News and quotes SS9 (Made in FRG 1)

media064233
Oct 18
2 min read

On Saturday, the WRC1 drivers started in reverse order, which is why Grégoire Munster in the Ford Puma was the first to start the brand new Made in FRG stage. The Luxembourger experienced a ‘big moment’ when he spun at a cut. However, after a 180-degree turn, he was able to continue. Intense cutting caused a relatively large amount of dirt on the track early on, but the times improved noticeably: the best time went to Kalle Rovanperä, who started second to last in WRC1, who finished 1.3 seconds ahead of Sébastien Ogier with a time of 7:17.1 minutes, taking the overall lead.

#17 Sébastien Ogier (FRA) / Vincent Landais (FRA), Toyota GR Yaris Rally

‘I didn't feel so good. Some corners were dirtier than I expected. But the gap is still small.’

#33 Elfyn Evans (GBR) / Scott Martin (GBR), Toyota GR Yaris Rally1

‘It was okay, but not great! I would have preferred to have been faster.’

#69 Kalle Rovanperä (FIN) / Jonne Halttunen (FIN), Toyota GR Yaris Rally1

‘That wasn't too bad. But it's quite different starting from the back – much more dirt! The next stages will be even more difficult.’

#8 Ott Tänak (EST) / Martin Järveoja (EST), Hyundai i20 N Rally1

‘This is probably the easiest stage of the day. It's likely to rain on the next one.’

#1 Thierry Neuville (BEL) / Martijn Wydaeghe (BEL), Hyundai i20 N Rally1

’It wasn't great with tyres. But in our position and with the rain coming, we had to take the gamble. We don't know whether there will be a lot of rain or a little. Let's see how the next stage goes. We're keeping our fingers crossed and hoping for a lot of rain. A nice stage with lots of junctions. The start is a bit tricky because it was wet there.’

#18 Takamoto Katsuta (JPN) / Aaron Johnston (IRL), Toyota GR Yaris Rally1

’It was tricky! There's a lot of dirt on the inside of the corners. My pace notes weren't always right and I lost time.’

#16 Adrien Fourmaux (FRA) / Alexandre Coria (FRA), Hyundai i20 N Rally1

‘I'm amazed at the guys in front of me, who seem to be cutting corners even where it's not necessary. They're throwing a lot of dirt onto the track. That doesn't always make sense, because you lose time, of course. I had a good stage. Let's see how the next ones go – whether it rains or not.’

#5 Sami Pajari (FIN) / Marko Salminen (FIN), Toyota GR Yaris Rally1

‘Some of the corners are slippery. We drifted a few times – and since this isn't a drift competition, that probably cost us time.’