Sebastien Ogier: I knew that it would be very difficult. I did almost half of the job, but there are still 14 seconds to catch up with the leaders. It is possible to recover them during the second loop, but it won’t be easy. The gap at the finish line will be very small. This morning I had to take some risks, specially with the dust, because I have no pressure to fight for the Driver’s Championship.

Thierry Neuville: I’m disappointed after I got a punture. I lost 45 seconds, but it could be worse. I went a little wide in a corner, but it was enough to push the tyre out of the rim. Now I’m fifth and I will try to recover, but it will be difficult and I don’t know if I’m going to be able to pass Hirvonen.

Jari-Matti Latvala: It was a very challenging morning. It was difficult because I was the first on the road, Specially because there were big pebbles and it was very slippery. The fight will go on during the next loop. The conditions will be different for me because I found a good line and I will focus on keeping the line and try to be very concentrated. I would love to win, but let’s see how it goes.

Dani Sordo: There was a lot of dust that made driving very difficult. The most complicated thing is to find the right braking point. This morning on gravel it went well and I felt confident. I saw I was able to fight against Latvala. Ogier was unbelievably fast and he will be even stronger in the second loop.

Mikko Hirvonen: It was ok, when the dust cleared I enjoyed it because my car is working well and at a good pace, but sometimes it was so dusty that I had to stop completely and wait for the dust to settle. I think there may still be dust for the second loop if there isn’t any wind.

Evgeny Novikov: There was some dust on the stages, but it was the same for everybody, so i can’t complain. My car is working well on gravel and I’m trying to do my best and show my speed.

Mads Ostberg: I don’t have any strategy, I’m just as fast as I can without taking stupid risks. I felt well in the car and the long ratio gearbox suits the gravel stages perfectly.

Martin Prokop: The stages were dusty, but also as I wasn’t one of the first on the road, I had to deal with the sun, that was higher and blinded me. Apart from that, everything went well and I feel confident for the future because I’m reducing the gap with the leaders on gravel.

Hayden Paddon: The morning loop was very difficult, not only because of the dust but also because it was my first time with a WRC car on gravel and I didn’t test before. The car is moving a lot and the feeling is very different from the one you have on tarmac. I need to adapt my driving to these conditions.

Andreas Mikkelsen: It’s not the first time I set a fastest time, I already did it in Greece this year. My starting position helped me, so everything went quite well, except for the last stage, where I lost about 15 seconds because I got stuck in a ditch. Luckily I was able to get the car out and on the road again.

WRC2

Robert Kubica: After two days on tarmac where I pushed a lot, now I could be more cautious, specially this morning in the first stage. In the afternoon I know that I must reach the Finish in order to be WRC2 Champion.