35. ADAC Rallye Deutschland 2017
17. 8. – 20. 8. 2017, Bostalsee • asphalt 309.17 km • total distance including road sections - 1165.25 km • Other years
Info
SS21
"It's a great feeling. The start to the rally went perfectly. After that it was just about controlling our lead. Winning our first Tarmac event feels cool. With 25 points here I don't see any reason why we can't fight for the championship. We will keep fighting. We need to keep winning if we're going to win the championship."
"For sure I'm frustrated because I think I was the fastest one here. Just bad luck with the puncture. Thanks to the team for the opportunity to be here."
"I'm very very happy - it's incredible! Thanks so much to the team for their efforts."
"A great weekend for myself, Anders and the whole Citroen team," he says. "A difficult rally, especially the conditions on the opening day. I really pushed to the limit. Yesterday and today were good drives, some small mistakes but we have to be happy with this. Will I be back in the C3 again? If it feels like this I would like to do more."
"That was the most important thing and what we worked for all weekend. It was not always easy - after Thierry wasn't there I didn't dare to push to the maximum. I missed some speed here, but it's a good result for the championship."
"I'm happy. I lost a lot of time on the first day but after that it has been good. I'm happy for this - especially if you compare to the first part of the season."
"It's not great but we did what we could with what we had. We didn't have the grip for the challenge. We still have work to do."
"I couldn't go any harder over the jump - we cracked the windscreen and got an awful fright! I tried to push, I had a good feeling with the car. Is it enough? Let's see."
"I touched in a left-hand corner very early on. For a Iong time I thought I had a puncture. I was not pushing because I was so afraid. We overshot in one place. Not good. Not good."
"When the conditions weren't too bad we've been okay but I am looking forward to a month at home now. I'm hoping to finish the season with three strong finishes."
"Really happy. My first time in the car was on Monday! We are happy for this day. A fantastic car. Maybe I'll get another drive - I don't know yet."
"It feels good! First we need to get to the final finish but it feels amazing. Good for me, good for the team, it's been a perfect season. A big thanks to Jonas, the team, my engineers, I could not get better support."
"Too many small mistakes probably. I didn't find the best set-up. I couldn't do me. For the championship let's see. I will give it everything."
"Disappointed about my mistake here. I could do without the long break now - I can't wait to get to the next round in Catalunya."
"I think you can say I was lucky. Good to be here!"
SS20
"Were we? I can't say I wasn't trying. It just clicked. The car and the tyres were good, it was a fast, and clean run. I lifted a split second early at the finish too. To do this on my third day in an R5 car is terrific."
still problem with ignition
"A good one. Close to the fastest time so I am happy."
"It was okay. Nothing special, just trying to learn this rally. I need to improve on Tarmac, learn how to read the road and the grip level."
"I like this rally. Everything is good so far. We just keep going."
"Apart from the puncture it's been a good rally. Still one more stage to go."
"We need to continue like this. That's all."
"I struggled this morning but we have to try for the Power Stage. I'm fighting a bit with the handling and the confidence."
"I will try to do my best on the Power Stage - like here."
"On the first pass I had a hit under braking. This time I was avoiding that bump, I braked too late and went into a field. The engine stalled and it took a long time to get running again."
"Very important now to bring it home. A lot of manufacturer points available now against the Hyundai boys. One stage to go. Let's be sure to get to the finish."
"We managed to build a good gap to Seb behind us. We are quite far behind the lead but my position is okay. It's been a good weekend.
"I've been waiting a little bit this morning. We saved a the tyres a bit and I have one new one for the Power Stage. I'm sure it won't be easy but we'll do our best."
"I had a really good, clean stage but the time is not so good. I did what I could. I don't see how anything will change on the Power Stage."
"Just trying to push. I don't want to give it up. We'll pull the choke out and see what happens."
"I took it a bit more steadily under braking here. Backed off a bit. Let's see what Elfyn does here, then we will know what to do in the Power Stage."
"We improved the notes on this stage from the first pass. Now we go the Power Stage and try and get some points. That would be really nice for the championship."
"Better grip on the second pass."
"A great moment for me. The car is working well. We work on the speed and we have had a lot of fun here."
