1.8.2009 18:50

FLASH INFO

SS19 VÄÄRINMAJA
29.29kms

A very long and exciting stage but some rough patches in places which could well present problems for the 2WD cars.

3: Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen
"It´s been a really good day, and everything went completely to plan. Tomorrow we will continue like I have today. Shame Sebastien had a problem because it was a fantastic fight. But there is not so much pressure on us now."

1: Sebastien Loeb/Daniel Elena
"There is nothing else to do except to finish now. Mikko has been driving so well and so fast and I don´t think I could have caught him. Now the game is over."

2: Dani Sordo/Marc Marti
"It was an OK day for us, but the team tell me to think of the Championship and preserve the car."

4: Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila
"It has really been a tough day, first being ill in the morning and then pushing to overtake Sordo. More of the same tomorrow, without the sickness I hope!"
Miikka Anttila: "The start of this stage was quite soft and starting in 4th position on the road was to our advantage."

10: Matti Rantanen/Mikko Lukka
"Not such a great day, but I am lucky to be here as I was almost off the road in this stage. I cannot be happy because I haven´t fulfilled my goal, which was to be as close as possible as Mikko and Sebastien."

16: Jari Ketomaa/Mika Stenberg
"It has been good up to now. We have a 2007 specification car and that puts us at a disadvantage. I am really looking forward to tomorrow and I promise to jump really far in the stages!"

12: Sebastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia
"It was a perfect day for us. The car was a bit slippery this morning in the rain but this afternoon it has been much better. I have gained such a lot of experience from this rally already."

5: Matthew Wilson/Scott Martin
"We took it really easy in here. It´s narrow in places and really tricky - it´s definitely the hardest stage of the rally so far, for sure."

8: Conrad Rautenbach/Daniel Barrit
"It has gone average to be honest, but I am praying that we can make the car better for tomorrow. That´s rallying I suppose!"

15: Khalid Al Qassimi/Michael Orr
"Tomorrow is a different day and with it comes a different strategy maybe. We are continuing and will drive carefully to preserve the car for tomorrow."

9: Federico Villagra/Jorge Perez Companc
"It has been a difficult day with some hard stages. We lost our confidence a little bit but made a better stage in that last one."

66: Juho Hanninen/Mikko Markkula
"It was quite a slippy stage but OK, no problems. We lead Group N into the final day, so I am very happy."

67: Anton Alen/Timo Alanne
"We are trying to make it through to tomorrow..."

68: Patrik Flodin/Maria Andersson
"I saw Kimi´s car in the same place that Mads Ostberg went off and a lot of specators were helping. I have had a really good day, pushing a lot. The only complaint is that I am not happy with my times! It is a real shame that Kimi has gone off - it was a nice feeling to be rallying against him."

38: Martin Prokop/Jan Tomanek
"We lead the Juniors so a good day! We made no mistakes and the car is working perfect. We are in a very good position for tomorrow."

59: Kalle Pinomaki/Matti Kaskinen
"Overall I am satisfied with my driving although the times could have been better. I haven´t really recovered from the broken brakes from today though. That was a real problem for us."

31: Aaron Nicolai Burkart/Michael Kolbach
"We are still having damper problems which makes the car so unpredictable. It is critical to have total confidence in the car in a rally like this and I really want to get it sorted before we get into tomorrow."

32: Michal Kosciuszko/Maciek Szczepaniak
"Third place in Juniors is what I was aiming for at the end of today, although naturally I want to push but it is more important to get safely through to the end."

75: Urmo Aava/Kuldar Sikk
"It is very slippy in this stage now. The more powerful cars have broken the surface and it is hard to find a rhythm. The suspension is too hard though tomorrow we should be better."

79: Reijo Muhonen/Timo Maenpaa
"We made a mistake in a jump and landed heavily damaging the tracking on three of our wheels. The steering doesn´t feel good now."

88: Fabio Frisiero/Jose Barrabes Costa
"I am now very tired, especially after these two last stages, but I am satisfied with my efforts today and we will make tomorrow´s plan after the first stage tomorrow morning."

97: Craig Breen/Gareth Roberts
"I have pushed both the car and myself to the limit today and am very happy with my performance and have learned a lot, changing my pacenotes on virtually every stage. I am particularly pleased about beating a Finnish driver at home!"

100: Emre Yurdakul/Burak Erdener
"We are 4th place in the Fiestas at the end of the day. We will try and keep this position tomorrow."