Friday’s opening stage of the 2013 WRC Vodafone Rally de Portugal saw no major incidents, though it did put the tyre choices of many drivers into question. With a limit of just 24 tyres for the entire event, tyre choice has become more critical than ever. The morning saw bright skies and clear weather which when compared with past rallies in Portugal would suggest dusty, dry conditions. However, rain during the previous night meant the stage was extremely slippery and muddy in places, taking some drivers by surprise.
First to take on the stage was Qatar World Rally Team driver, Dennis Kuipers. He was happy with his road position, stating that he was pleased with the car and the stage because he didn’t have to do as much cleaning as he first thought.
Further down the starting order, Citroen Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team driver, Mikko Hirvonen, was generally pleased with the performance of his Citroen, though he was surprised by how changeable the stage was in terms of the mud and dust. Having opted to run with soft tyres on the rear, Mikko seemed happy with his choice, though the tyres were showing wear.
The main talking point for SS1, however, was Volkwasgen Motorsport driver, Sebastien Ogier, the fastest on the stage with a time of 12:36.4s. Still struggling will illness, Ogier’s focus was to finish well, but his choice to run four soft tyres may not have been the right one. At the stage end Ogier briefly said everything was fine, but that was all. Teammate, Jari-Matti Latvala opted for soft tyres on the rear of his Polo WRC which showed signs of damage by stage end. With considerable wear to all four tyres and a strong focus on preserving tyres for the weekend, Ogier will be one to watch as the remaining stages of the day progress.
Car 2, Hirvonen/Lehtinen
“The conditions were very changeable, some parts were completely dry, some were slippery. Really happy with the car and the drive.”
Car 3. Sordo/del Barrio
“The beginning was okay, but at the end it was very slippery, we’re just trying to save the tyres. The weather this afternoon will test the tyres.”
Car 4, Ostberg/Andersson
“It’s not so bad (the time). It was a little bit more slippery than I thought, but it was okay. I know Ogier is on soft tyres, so he will gain a lot. But we can afford to lose a little bit now because the tyres will work in the next stage.”
Car 5, Novikov/Minor
“Very good, enjoying a lot, quite narrow, very slippery.”
Car 6, Al-Attyah/Bernacchini
“Very nice, we tried to find the rhythm, I feel the car is very stiff. We just try to manage because to today is a long day.”
Car 7, Latvala/Anttila
“We have two soft and two hard. In these conditions the (soft) tyres moved too much toward the end of the stage and I lost confidence. It’s not the optimum choice. With the limits on the tyres we were forced to do this.”
Car 8, Ogier/Ingrassia
“We will see with the tyres (four soft). We’re happy. We’ll see.”
Car 9, Mikkelsen/Markkula
“It was just trying to get through the stage, it was very tricky. Just playing it safe with no risk, we didn’t want to take any chances.”
Car 10, Al Qassimi/Martin
“I need to adjust myself to drive this car better, it’s a long time since I’ve driven on gravel.”
Car 11, Neuville/Guilsoul
“Everything okay, at the end I was maybe a bit too careful checking the pace-notes. Slippery in places which would have been better on the soft tyres.”
Car 12, Kosciuszko/Szczepaniak
“It was beautiful, really, really nice. The weather is great, it was really, really fun. Enjoyed the stage. We’re going to struggle with road cleaning as we’re the second car on the road. It was raining last night which has kept the dust down.”
Car 15, Kuipers/Buysmans
“It was difficult, but it went very well. We had a good feeling with the car, the road is quite nice, I hope we get a good rhythm now.”
Car 21, Prokop/Ernst
“The problem was that it’s a bit damp so it was more and more slippery. I even thought I had a puncture because there was so much understeering. I had a big scare to stay on the road. The road is quite slippery.”
Car 31, Lappi/Ferm
“Not so good pace-notes. The second stage will be the same, but hopefully better tomorrow. ”
Car 32, Wiegand/Christian
“Basically it was not too bad. I expected less grip, but we could push hard which was a surprise. It was a good stage.”
Car 36, Al Ketbi/Hepperle
“I’m very to drive gravel again, and I’m very happy with my performance. We’re here to make it and support Dubai 2020.”
Car 40, Smailov/Rusov
“It was very and twisty and rough.”
Car 41, Fuchs/Mussano
“It was very fun, we had a problem with the camel pack and now the car is wet inside!”
Car 48, Al-Kuwari/Duffy
“Not so good, we started with no grip at all. I think I was slow on the stage.”
Car 50, Gorban/Korsia
“It was a good stage, good car.”
Car 51, Chardonnet/De La Haye
“I needed that stage to get confident, we’ll see how I am later on.”
Car 52, Gilbert/Galimiche
“I took it cautiously but the pace was not too bad.”
Car 53, Fisher/Noble
“I had good fun, the stage was very nice.”
Car 58, Riedmann/Vanneste
“Okay, no problems so far, we made a good pace.”
Car 59, Bouffier/Panseri
“It went okay at the beginning of the stage, but we got stuck behind a Group N car at the end of the stage.”
Car 60, Cronin/Clarke
“I stalled at the start of the stage, otherwise everything was okay.”
Car 61, Campdelli/Chiarcossi
“Very nice stage, everything went okay.”
Car 74, Kubica/Baran
“It was okay, a very slippery stage, we were driving a good pace but we still had a good pace. We were all over the place!”
Car 75, Evans/Barrit
“There’s lots of thing to learn. We had a clean run through the stage, so we just need to keep that up today.”
Car 76, Aska/Arena
“The car looks okay. I’m still hesitating quite a lot, we’re just going to see how today is going to come. The first stage is gone, we’re going to see the rest.”
Car 77, Ligato/Garcia
“I’m not so happy with the suspension, it’s moving around a lot.”
Car 79, Barrable/Loudon
“Happy we didn’t make any mistakes. We were quite cautions, we’re just going to go on like that. It’s a long day and a long rally.”
Car 81, Moura/Costa
“My car is jumping a little too much, but it’s okay.”
Car 82, Protasov/Sikk
“Everything is okay. It was very important to go not so fast.”
Car 83, Magalhães/Magalhães
“In the last two years I’ve done only two gravel rallies, so I need to practice.”
Car 90, Andersson/Axelsson
“The car setup is a little too soft, but it’s very good to be back.”
Car 102, Tidemand/Floene
“We passed two cars in the stage.”
Car 105, Suarez/Carrera
“I don’t understand why they didn’t give me two minutes as we caught other cars.”
Car 107, Burri/Moreau
“I still need to learn the car.”
Car 109, Aasen/Engan
“It was a good stage, we kept good rhythm.”
Car 110, Lemes/Lopez
“I had a puncture on the rear right at the start of the stage.”