SS19
"At the moment everything works well. I'm driving quite fast but of course I'm trying not to take any risks. We try our best."
"We have solved half of our hydraulic problem. Now we have an issue with the engine. It is missing power. We will try to get to the finish."
"I went wide in a muddy corner and we were stuck for one minute. A really difficult weekend."
"I tried to do my best to secure our fifth place. Everything is working well so far."
"Quite safe from my side but I'm enjoying. I must stay focused, it's easy to make a mistake, especially in my situation."
"I've enjoyed today's stages, especially this one. The lead is comfortable but still two stages to go so we stay in the middle of the road. We'll see."
"Quite a nice stage."
"Fine, but the time is not so good. I tried. There are a couple of places I can go faster next time. I have to."
"It was good. We did lot of analysis last night and found things I was doing wrong. Less throttle, that's the secret. It's getting better."
"A good feeling at the moment. Slippery and greasy in places but quite good fun." His car is missing both wing mirrors. "We lost them in the first chicane. Good for aerodynamics."
"I tried to keep the pressure. Not a perfect run but still quite pleased with it."
Aiming for maximum points on the Power Stage? "That would be the plan but it's never easy. Now we just recce the stage, checking the notes."
"Not a lot. The soft tyre choice was probably incorrect this morning. We tried to find some extra grip from the cold conditions."
"I'm enjoying, pushing and pushing. The same rhythm as yesterday."
"Here I tried to push. Let's see how it compares." His car is missing a small section of rear bodywork. "Yeah, there are so many straw bales in here and I had to use all of the road."
"I'm trying, but lacking a bit of confidence in the fast stuff."
"A tricky stage. Quite narrow and the grass is wet so you have to keep all your wheels on the road. Trying to improve my pace notes for the second pass."
"Really nice to drive. Some slippery corners. For the moment everything is fine."
SS18
Gear selector problem - stuck 3°
"It was the biggest moment of my life. Fifth gear, completely flat out!"
"No nerves, but we need to stay concentrated. No risks, no DTM braking, we need to get to the finish."
"It doesn't help anything, we are still second and that's it. These stages are not too difficult. I'm trying to getting into the rhythm ready for another rally next week."
stopped again
"Everything is going well. We try to be cautious and stay focused. Let's see."
stopped - moving again, but front end damage reported.
"It was okay. A difficult stage, slippery in places. I didn't do very well. I will try on the Power Stage but if we continue at this speed we won't take any points."
"Not so nice. A lot of wheelspin and not good handling. We will make some changes. After yesterday, today is all about the Power Stage."
"Very good. Clean stage and no problems at all. The conditions are a lot easier to enjoy." And your thoughts about the challenge from Mikkelsen behind? "Let him push, we are still a long way ahead. Let him do his job."
"The car feels good. A good start. A bit dirty in the high speed sections where you have to be careful."
"A clean stage. I just try to keep the pressure on Ott. We've seen mistakes many times, so we'll keep it on."
"Now we are waiting for the Power Stage. We want to keep going fast but nothing crazy."
"We had a minor overshot in a junction and stalled the engine. We were going well but from the look of the time it wasn't going to be enough anyway."
WRC TV crew reports a mid-stage stall.
"The feeling was actually quite good. I tired to come a bit faster but not overdo it."
"Basically quite a nice stage, some very fast sections but a few bumps were a bit slippery - there's moisture or dirt in places. The car is going well."
"I feel a bit sleepy. Late starts all week and today we have to get up at 5am! A straightforward stage."
"Really nice and fantastic that we can drive this. The car is running well."
SS17
Penalty: Car N.73 took a shortcut on SS11
"One day to go. We are happy to lead the WRC 2 tonight. The team is working very, very well. We need to continue on the same way tomorrow. It's not finished."
"Happy to be in this position. A bit in the middle of nowhere today but we are thinking of the championship. If it stays like this it's looking good but we don't talk about this at the moment..."
"What positive can I take from today? Well, I'm making less mistakes than I'm getting punctures. It's incredible. Just bad luck."
"I'm a little bit surprised. I pushed hard but the times aren't so good."
