Hirvonen: It’s been tough out there this afternoon

Mikko Hirvonen (9th) said:

“It’s been tough out there this afternoon. I don’t feel as though we are driving too badly, but as you can see from the times, something isn’t quite right. The conditions are a little different to what we had on the test and the set-up of the car might be a bit too soft so we’ll make some changes to that for tomorrow.

“If you are even the slightest bit hesitant into the corners on a rally as fast as this, you lose so much time. We need to do something for tomorrow, and I will certainly give it my all and try to get back on the pace.”

Robert Kubica (12th) said:

“I was happy with our pace on the first stage, but then on the second [stage] we rolled and lost a lot of time. I was braking over a crest, the car unloaded and we went straight into a ditch. I should have gone straight on but I tried to recover it and we rolled. Luckily, there were lots of spectators to get us back on the stage and there was very little damage to the car.

“Of course it’s a shame that we made that mistake, but I’m happy with the pace we were showing. I want to continue with the same satisfaction on gravel that I had in Sardinia. If we can continue with the pace that we have shown this afternoon then it could be another good gravel event for us.”

Elfyn Evans (13th) said:

“The first stage didn’t feel too bad but on the second one we were a bit hesitant under braking into a corner and ended up going straight on into a field. If I’m being honest, I don’t think we lost too much time as a result of that. More than anything, I’m just struggling to find the confidence and get a good rhythm behind the wheel; on stages as fast as this, it can cost you so much time.

“We’ll have a look at the data in service and discuss with the engineers if we need to make any set-up changes for tomorrow, but we won’t do anything too dramatic. I think I just need to relax a little – stop thinking about what I’m doing so much and just enjoy the stages.”

Team Principal, Malcolm Wilson OBE, said:

“It’s been something of a disappointing day for us. It’s fair to say that both Mikko [Hirvonen] and Elfyn [Evans] have struggled to find their feet, but tomorrow is another day and we just need to look to that.

“The engineers are working hard with the drivers to see if there are any set-up changes which can help them tomorrow. We just need to focus on that and hope for better things when we restart in the morning.”

“Robert’s [Kubica] pace was very encouraging before his mishap on SS2 and it was good to see that he was able to maintain that speed after the roll. There is very little damage to his [Ford] Fiesta [RS WRC] and I hope that we will see more of the same promising times tomorrow.”