weekend. That would be unacceptable.

2. Daniel CARLSSON:
It’s been tough out in the forests today. But tomorrow we’ll try again. Henning shouldn’t be sleeping too well tonight when he thinks about what’s waiting for him.

3. Thomas SCHIE:
This has not gone how we hoped. We haven’t found the right rhythm. We gambled on tyres on the last four stages and chose snow tyres but we should have gone for ice tyres. The car is okay and I hope it goes better tomorrow.

7. Tord LINNERUD:
It started badly for us and on SS7 we drove too much sideways. SS6 was OK.

8. Anders GRØNDAL:
I’m not really happy. The position’s okay but I’m not satisfied with my driving. Should have gone faster, but it feels safe.

10. Martin STENSHORNE:
It helps. We have a lot to catch up on after stopping on SS1. After that it’s gone well and there are many kilometres to drive tomorrow. Others can have problems too!

11. Eivind STEFFENSEN:
It’s going fine. I’m trying to take it cautiously but at the same time it’s difficult to get a rhythm and the good feeling. We have driven with the same tyres all day.

12. Juha SALO:
A fantastic day! Beautiful rally roads. We are happy and will continue with the same pace tomorrow.

15. Henning NYBERG:
It’s going fine. Good rhythm and everything’s ok.

16. Patrik FLODIN:
It’s improved. The last stages have been good. We had a good battle with Salo in Group N. I’m looking forward to continuing. The car’s good so we won’t do anything special in the Service.

18. Trond SVEINSVOLL:
It’s gradually got better but we have more to do. The car’s ok.

22. Thomas KVAM:
On the whole I’m happy but we need a 45 minute Service now. We have some problems with the brakes and central diff.

24. Mika SALO:
The gas almost gave up on us on the last stage but otherwise it’s been a great day. I like conditions like this. It’s slower here than it would normally on a Finnish rally. There are lots of spectators out in the forest – in the middle of nowhere. You Norwegians are crazy. Where do you all come from?

25. Markus FOSS:
We lost second and third gear and had to drive in fourth all the way. I hope we get something done with that in the Service.

30. Mads ØSTBERG:
We had a bit of overheating with the engine on SS3 with 140 degrees water temperature, but otherwise it’s been okay. I feel I could have gone faster, but the roads are difficult so maybe it’s the right pace. We’ll give it a bit more tomorrow.

31. Christian A. SELMER:
The car’s totally fine but the driver is lacking experience. It’s getting better gradually and it’s been a perfect event so far. We just have to adjust the brakes a little bit.

33. Barry JOHNSON:
A fantastic day. Very nice stages. I’m really starting to like driving on snow, but I need about six weeks practice before I can go fast. We’ll up the pace tomorrow.