"I pushed like hell, it was a clean stage and we lose a lot. I don't get it. I am frustrated. Really frustrated."
"All okay, the same time as Seb here so not too bad I think. It's been a clean day, no mistakes and the other guys have made some. I think we have a good margin. For the moment it looks okay, I don't see any reason to worry."
"That's good for tomorrow. Tomorrow's stages are safer. With normal driving it should be alright. It will be one hell of a fight!"
"I did a couple of mistakes in here much more dirty in here than I was expecting." And how important is it to catch Mikkelsen and take another three points? "There is no question, I won't risk too much to go after the extra."
"We tried in here for sure. A bit of rain would have suited us."
"I had an overshoot. Didn't hit the brakes in time. I went into a field, not far but it took a lot of time getting back."
"I expect Evans will beat us here again. Everything is open for tomorrow."
Damage to the front-left wheel arch. "I just went to a bit too close to the bushes in a left-hand corner. This is a narrow rally and you have to use all the road you can if you want to set a good stage time."
"Today's stages have been quite enjoyable to drive. Hoping for more of the same tomorrow."
"A good day today. The car is running well."
SS16
"I have no clutch. I hope I can get the car back to service."
"Pretty okay. A few mistakes. Still on Tarmac I need to improve."
"It's drier now, more grip than this morning. Looking forward to tomorrow. Still a long way to go."
"A bit more confidence now. We are enjoying. We keep going like this."
"After the puncture we try to go as fast as possible. Hopefully we can get a podium at least."
"After the puncture we try to go as fast as possible. Hopefully we can get a podium at least."
"A bit better but still dirty. I'm trying to push but we had a lot of understeer - we lost a lot in the long corners."
"I thought it was a good stage but again the time is no good. I just don't understand. It's very frustrating."
"Driving cleanly. The conditions are enjoyable."
"I think both me and Seb are pushing to the maximum - I know I am. I'm enjoying the fight, I hope it goes all the way to the last stage tomorrow - that would be cool. My confidence in the car is getting better and better with every kilometre."
"I cannot go for crazy risks for an extra three points but I keep the pressure on and see what happens. Good grip now in this stage."
"As good as we could have hoped on the cross tyres. A bit unfair on Juho, I know he has a problem, but we have to make the most of what we've got."
"A bit more consistent. Not as nervous as before. Not a million miles away from the guys ahead now. We'll keep the push on."
"Missing one damper on this stage was not easy. Now I just need to get through the last stage."
"I enjoyed the stage, I think a good run. Let's see."
"Cutting the bales a bit in here again. It's really enjoyable. When it's dry like this I can drive with full confidence."
"Tricky like before but good to drive. Cleaner, not so bad."
SS15
"We had an alarm on the dash indicating an issue with the engine cooling system so we stopped."
hit a deer
stopped
"Oh damn, damn, damn! I liked the fight with Kopecky."
"Another puncture [front-right]. I did not stop to change it, I had no time."
"A bit nicer to drive without a puncture! A fantastic stage, I enjoyed it. A top stage."
puncture
"A puncture somewhere. I was braking in the line and suddenly in the next cover the front-left was flat and we had to stop and change it."
puncture
"Good. I enjoyed a lot more now. Disappointed about the mistakes on the first day but we work on things like the diffs now and the car works well."
stopped
Just a front-left puncture. I think it was on a sharp edge. It wasn't there on the first pass. That's it."
"Quite happy. A very clean run. Cautious in the dirty places, faster in the dry."
"I have finally mastered this stage - for the first time ever. A clean stage, I managed to balance pushing and saving the tyres."
stopped at 30km EDIT: moving again
"Was okay, a clean stage for me. Maybe I could have pushed more."
technical problem, did not start SS15
"Generally pretty good. It felt okay, smooth and clean. We went wide on one junction near the start but it didn't cost too much."
"I think a damper is broken, we lost a lot of time."
"We had a puncture about 30km," he explains. "Maybe just a small stone went through the tread. It was a slow puncture."
"Enjoyable to drive. Ninety per cent of the stage is 100 per cent dry. Probably the best conditions I've seen here in years."
"Very nice, but it's dangerous in every part of the road. Fantastic for me."
