Drivers' quotes after SS5 "Tempio Pausania 1"

DATE: June 1 2024 FLASH N° 5

DAY: 2

STAGE: SS 5 “Tempio Pausania 1” STAGE LENGTH 12,03  KM

WEATHER: Sunny

ROAD CONDITIONS: Dry

Car #27 A. Fourmaux - A.Coria (Ford Puma Rally1) ”The car is all good, once we have electric power it is working. It is really unfortunate what happened yesterday, but it is part of the rally anyway. Nothing we can do today as first on the road, we just learn how to drive it and try things on the car”.

Car #13 G. Munster - L. Louka (Ford Puma Rally1): "There is no line.It is demanding, just driving super slow and you have to be cautious at every corner”.

Car #33 E. Evans - S. Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1): "A difficult stage to open the day. For sure, it is always difficult to judge the grip in here, it always seems low but we did what we could”.

Car #11 T. Neuville - M.Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1): "I do not know, it did not feel so quick. The conditions are really horrible, it's so sandy. I had a clean run through, just struggling to keep the rear in line. I was careful in a few places but if you want to do more you can easily go out and hit something”.

Car #18 T. Katsuta - A. Johnston (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1): ”Overall very very low grip. I did not feel good at all. Zero grip”.

Car #6 D. Sordo - C. Carrera (Hyundai i20 N Rally1): “Really tricky and demanding stage. I was a bit careful in a few places, it is difficult to keep the car in the line. I lost a bit of time at the beginning and made some mistakes. The time is not so good, we need to try and push a little bit more in the next”.

Car #8 O. Tänak - M. Järveoja (Hyundai i20 N Rally1): “It started OK, but then I realized we had the bonnet open so it was disturbing quite a lot. It was just my side so I need to see what is there”.

Car #17 S. Ogier - V. Landais (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1): "I have a puncture since the beginning. I have no idea why”. [rear right tyre off the rim]

Car #25 S. Pajari - E. Mälkönen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2): “I did not notice [hitting something]. I saw some cars in front also losing some parts. If splits are good it is fine. I had a quite an OK run, but it was quite tricky. I had good speed but it is hard to be clean in there”.

Car #40 P.L. Loubet - L. Pascaud (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2): “Not a perfect stage for me. Difficult to be clean, I was struggling a bit. Not so good, the time is not so great but it is still long”

Car #31 J. Solans - R. Sanjuan (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2): “Quite crazy. I can't imagine how it will be in the second pass. The car stalled in a hairpin and I lost 3-4s, it is quite tricky”.  

Car #27 G. Linnmäe - J. Morgan (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2): “I think we just made a very bad tyre choice for the morning. We do not have grip at all”

Car #43 M. Bulacia - D. Vallejo (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2): “It started pretty good. These stages are pretty difficult. We touched a bank slightly, we will see. We should not have any damage. We need to continue, the rhythm was quite good. Happy with the pace”.

Car #47 J. McErlean - J. Fulton (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2): “It has been a rough old ride, but it is enjoyable. There is something we need to do in the setup. It is an OK start of the morning. It is always good to have a good battle”.

Car #22 N. Gryazin – K. Aleksandrov (Citroen C3 Rally2): “I was thinking Molly would be here so I brought some flowers in the bonnet, but it is also for you Julian! I was not cutting anything, there is no place to cut. Just from the ground in the last 2km it was easier to understand where the line was. In some places we were feeling really nice. Overall the feeling of the car started to be very good. Now I will just work on the driving”.

Car #41 T. Suninen - M. Markkula (Hyundai i20 N Rally2): “Still the same. We are struggling quite badly with the car. I have to fight all the time with it”

Car #26 L. Joona - J. Hussi (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2): “There was some very narrow part where we hit some tree or something like that, not a big impact. Otherwise, it was a really very tricky stage. I have to get confidence with the car in this kind of stages but we are trough so that is the important”.