Todays Remote Service B at Kongsvinger. Photo: Mari Henrikke. G. Vandsemb

Drivers Comments from Remote Service B (Kongsvinger)

1. Sebastien Loeb/Daniel Elena (Citroën C4)

“I’m quite happy to be in this position. I was thinking Mikko might be far ahead, but it’s not so bad. The car is working well. This afternoon can quite difficult, it will be the first time for me to drive in the ruts. This morning, I was first on the road with a nice road and good surface, we will have to see this afternoon.”

2. Dani Sordo/Marc Marti (Citroën C4)

“I lost some time at the start of the fourth stage. I didn’t have so much confidence in my pace notes. It was quite slow, narrow and bumpy in this section, that’s where I struggled. When it was faster, everything was well for me. I have some under steer in the car on some of the slower corners, maybe I need to change my style a little bit.”

3. Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen (Ford Focus RS WRC 08)

“It’s a big fight with Sebastien, that’s for sure. I would be happy to be first on the road, where he is, there is no cleaning effect at all on the stages. I have a good feeling with the car, we can push and slide the car, I’m happy. Sometimes when there is some loose snow on top of the road, the tyre is not biting quite so well and we are getting some more sliding. But it’s okay. I’m happy.”

16. Matthew Wilson/Scott Martin (Ford Focus RS WRC 08)

“I lost a couple of seconds to Ogier at the start of the long stage. It was really narrow and bumpy in there, but after that, we were the same as him to the finish. I’m happy with the way the morning has gone, it’s been great. The times are good and there’s more to come, we’re not taking risks with these times. The only problem for me has been the loss of my shoe warmers in the stage.”

5. Urmo Aava/Kuldar Sikk (Ford Focus RS WRC 08)

“I’m building the speed slowly. I’m not going to take the big risk, I don’t want to do that. The car has been fantastic this morning, no problems at all.”

4. Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Antilla (Ford Focus RS WRC 08)

“I’m not happy. I still have no feeling. This is not good. I will try something with the suspension, make some clicks, at service now. I could have done this before, between the stages, but once you start to do that, then it’s easy to go the wrong way and you can lose a lot of time. I had thought I would be closer with the leaders than I am now, so I’m disappointed, but, hey, there’s a long way to go – and don’t forget the faster stages will suit my style a little bit better.”

8. Conrad Rautenbach/Daniel Barrit (Citroën C4)

“The back of the car has been moving about quite a bit in the last few stages. I’m not sure if it’s just this wider tyre skipping out of the ruts or what. When the confidence is up, it’s good and we’re running well, but it’s not always easy to get that confidence.”

11. Petter Solberg/Phill Mills (Citroën Xsara)

“I’m happy. My position to the leaders is actually better than i had thought it might be at this point. I’m going to make the car softer at service now, we can get more traction . Okay, we don’t have the big speed, but we knew that was going to be the case. I’ve come here for fun, we’ve got to remember that. At the moment, I haven’t made the big push yet, but there’s more speed to come from me.”

6. Henning Solberg/Cato Menkerud (Ford Focus RS WRC 08)

“This has been quite a tough morning. I can’t get the car turned in at all. Not in the fast or the slow corners. I don’t know why, but it’s costing me time. I can’t attack like I want to.”

19. P-G Andersson/ Anders Fredriksson (Skoda Fabia WRC)

“This is the first time since 2003 that I have had a different co-driver with me on a WRC round. It makes a difference. In the middle section of stage four, I lost a bit of confidence in the notes. The notes were coming a little bit fast and I wasn’t completely sure where I was, so I backed off. Otherwise, it’s good.”

22. Peter jr. Van Merksteijn/Eddy Chevaillier (Ford Focus RS WRC 06)

“We have a clutch problem, the clutch has gone a bit soft. It’s not costing time in the stages and I’m sure wee can fix it with the parts we have in the car now.”

Car 23. Peter Van Merksteijn/Erwin Mombaerts (Ford Focus RS WRC 07)

“We have no power. We start the stage with 70 per cent power and then we get to the end and we have 40 per cent. It’s not good. I hope we can fix it.”

20. Anders Grondal/Maria Andersson  (Subaru Impreza WRC)

“We have a gearbox problem. We went off in the last stage and getting back on, the gearbox is damaged. We have to look to see what we can do now.”

46. Patrick Sandell/Emil Axelsson (Skoda Fabia Super 2000)

“I want to make a few changes to the car. There is no doubt that this car is fantastic for asphalt and gravel, but it still needs a little bit more for the snow. We’re going to work with the suspension here, to try and keep the car on the line a bit more. I’m very happy with the position, though.”

31. Martin Prokop/Jan Tomanek (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX)

“I’m speeding up more now. Anders Grondal went off in front of me and then jumped back on the road in my way, this cost us 15 or 20 seconds – we want somebody to look at this. It cost us time.”

32. Bernardo Sousa/Jorge Cavalho (Fiat Abarth Grande Punto S2000)

“We have a gearbox problem with second and fourth gear making quite a lot of noise. We’re not sure what it is. It didn’t affect me in the stage, but on the road section, it didn’t sound so good. Also, the car is taking in too much air and it’s making the inside of the car really cold – I can’t feel my feet at all.”

59. Andreas Mikkelsen/Ola Floene (Subaru WRX Sti)

“This is the first event I’ve done in this car, so I’m happy with the pace. I lost some time when I went straight on at a hairpin in SS3, but otherwise, it’s all good. Sandell is going quickly, but when I watched that car in Monte Carlo, I knew it would be quick here.”

60. Bernt Kollevold/Veronica Engan (Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX)

“We had a spin in stage four which cost 20 seconds and then another in stage five which cost 10 seconds. I wanted to go fast, but maybe we need to slow down to start going faster.”

35. Martin Semerad/Bohuslav Ceplecha (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX)

“We went off the road on the last stage, dropping between 30 and 40 seconds. This is not good, but I’m not here for the overall result – I’m here for experience. I have to say a big thanks to the spectators for getting the car out. We were buried in a snow bank, but they all helped us.”

Published: 2009-02-13 18:26