WRC+ Live tracking shows him stopped at 27.5km - moving again
SS14
"I had a stall on the start line. The first time it has ever happened to me."
SS13
"The feeling is good. Again, it's a warm up for the Panzerplatte. Hopefully we will be closer or ahead of Eric."
"The feeling is good. Again, it's a warm up for the Panzerplatte. Hopefully we will be closer or ahead of Eric."
"Yeah, but it's too late. It's okay but I have a lot of understeer."
"A clean run, nothing to report."
"The road was clean. A good clean run. No dramas."
"Good, I'm happy with that."
"All okay for us. The difference will come in the big one - not here."
"It was fine. A fair bit of understeer but okay."
"Everything's okay. Consistent tyres on the car now."
"Now it is more dry and we must take care of the tyres as well."
"It felt like a good run. The feeling is good. More positive now."
"We had a road position advantage this morning. We will see how the afternoon goes."
"Nice and dry, good for us. We can drive maximum attack. Everything is okay."
SS12
Gear selector problem. He's stuck in fourth but hopeful of getting back to service.
"It was okay. Nothing special."
"We try but he is fast. This stage has too many long, long straights. A good morning for us. The car is working well."
"I'm very happy that the battle so going on [with Tidemand]. It's keeping me focused. We will see how he does here but we try to push to the maximum."
"In the braking it was very dirty, it wasn't in the recce. We have nothing to fight for. We are in the back now. When you see the times of the guys in front it's very disappointing."
"The feeling and confidence are not bad but the times are just not there this weekend."
"I thought it was a good one but we are slowest again. I think my confidence is still on the wall."
"It's tough, not easy to enjoy, but we have a good feeling in the car."
"I was not at full risk but I try not to be too slow. I'm keeping a bit of pressure on the guys ahead. It's been an okay morning."
"A clean stage. Fine. We're not giving up without a fight."
"Three hard and one soft tyre here. Tricky. I just don't have the confidence to push. I overshot one junction and stalled the engine for a second."
"Okay, nothing special. Quite a different stage, a bit more clean."
"The handbrake doesn't work. It's difficult to drive these stages without one. We'll fix it in service."
"I think hards were the right tyre choice. I'm trying. The conditions are a bit easier like this but I have a lot to work on."
"We drive better and better. We are happy at the moment. The stage is good to drive but a lot of straights."
SS11
Spin the a narrow section. No damage.
Spin the last corner. No damage.
"Good. A nice rhythm and I pushed more. The pressure is off me now."
I spun in the stage. I lose a lot of time. I was stuck in the ditch."
"Pretty muddy but still quite an okay stage compared to the situations. The feeling is coming back a bit but we need to change a few things."
"It's an interesting fight now, I like it. He was very fast on this stage because I was pushing to the maximum."
"Some tricky places, lots of mud. I just try to stay on the Tarmac. There's more grip there. Some small moments but we are pushing to keep Eric behind."
"From this position in the running order it's like a gravel stage. Every corner is completely mud."
"A lot of mud in there, it's slimy and slippery. It's like Monte Carlo in there."
"I was two times in the fields, so for sure I lost a lot of time. We didn't have anything in the pace notes and suddenly the road is full of mud. It's like ice. You have no chance."
"Conditions are maybe better than expected but some places are incredibly muddy and it's not easy to find the rhythm. We're managing okay."
"I had a spin in a junction and stalled. It's a bit of a shame. Okay, we must continue fighting."
"Okay, fastest so far, but let's see what happens behind us."
"I spun on pretty much the first right-hand corner and lost a lot of time. After that pretty good but I'm so disappointed by that mistake."
"I had an overshoot. It was a lot drier than I thought and I ended up in a field in another place too. Not the best."
"Okay. Nothing special. This was more tricky than I expected. More mud on the road. The car is really, really good."
"I'm not happy at all. Again a mistake. In a slippery place I ran wide and spent a long time in a field. Not going well this morning at all. I'm really annoyed with myself."
His car sporting rear-left damage. "Nothing major, nearly ever corner has a hay bale on it and we're just kissing a few to try and get a tight entry."
"A good feeling for the car and the tyres were good. We ran and ran and ran. We pushed a bit."
