73. Dayinsure Wales Rally GB 2017
26. 10. – 29. 10. 2017, Deeside • gravel 304.36 km • total distance including road sections - 1183.74 km • Other years
Info
SS21
"I got the message about Séb before the start so I tried to just enjoy it. Congratulations to Séb. He deserves it."
"I Don't know what to say. It's been a tough year for sure. Thanks to everyone at M-Sport and Malcolm. It's amazing to be the world champion with the team."
"I tried to go as fast as I could but there were some mistakes here and there. I was pushing to hard, maybe?"
"I gave absolutely everything in there. There was nothing more I could give."
"Malcolm and all the team have done an incredible job this year and it's been a huge success. They really deserve this."
"I've enjoyed my weekend and the important thing is it was a contact weekend and we can learn from it."
"Can't really be happy with the weekend. We'll forget this one, reset and come back to Australia stronger."
"It was a really hard rally for us. We were struggling a lot. We need to do a lot of work with the car and also my driving. We need to learn a lot from this."
"We will try to come back stronger next year."
"I'm glad to be at the end of the rally. It's been a disastrous weekend for us."
SS20
"It's going well and I'm feeling comfortable. I'm driving at a high rhythm but trying to keep it on the road."
"It was a very polished road and I couldn't get the car to turn. It was the worst possible situation for this car. It's really, really frustrating."
"We're trying as hard as we can. It was maximum attack in there."
"The car's working well. Unfortunately, we're not in the battle that's going on ahead."
"The guys up front are pushing hard and we're in no-mans land at the moment. I'm just trying to stay on the safe side."
"The first loop was good but the car doesn't work when the surface is polished. I didn't have any grip on that stage."
SS19
"We spun at the start – not good. We had to to reverse twice."
"I'm very happy with my performance so far and the car has been working really well."
"It's just a case of being safe really. Want to get through cleanly. It was a tricky and slippery stage."
"It's tough because I try to go as fast as I can but it's not so easy when you have to think about the championship.
"I'm not that happy about the stage. It was very slippery in the beginning and then I lost my place in the pace notes a bit further on and had to slow down."
"It was very slippy early on but then the grip got better and I tried to push."
"That wasn't perfect and I messed up a bit at the start of the stage. I went wide in a couple of corners and lost some exit speed."
"That was a new stage for me so we took no risk and had a clean run. At the moment, we can't do much more."
"That was tricky and very muddy. I think it will get quicker for the guys behind."
"It was like ice, especially in the first part of the stage."
"It's been much, much better than before and now I can really enjoy the driving. It's working now, for sure."
"I try to drive and finish the weekend."
SS17
"Mixed condition in that one and hard to read the grip. We're still trying to keep a good rhythm but we're not taking any risks."
"There was a left hander and I didn't expect it to be slippy. I ran wide and the speed died after that."
"I think we were pretty maximum on that stage."
"Podium position is realistic not possible with these short stages but we need to do our job and see what we can do."
"We're in a position where we can't really gain anything so it's a question of enjoying today's stages and getting the fun back."
"The confidence is getting better. It seems the car is working better."
"It's much better than yesterday. The grip was really good. I enjoyed it."
"Slippery for sure, but a better set up which is better for me today. Quite a bit of standing water on the road – especially in the junctions."
SS16
"It could be worse for sure. I'm glad to get tonight over with to be honest. In here it was quite enjoyable but the stage before was very hard."
"I did the stage with only three brakes. We couldn't push because we had no power on the brakes. We had to brake early all the time."
"In the stage before [SS15], we probably had the most fog. In this one, there was no fog and I tried to push. You're fighting hard and then you get fog like that. It's so disappointing."
"We had a good run and the grip was very good when it was raining towards the end of the stage. I'm looking forward to tomorrow."
"That was beautiful, really nice. I didn't have a good run because you find yourself hesitating after the fog in the previous one."
"Now it was like visible. The first stage tonight was quite dangerous to be honest."
SS15
"It's totally mad. Just totally mad."
"I have no vision. I can't see anything!"
"Sometimes you have to attack in the tricky conditions when you don't have a chance in the daylight."
"It was completely crazy. You can't see 10 metres off the start line. It was hellishly crazy."
"The position of my lights was too high. I couldn't see properly."
"It was very difficult, but a lot of fun. In some parts you can't even see past the bonnet."
"You can't see anything in some sections. It's easy to do a mistake but also a good opportunity for some to make up some time. For me, it was very slow."
"You cannot drive in sixth gear, it has to be second gear. Lots of fog!"
SS14
clipped a tree
SS13
"It's the power steering again! We lost it on the road section."
"It was a good stage. We were a bit careful in a couple of corners but what you lost on the braking you gain on the exit."
"I lost part of the rear wing in the previous stage so we didn't have much downforce in that one. It's a bit more exciting, that's for sure!"
