Photo: Benjamin A. Ward/Rally Norway

End of stage report from SS18 Våler 1

Feb. 15, 2009

Weather and Road conditions: cold -24°C in the morning.
Good visibility, icy surface with a lay of snow on top.

1. Sebastien Loeb/Daniel Elena (Citroën C4)

“It’s not easy for me. The road is cleaning so there is a layer of snow which I am sweeping away for the others. I made no mistakes but of course it won’t be easy for the rest of the day. We will just have to see what happens, Mikko has been very fast.”

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

“It was a good run for me, of course you have to take a few risks if you want to be quick. Let’s see what happens now in this rally, everything is still possible.”

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

“I want to drive fast but there is no point for me to take any risks so I wasn’t going flat out. Our time was OK but the guys in front are really quick.”

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

“It was a good start, I think the first cars on the road have more grip. The grip gets less and less as you go down the order but the next time through the stages it will be the same for everyone.”

2. Dani Sordo/Marc Marti (Citroën C4)

“It is still difficult for me, I am trying hard but Henning has more experience of these conditions.”

11. Petter Solberg/Phill Mills (Citroën Xsara)

“The car is fixed and we have no problems today. We’re pushing as hard as we can. This was a really quick stage and on these fast roads our car is not so good so I am not surprised that Matthew Wildon is quicker than us on this stage. But it is a big fight and we are going to continue trying hard.”

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

“I was a nice stage with good grip but I think it will be a mess the second time round. Our time was OK, it is a good fight with Petter.”

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

“Our time was OK but I do not know if I can improve, it’s has not been a great rally for me which is a bit frustrating.”

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

”Not such a good stage for me, the conditions were difficult but the reason I am here is to gain experience and to get to the end.”

8. Conrad Rautenbach/Daniel Barrit (Citroën C4)

“We have no problems, it was a nice stage and I enjoyed it. There is a lot of grip so I had confidence. Even so it is very cold outside, it is warm in the car.”

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

“We left service late because we had a problem with a power steering pump and then the steering rack. Also I am not happy with the rear suspension. It’s very disappointing: there are a lot of very strange things happening to me on this rally.”

7. Evgeny Novikov/Dale Moscatt (Citroën C4)

“The car is running well and I am quite happy. I am learning a lot on my first event on a WRC car.”

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

 “Yesterday I was overdriving and today was better but maybe I could have pushed a little harder on that stage. It’s difficult to know the right pace.”

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

“I had an over shoot on the stage and I had to reverse back on the road, I lost 15 seconds maybe more but OK it’s not a problem. For the rest the car has been going well.”

49 Eyvind Brynildsen/Denis Giraudet (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX)

“With the problems for Patrik, I was able to get a bit closer to him; I will keep on trying my best so we will see what happens. If he makes an other mistake I am in a good position.”

Published: 2009-02-15 09:43