SS10
hit a tree
"I got a front-right puncture. When I realised I went off and got stuck in a ditch."
"Two spins in the closing section."
"In terms of driving that was probably the worst stage of my life. Absolutely stupid. Two overshoots in the first couple of kilometres. I just wasn't listening. Shocking."
"Puncture in the middle of the stage. My fault. I cut and I punctured, It's like that."
"One of the worst stages in my life. We had a puncture and had to change it. Difficult."
stopped. EDIT: moving again
Right-rear puncture. He has driven on it for a while and the flailing rubber has wrecked the rear door and wheel arch of the Skoda. "It just came, we hit nothing."
"A good stage but a huge challenge. I tried to find a good compromise not to destroy my soft tyres."
puncture
"Very slow. Very slippery and I took no risks. I am out of the race and I have hurt my hand. It's difficult to drive."
stopped, move again
"Not bad. A bit better rhythm today. We changed something last night and I immediately felt more confident today - even on the road section."
"Not fast enough. Too muddy to take advantage of my tyres. Still scared after yesterday I think."
"Very tricky. Six kilometres before the end we lost the rear tyre. I thought we had a puncture." He has a bent front-left wheel and a delaminated rear-left tyre.
"Much drier than we thought, we should have put two hard tyres on. Okay, I did a clever stage, I didn't push the tyres too much, a bit too cautious maybe."
"A bit too cautious. After Thierry stopped I think the gap in front now is too big. At least in this one I didn't push hard enough to close it."
"Really negative. A few distractions inside the car, not easy." Can you elaborate? "No."
"I would see the rubber flying off towards the end, it was quite distracting. I tried to manage things on this stage but it was so, so tricky."
"Not bad. Easier than yesterday. Changing grip but actually enjoyable."
"Not good. I'm really disappointed. On the soft tyres I had two moments. It was a lot drier than I expected. I overshot one junction and nearly spun twice."
"We picked up a puncture, I'm not sure how. Very easy to do that here. We stopped to change."
"I think our soft tyres were not the right ones here. The road was so dry we lost a lot of time."
WRC TV crew reports rear damage on driver's side of Hayden's Hyundai
SS9
"It was just a slow junction, a left turn with a cut, and we don't understand what happened. We just felt a small touch on the rear axle. We probably touched something, we don't understand right now. It looks like something broke on the suspension. I don't know. We need to analyse first and then we will know more."
"Quite dry. A unique place that requires a unique approach."
Neuville and co-driver Nicholas Gilsoul are inspecting the damage. It seems that the whole wheel hub has detached from the suspension arm. Nicholas suggests that they will need a miracle.
"Okay. The real one is coming."
"I have no idea." The wheel and tyre are attached, but at a crazy angle. There is no sign of damage to the wheel.
the rear-left wheel has is hanging off
"Steady away. Hopefully the next stage is a bit wetter than this one."
"Let's see now how the tyres are on the next one. It will be tricky. Some damp patches there."
"A few pace note changes. It was surprisingly dry and there are a few places we can improve them for the next pass."
"Quite dry. We're expecting more damp in the next one."
"Really short but the feeling was good. The soft tyre seems to be the right option. We're ready for the next stage."
SS8
"Yeah, I had one slick at the rear and basically no traction because the whole stage is mud. I had to take it very carefully - it would be stupid to spin now. A good day apart from the slow puncture but we are in the lead so we are happy."
"Not a bad day for us. We came back after a difficult morning without the clutch and the wrong set-up. I'm very happy to be third tonight."
"Not so easy to find the lines in these conditions but I enjoyed it. I'm satisfied with the day. The car is good and the strategy is working out well. I'm looking forward to tomorrow."
"Really, really happy. We are pushing to the maximum. The conditions are getting worse so the only drivers we can compare to are the ones around us [in the start order]. We're 10 sec quicker that Kris so that shows how hard we are pushing."
"Very tricky. Every junction is full of mud. Not so enjoyable."
"This was the worst one."
"A bit of a mudbath. A very tricky afternoon. Tomorrow there will be a lot less rain so we can try and get some confidence back."
"An absolute disaster. I lost the rear, spun and had to go into the field. It cost five or six seconds."