"That was a good stage. We can still go faster but it was a decent time. My set-up is perfect for today. I'm happy with that!"
"We've had no hydraulics for the whole stage – no gearbox and no diffs. It's been an absolute handful in that stage."
"I was struggling a lot with the grip on the exit of the corners. For me, there's a big difference between the grip this morning and this afternoon."
"We're still struggling like hell on he second pass. We just can't try because it's like on ice all the time."
"This is the first event in my life where I was completely cruising."
SS12
"It's going pretty well. We're just managing everything we have in terms of getting through on the tyres."
"There is nothing much to say. Me and Seb are slower."
"Not so bad but conditions are still tricky. Low grip this morning. I think I had a clean stage but I was a bit cautious"
"It's running well. We have to continue fighting for the championship."
"We're still playing with the damper clicks and its getting a bit healthier."
"I was happy with my run and I really enjoyed it."
"The last corner, I was completely sideways and didn't get any speed from there to the finish."
"I'm starting to enjoy it a bit more. For sure, I'm not at my best but at east the stage conditions are a bit more consistent. That makes it a bit more enjoyable."
"It's really, really, really slippy now. It's like a different stage compared to this morning."
SS11
"It feels a bit better but the times could be better. The traction has improved but the understeer is still there."
"It feels a bit better but the times could be better. The traction has improved but the understeer is still there."
"I lost 10 seconds in the chicane! I lost the car under braking and couldn't get the car restarted."
"I'm braking much too early everywhere. I'm driving too much like a blouse!"
"The car was stopping in the stage and we were rolling for a few hundred metres. I have no idea what is going on."
SS10
"I think we've had the perfect conditions today, we couldn't have wished for better. I've tried to be neat and tidy and tried to push when I can. But I think there's a bit left in the tank."
"Mentally, I'm not ready to take enough risks. But I have to try a bit more. The only bad result this weekend would be not to score any points."
"I tried to push a bit more in this one. Hard to make a difference because everyone knows this stage."
"No real mistakes and pretty clean. Happy with that."
"I was too slow. The grip was better than I thought. I was just way, way too slow."
centre diff problem
SS9
Front left puncture, stopped to change wheel.”
"The first two stages have gone okay but this one was exceptionally difficult. Lots of understeer in these conditions."
"That was a pretty slippy stage."
"It's not really the plan to battle too hard this weekend. I didn't have a good feeling in that stage."
"I could have gone faster in the first part because there was a big rock in the road and I lost time avoiding it."
"I don't have the best confidence with the car, it's really challenging now and not going in the direction I was hoping for. The turn-in doesn't give me the confidence at the moment."
"That was a messy stage for me. The braking caught me out in some places and, for sure, I lost four or five seconds."
"The car had a lot of understeer and we were going out on the fastest corners. We're playing a little bit with the diffs to try and keep the front on the road."
"That was a typical Rally GB stage. It was really, really slippy but a nice stage character."
"We made some changes between the stages and it was really bad. Never had so many moments. I need to change it back again!"
"That wasn't good. I think we had a front-left puncture close to the start. That means we did two thirds of the stage with a flat tyre."
SS8
"Lacked the confidence yesterday but the engineers have made some changes overnight and it definitely felt better in that one. The road conditions are better this morning, as well."
"It was not that bad this morning, compared to yesterday. Not sure if the set-up is better – we will find out during the day."
"It's a bit better today. It's hard to estimate the grip in the dark but we're trying our best."
SS7
"I can only laugh because we are so slow. I was pushing my maximum. It's quite ridiculous. I don't know what I'm doing wrong. I don't have any grip."
"I haven't been confident or comfortable all day. Tomorrow is a new day and I hope I can enjoy it more."
"I had a really good rhythm. Generally, I'm happy with my day. I couldn't have done much more. Tomorrow should be more even with the road conditions."
"It's really difficult to enjoy when you see the stage times. I'm losing a lot – and I mean a lot!"
"I think we should have been more competitive in there, there wasn't a fantastic feeling in the stage. It's a good position to be in but tomorrow will be a key day."
"I tried to do my best. The time of Thierry is incredible. My time is not fantastic, it's like what it was before."
"I did what I could but there's nothing more I can do. I don't have traction. I can't get the grip to the ground. There is too much understeer."
"We want to be in the fight. The speed is there but the time we have lost already will be difficult to get back."
"We don't have a great balance with the car – it's the diffs. It's quite frustrating because you can see where the time in going. "
"This morning I wasn't good on this stage so I tried a bit harder this afternoon, I was a bit ore on the limit."
stopped
SS6
stoped
SS5
stojí
stopped
rolled
"I feel quite lost and without being able to get back to service I'm struggling to find the confidence in the car. I have lots of understeer and I can't commit to the corners."
