Photo: Marius Torgersrud/Rally Norway

Drivers’ comments from SS 14 Mountain 2

1. Sebastien Loeb/Daniel Elena (Citroën C4)

“I pushed really really hard but the stage is not as fun as this morning. They are more ruts and Mikko is coming quickly now. I thought it would be a big battle like this and this is exactly how it is.”

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

“I am pushing so hard, it’s really easy to make small mistakes. I would say now that I am at the limit. On some split times Seb is faster, on some others I am faster, so it is a big big battle.”

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

“Finally we set a good time. We changed the springs at service and the car is better now under braking. The stage conditions are certainly more difficult than they were this morning. I am quite far away now but I am going to try and keep the pressure on the guys in fronts.”

2. Dani Sordo/Marc Marti (Citroën C4)

“It was harder this afternoon on the second run through the e stages. I know Henning is coming after me so I have to push but I do not have complete confidence.”

11. Petter Solberg/Phill Mills (Citroën Xsara)

“The engine does not work. We were on 3 cylinder all of the stage. Then, at the end of the stage, we nearly stopped completely. We will have to try and found out what the problem is on the road section.”

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

“We are trying our best. The car is working well. In fact, it’s just perfect. We had a new differential program at the service and it made a good improvement.”

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

“I am a little bit disappointed because I was a little bit too careful. There were a lot of loose snow in the narrow sections at the start of the stage so I needed to be careful but we have stayed out of problems and we can keep going to see what we will do.”

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

“My driving is a bit better now. I think my problem this morning was that my pace notes were too slow. Now I am driving slightly ahead of the rhythm of the pace notes. It’s a hard stage to understand the first time but the second time is easier.”

8. Conrad Rautenbach/Daniel Barrit (Citroën C4)

Went off in stage, did not comment.

18. Mads Østberg/Ole Kristian Unnerud (Subaru Impreza WRC 2008)

“The stage was ok but the engine is very lazy now. I noticed there was a problem with the engine already this morning but now it is going worse. At least the problem with the wind screen this morning has gone away.”

7. Evgeny Novikov/Dale Moscatt (Citroën C4)

“The car is fine now. We had a problem with the gear box earlier but it is fixed. Our time on the stage was not so bad, we just keep on learning.”

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

 “It’s starting to get better now. There is more pace to come but I am really enjoying myself. Our times are closer to the top 10 now so I am happy.”

12. Sebastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia (Citroën C4)’

”We had an alternator problem earlier, now it is fixed. There is not much chance for a good result but we are here to gain experience. With every km I drive I learn a little bit more.”

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

“It’s going well. The strange thing is there was some under steer in the middle of the stage but then it went away. It’s a bit of a mystery, I asked myself why but now it’s ok.”

47. Armindo Araujo/Miguel Ramalho (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX)

“With a 2 minute gap now it is safer and with a little more visibility. I am enjoying myself and it is a nice battle.”

31 Martin Propok/Jan Tomanek (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX)

“I made some changes to the car in service. They worked well, we can attack now.”

Published: 2009-02-14 16:33