"A very difficult day. Too much mud, not enjoyable."
"I tried to be clever and avoid any big mistakes. I was also a long time on the grass in one left-hand corner. The trickiest stage of the day."
"Conditions are really tricky - in one place we got stuck in the mud - it took so long to get back on the road with the slick tyres. A good day though."
"We had a spin and lost 20sec. A shame but that's how it is. It's going to be be tight. I knew I would struggle today - I haven't found the set-up I wanted in the car. Tomorrow is another day."
He's been off and there is a big branch stuck in the rear spoiler. "It happened on a very dirty corner, it was worse than aquaplaning. Nothing I could do. Happy to be here - still a long way to go."
SS7
Stopped in stage. Stage will be paused briefly to allow organisers to move the car.
Confirmation from Toyota that Lappi hit something and his car has front-left damage. Out for the day.
The German becomes the second Junior driver to stop in stage. EDIT: moving again.
Junior championship leader Nil Solans is stopped in the stage. EDIT: broken suspension
"Terrible. We have problems with the differential."
"We can push more but it is my first time on this tyre, so maybe next time I will be faster."
"I prefer it when the Tarmac is dry. This was tricky, a lot of mud everywhere and a spin. I got a slow puncture on the previous stage."
"It's going well this afternoon. I really enjoy it. Pushing to the maximum."
"Difficult to drive in these conditions, you never know what you might find in every corner."
"Better grip than expected on these rain tyres. The rally is going to plan."
"I think we did a very good stage. The tyre was a little bit too much for the grip, but a clean stage. I'm very happy to be in this position at this point in the rally. Tomorrow we will be in a better place in the start order."
"More tricky that the one before, a lot of mud here, tricky on the new tyres. I had to slow to pass Lappi. The car was stuck in a ditch, off under braking. He was out of the car."
WRC+ live tracking shows his Yaris stopped at 8.7km. EDIT: broken suspension
"This was a bit better than the first one, less standing water. It's nice that the grip is better that you think. Not so horrible, I would say."
"No one to blame but myself. Wet, slippery muddy Tarmac? No thank you. This rally and the Monte are two rallies I know I have to improve on."
"A little bit better. Still tricky without 100 percent confidence."
"I just have no grip, especially here. Struggling in every braking zone. There's not a lot we can do."
"Difficult conditions. I was losing too much time to Seb and Thierry where I wasn't bold enough."
"Very tricky. On a tyre I have never used before it took time to get the feeling. It feels good. Maybe I should have pushed more, but after the previous stage I wanted to have a clean run."
"It's okay but tricky. Together with Thierry, we don't have the optimum tyre choice. Our soft compound is not working."
"I was on the maximum I have to say. So much wheelspin and locking under braking, many times we nearly went off. I'm missing a lot of traction."
SS6
stopped
"My first time on the full rain tyres. Good grip. The best option I think."
"They were the right choice for me. This stage was a mud bath near the end. For me I had no choice, I had to go for these. I'm happy not to lose more time from this position on the road."
"The road was a lot cleaner than I expected. The rain has washed it. I was expecting more mud, which might have benefited us. We don't often run these tyres, even on tests, so they look a bit of getting used to."
"About 70 per cent of the stage was okay, but when you have standing water and soft tyres it's not the best combination. Still, I managed to survive."
"Hard to know if this was the correct choice. I'm not driving too committed. It's difficult to judge the tyres on the way I'm driving the car."
"Better than I expected. In places the grip was reasonable."
"A mix of tyres on the car. Some places it worked well, in others no grip at all."
"I felt the wet tyre go off really quick. I struggled to commit in there."
"The first part was quite okay. Towards the end on the big road I started aquaplaning and I lost the confidence." Jari-Matti's Toyota is running sweetly again after its trip to service.
"Actually not so good, there was a tight hairpin, I pulled the handbrake but I couldn't see out and I went straight into the vines. I was very lucky to get back. I still feel sorry I didn't take full wet tyres like the team suggested."
"Not so easy. I don't know, let's see how the guys behind go, but it might work with the rain tyres here - we were aquaplaning in places. The important thing is that Thierry and I are on the same."