"We changed a bit the car to compensate understeer but the road conditions changed too.It is more enjoyable though."
"It was a relatively clean stage. I'm trying to stay neat and tidy. I'm gutted about the puncture from this morning but I can't dwell on that."
"That stage was good and I was trying to be very clean and not sliding too much. It seems to be working well at the moment."
"The understeer is better and the feeling is better. It's been a good run for me."
"We went wide a couple of times and Nicolas was losing his voice a couple of times and I couldn't hear some of his pace notes."
"The feeling was no so bad, some places are wet and some are quite dry. Seb must have had a good run."
"We played a bit with what we had [at the regroup] and I was happy with the car in this stage. It felt better."
SS4
puncture
"Unfortunately, I hit something in the middle of the road and I got a puncture. I had to drive on this for quite a long time."
"That was difficult. Very hard to see the surface and feel the grip. These are totally new conditions for me so we'll do this afternoon's loop carefully as well."
"It was great and the feeling was good. We maybe lost some seconds catching Serderidis but it's hard to see behind you in these conditions."
"Not good. I got a puncture in the rear."
"The grip wasn't so bad in there. I could be faster in many places but it's so tricky."
"Really struggling, especially in the braking areas. It would probably be easier if it was raining. I need to find a better feeling and try to ease myself into it."
"It was a slow puncture and then it went at the end of the stage. It's been a clean rally and I haven't been anywhere I shouldn't have so it's a bit of a mystery how it's gone down."
"We are losing so much so I am almost laughing. I'm missing a lot of confidence as we try to find out where the grip is."
"Our tyres are working well but I'm still not finding it easy. I'm trying to be clean and attack when I can. I don't want to overdrive so it's a very difficult balance."
"I'm not happy with that one. The car doesn't turn and I'm understeering too much. I have no confidence."
"The grip was more constant than in the other stages but we have to do some more."
"The car is working so we cross our fingers and continue. The stage was good for me. I tried to keep my line and drive well."
"It was a bit funny. I'm not happy with the car at all – not behaving like I would like. It's understeering quite a lot and I'm using the handbrake far too much."
"It looks not so good. Hard to judge the grip and maybe not daring enough. You need to be confident."
SS2
rolled
"Very slippery, I did two times off the good line and lost some time. Not too easy to find the grip. You can definitely push more."
"Car is working fine but I think I could drive faster."
"A clean run but maybe a bit too wide in the exit of some of the corners."
"It doesn't feel good to be honest. The car got stuck between gears a few times on the stage. I don't know why. Hopefully it's nothing that will develop."
"It was quite bad. I tried to be fast in a few corners but was always wide. I stopped trying after that."
"Very slippery and a few judders there. Having to use the handbrake in 5th and 6th gear corners to get the car to turn in some places. Very tough."
"Really happy as very slippery. When the mud gets cleaned a bit and you're left with the cobblestones, it's very hard. But I'm happy with my driving and the car."
"Incredibly slippery, tried to be neat and tidy and not do anything silly."
"Really difficult to keep the rhythm as the grip is changing so much. Very tricky to estimate the grip and how fast you should go."
"We tried hard in a few places but the grip was so changeable and was so low. It was hard to find the right balance with the car."
"Really, really slippery – more than I expected. Very hard to get the feeling."
"I think we were losing some time. It felt slippy and I couldn't get the best feeling from the driving. I don't know why."
"I went wide and stalled the engine. I had to restart. I was struggling like hell with the understeer."
"The beginning was really polished and slippery but it was still a clean run and no problem."
"I struggled because it was very slippery. Not sure if it's getting better behind. Difficult to find a rhythm. The handling is not perfect."
SS1
"It was quite okay but our lights were showing in the sky. I didn't see very much."
"It's a big field in WRC 2 but I'm really looking forward to this rally. I think it's going to be real fun."
"Short start, not easy conditions. I'm happy to be here. Tomorrow is the real start with a beautiful and long day. We'll have to be on it!"
"I will really have fun and try to enjoy the stages this weekend."
"It wasn't so bad. Hopefully it was good fun for the fans because it's all about them. The proper stages come tomorrow."
The stage felt it was going quite well so I'm happy. We're all set for tomorrow."
"It was alright. Hard to judge the grip at the first corner but it was okay."
"It was alright. Hard to judge the grip at the first corner but it was okay."
"The car stalled when I pulled the handbrake. Something's not quite right."
"It was actually quite slippery in there. I was expecting the grip to be a bit better."
"No sense to put any higher targets. Need to try and be smart. So tricky in there so anything can still happen."
"We really have nothing to lose. Our starting position isn't perfect but we will push as hard as we can tomorrow."
"The stage is incredible. They didn't mark properly where the stage goes and I'm not sure I went properly through some cones..."