Car 1, Ogier/Ingrassia
“It was okay. It was not easy, a lot of dust. I braked much to early for the hairpin left. But it’s okay, tomorrow that will be the real start.”
Car 2, Latvala/Anttila
“I went with full soft tyres. It was all right. It was a bit loose on the long right hand corner.”
Car 3, Meeke/Nagle
“It’s just so nice to come to place where rally and motorsport is appreciated. I think everyone is trying to play a game with the tyres but we’ll see how it goes.”
Car 4, Ostberg/Andersson
“Today is been very long! It’s nice that the car is running so perfectly. It even looks a bit better! No problems at all. Pleased that everything is working. Looking forward to tomorrow.”
Car 5, Evans/Barritt
“The car feels good, but I’m typically poor at specials. There’s a long way to though. The atmosphere is incredible. I don’t like the super specials, I can’t get into the rhythm. We have work to do.”
Car 6, Tanak/Molder
“The feeling is good, no worries. We had mixed tyres.”
Car 7, Neuville/Gilsoul
“I tried a strange mix of tryes, but it’s been okay. I went a bit wide on the first corner, but other than that I had a good stage.”
Car 8, Sordo/Marti
“It was very nice to see all the spectators. I think it will be the same in the stages. It’s nice to be near to home.”
Car 9, Mikkelsen/ Floene
“It was great fun, a great way to kick off the rally. A really nice special stage. A clean stage to begin with for us, but it was really dusty. It should be a good weekend though.”
Car 12, Al Qassimi/ Patterson
“The only thing is that we went for the hard tyre. I felt it, it was very, very difficult, but I was trying to save tyres for the rally.”
Car 14, Kubica/ Szczepaniak
“It was good. It’s been a long break since Mexico – nearly three months. It’s a long time without testing. It will not be easy to get the feeling, but we will try.”
Car 20, Paddon/Kennard
“It’s amazing to see so many people, they’re enjoying it and it makes it pleasure to drive. We’ve got a few Portuguese on the team, so we wanted to represent them.”
Car 21, Prokop/Tománek
“It was great. I was thinking on the start if everything will be okay because it’s a new car. But it was good, so many spectators.”
Car 31, Al Rajhi/Orr
“I slowed a little bit because I saw the crash and didn’t want to make the same mistake. We look forward to starting tomorrow and we’ll see what’s going on.”
Car 34, Giordano/Sarreaud
“That was not bad but not very good – I make a lot of big slides. It’s my first time in the gravel. A lot of mistakes but no big mistakes.”
Car 37, Bertelli/Bernacchini
“Enjoying it, it’s great for the crowds. It’s different without the pace notes. We’re just hoping to finish in the top ten.”
Car 39, Breen/Martin
“I was trying to focus my best. I was on the soft tyre, using every inch of the tarmac! I have a really good feeling with the car.”
Car 40, Ketomaa/Lindstrom
“It was good fun, a great stage with lots of spectators.”
Car 41, Fuchs/ Mussano
“It’s a very nice rally, it’s amazing. The roads are made for these cars.”
Car 42, Al-Attiyah/Baumel
“Really we are so happy to be here. You see the spectators, it’s a nice move from south to north. I think it will give the rally a lot of points. It’s great to be here.”
Car 43, Tidemand/Axelsson
“Fantastic! I really enjoyed it. Great car to drive, a lot of people here, I really enjoyed it. I want to get the car to the finish. It’s been a good experience for the team so far. It’s good fun.”
Car 44, Kremer/Winklhofer
“It was really nice, good. But we must learn with the car.”
Car 45, Shaymiev/Tsvetkov
“Not bad, but you know I am so tired!”
Car 47, Gorban/Korsia
“It was very slippery, we spun twice, we didn’t have a good time I think. Tomorrow we start the rally.”
Car 49, Hirschi/Landais
“On the first corner, he (Camilli) crashed his car! You start a 350km rally and crash on the first corner! Okay, we can all make a mistake.”
Car 50, Grondal/Eilertsen
“It felt really good. The organizer has but an Evo X in front of us, a car we’re 45seconds quicker than in shakedown, so tomorrow will be a tough day. It’s dangerous, they need to do something about it.”
Car 70, Lappi/Ferm
“You have to lose sometimes, but you can win others! Like other have been saying tyre tactics are important here. We’re playing for the whole rally. The start was not so bad, but I guarantee we’ll do better, so just wait for that!”
Car 71, Parn/Morgan
“It was our first WRC 2 stage, so I’m happy I finished it. It was a nice super special stage with lots of spectators.”
Car 72, Sousa/Magalhães
“Pretty much good. First time in the Peugeot on the Hancook tyres. I’m pleased to be part of the WRC family. Top five would be good, but we’ve only done 100k of testing.”
Car 73, Maurin/Klinger
“It was good, very good stage. So many people. It was a good start.”
Car 74, Koci/Kostka
"We had no intercom so I did the stage with no pace notes. We start the rally tomorrow."
Car 77, Pedder/Moscatt
“It was fantastic, great crowd, beautiful night. Still getting used to the car, time was okay, just looking forward to tomorrow. All we need are some kangaroos and some pubs and it could be Australia!”
Car 92, Lategan/White
“It was really good, we were really enjoying it. The first lap was a bit sketchy, but after that it all started going smoothly.”
Comments:
Car 48, Camilli/Veillas
Crashed on the first corner (hit the left side on the concrete barrier) and lost two wheels, breaking them off at the hub
Car 75, Al-Kuwari/Clarke
Car set on fire due to a fuel leak. Fire was quickly put out.