"I was full softs. I don't know what the best option would be. Many times I was sideways a lot and I had a spin near the end. I tried my best but it's not very nice in these conditions."
SS5
His car's engine is making a funny noise and appears to have no power at the start. He has a small off in the stage later on.
SS4
AKTUALIZACE: Probrzdil zatáčku a vyletěl mimo trať. Auto je projelo křovím a stromky a zastavilo 40m pod tratí. Nešlo přes střechu, vypadá docela dobře a posádka je OK.
UPDATE: Dani crashed 600 meters into SS4. He locked the wheels under braking, missed a corner and drove off the road. The car plunged about 40 meters downhill through bushes and small trees. It did not roll over. Crew fine. Car looks in pretty good shape.
WRC live tracking shows him stopped just 600m into the stage - off road, crew OK
"I'm happy. Two good special stages. Better than Poland. I like driving through the vineyards but I prefer drinking them."
"That was okay. Running much better on two hard tyres crossed."
"Just driving through, we still have the same steering problem we had last night at the Super Special."
"In one junction I went straight on and stopped. I had to reverse - I lost maybe 15sec."
"Struggling a bit. The set up is too soft and I'm struggling on the soft tyres too."
"It was fully dry, and the soft tyre wasn't the best way but we did our best."
"I had no clutch on the start line. Any mistake would be the end for us. Also I have the wrong springs. We are still here, I will push like hell when everything is okay."
"Not so good. I need to improve. I did some mistakes."
"It's okay, but a bit careful, braking too early in places. Not that bad."
"We must stop in the stage. Something is loose with the rear suspension. We must go and have a look."
"This was not really a perfect drive, two small mistakes so I'm not really happy with that run. I haven't done well on this stage before so studied the onboards and finally I mastered it! The car is amazing."
"Not too bad. For the first time this morning I had equal tyres [softs all round] and I felt more confident."
"The tyre choice was better for this stage. I'm really satisfied with this time."
"Much better than the stage before because I didn't go into the vineyards this time. The car feels really good. It's giving me more of what I can use."
He drops 50sec with a front-right puncture. The rubber is flailing from the rim. "No idea why - we hit nothing. I noticed it 10km before the end."
"Terrible. I touched a wall and thought I had a puncture. I missed a braking point, went off and did a full 360 in a field. I need to keep it calm."
Damage to the front-left tyre. "I touched it a little on the kerb or something. The beginning of the stage was trickier than I thought. Other than that everything is okay."
"I saw some marks. Maybe that's where he was." And Evans' own stage? "Struggling for confidence in the braking."
"This morning has been pretty challenging. You have to drive with your eyes open."
"Conditions are not so easy but we have to push. I'm not perfectly happy with the car. I do my best with what I have. Somehow I cannot get the set-up to my liking. I'll handle it. It's just for today."
"I have a lot of understeer in the fast sections. In the slow corners it is okay."
SS3
"We try to survive. We have a problem with the clutch, there's nothing there now. I hope we can complete the loop."
"In the end I was very careful, it was muddy."
"No problems but drier than expected."
"Fantastic. Not easy but a lot of experience. So slippery, a little bit wet, a little bit dry, but really nice."
"We are pushing hard and taking risks but we have to. There is so much gravel on the roads here and I'm trying to limit the lime loss. I like this stage. The car is really, really nice."
I felt a bit uncomfortable with the tyre choices. Humid in parts, wet under the trees. Difficult to find a rhythm."
"Wrong tyres and a surprise in one braking point where we went into the vines. The engine stalled and we lost a lot of time."
His car sporting damage to the roof vent, left-hand front splitter and rear spoiler. "Quite soon after the start under braking I went wide into the vines and hit a wooden post. I have to go and check..."
He completes with damage to his front-right wing. "Might have been just a hay bale, nothing major. There is no right choice for tyres here. In parts softs would be better, in others hards."
"I played a gamble on two hards and two softs. It rained since the gravel crew went through, so I didnlt know what to expect. Each corner was like flipping a coin. All softs would have been better I think."
"It was okay, a bit of a moment in one place but otherwise okay. Not a lot of grip in the dry. Early on I worked on getting heat in the tyres."
"Difficult to control the car in the slippery sections."
"That's nothing too serious. It was surprisingly dry and I was struggling on the soft tyres, the car felt soft under braking."
"Very tricky because we expected wet and it was mostly dry. Difficult."
"More dry than expected. My tyre choice was not fantastic but it's not too aggressive. I'm not unhappy with my choices."
"I went off 1km from the start. The road was dry then suddenly wet section under braking and I went into the vines and lost the front (splitter) lip. Now I have no down force at all. It makes it very tricky."
SS2
"Last night was a surprise but in this little R5 car I really enjoyed it," he says. "I kept it smooth with no slides and it went well! Last year I was close to winning the Super Special in Spain, but I didn't think we'd do that against the new cars."
"A good stage. I want to say a huge thanks to the team for getting my car fixed for today."
"A complete disaster. At the start we were just told to go straight away. The time is not right. We are not starting on the right time."
"It was okay. Had to find a good exist out of the junctions but no drama. No big risks."
"Very nice. Much better than I expected."
"For the first stage on Tarmac in this car it's not so bad."
"Really not so easy to drive in some sections. Over the day we will improve."
"A really stupid mistake last night. But okay all I can do now is go again. I'll try to get to the the end of every stage as quickly as possible today. Paul's wife is in hospital waiting for a baby."
"I'm pretty pleased to be honest. No risks, just checking how much dirt there is on the road. Everything is fine."
"Okay. We lost a bit of time but the car feels really, really cool."
"I'm on the full soft tyres. I'm waiting for the rain and didn't want to ruin them in the dry."
"Pretty decent. Trying not to make any mistakes. Neat and tidy, One small mistake but otherwise okay. We have two hard and two soft tyres. Making a choice here is like flipping a coin - we just don't know what the weather will do."
"A bit of understeer in the junctions. The road is getting dirtier for sure but Sordo's time is good so I can't blame it on that."
Light front wing damage. "Quite good. The balance in the car was good. I tried to do my best. It will be difficult today, the weather looks complicated."
"We went slightly wide into a steel rod on the side, it's broken the front right wing a bit. Everything else okay."
"Difficult to judge the brakes in a few junctions."
"Not so good. We had a spin, not the best start of the rally, we lose maybe five seconds going into a field and back on."
"Okay. Three hard tyres and one hard on the car. A different package to what Seb has. I think this was a good choice."
SS1
"I had no good feeling in the stage after what I saw with Meeke. I took it quite steady. It's my first time starting a rally leading the championship. I thought we did quite well."
"The real fight starts tomorrow but tonight we've seen that it can be tricky. You can't win the rally tonight but you can lose it."
"If I have a good feeling in the car I will enjoy it and I'm sure the times will come. I expect some very difficult conditions this weekend. Let's see."
"What happened to Kris was really unfortunate. This sort of city stage is good, but why did they use the concrete barriers and not plastic? That's not the way to do it. For me not such a bad stage."
He completes with about a third of the rim missing. "I know what I can touch," he jokes.
"We went as hard as we could. We have a new hard tyre here, which is unknown territory. Lets see what we can do with it."
"I'm gutted for Paul and Kris. It's so easy to make a mistake in here. I touched a barrier on the first corner. It's going to be a long weekend. We'll go a hard as we can."
"The hairpins are very tight. I touched a bale on the inside but no worries. It's tricky in these wider cars."
"Now way. No chance. I need more experience on Tarmac and of this car. I'm just not confident enough to push. I need to try to be clever."
"Let's see where our times are tomorrow."
"I hope we can have a good result. The car feels really nice on Tarmac, really enjoyable. I hope for nicer weather than the rain that is forecast."
The right-hand front steering seems to be broken. He can't get the C3 around the tight stage. He has stopped.
broken wheel
"It feels really great to be be back in a WRC car but I have to say my feeling for the car is not so easy. Tomorrow we will start the race."
"I don't think about it. I just try to stay concentrated. The conditions can be difficult. I'm happy to be here."
"A lot of challenges here - quite different from Finland!"
"I'm really happy to be able to open this stage. So many people here. I think my soft tyres were done after one and a half laps."