DATE: 5 June 2014 FLASH NUMBER: 01
DAY: 01
SPECIAL STAGE: SS01 – Città di Cagliari DISTANCE: 1.3km
WEATHER: sunny
ROAD CONDITIONS: dry
Car #74 S. Chardonnet / T. De La Haye: It was very slippery. The tyres were very cold at the beginning. But that’s good.
Car #36 K. Kruuda / M. Jarveoja: The atmosphere is fantastic. It was very tricky. We had a little delay but I don’t think it had affected anything.
Car #40 N. Al-Attiyah / G. Bernacchini: A short stage, people were fantastic. We must be very clever here tomorrow.
Car #41 N. Fuchs / F. Mussano: It was very narrow, a lot of concrete but I am very happy. I made a mistake in a corner then I pushed hard. This rally is very rough, things will go serious on Friday.
Car #12 K. Al Qassimi / C. Patterson: Everything was happening so fast today. It was not an easy one and it was easy to make mistakes. Tomorrow will be important not to do mistakes and think well about strategy.
Car #21 Prokop M. / J. Tomanek: Lot of people here. This stage was for them and it was ok.
Let’s see for tomorrow, it is very difficult this race, I’ll try to give my best.
Car #8 J. Hanninen / T. Tuominen: I had a good start and then I tried to take it easy. We started well this rally.
Car #6 E. Evans / D. Barritt: Pretty good for the moment. The atmosphere is fantastic here. We’ll see how it will be tomorrow.
Car #10 R. Kubica / M. Szczepaniak: I made a mistake, I was trying to steer enough, it was a narrow, there was a moment that I nearly stopped in a corner.
Car #20 H. Paddon / J. Kennard: Not so bad, we are really really looking forward for tomorrow.
Car #9 A. Mikkelsen / O. Floene: I had no problem. Good way to start the rally in a very spectacular stage.
Car #7 T. Neuville / N. Gilsoul: I had a great start and the car was ok. I tried to do my best. I think I started well at this one. Everything’s is fine.
Car #4 M. Ostberg / J. Andersson: Very very tricky stage, but very funny and incredible. It is so unbeliavable so many people are here. Here podium is a possibility. We need to be careful and not to retire. Yes, we have to take it carefully.
Car #2 J.-M. Latvala / M. Anttila: I am trying to get the feeling I had in Argentina. We had no problems here, but now it is only the first day. It will be very demanding. I think tomorrow we will see how the things are going on.
Car #5 M. Hirvonen / J. Lehtinen: I liked it here, it was funny. I am confident for the rest of the rally.
Car #1 – S. Ogier / J. Ingrassia: It was tricky on the jump. It was ok. I mean, the rally is really starting tomorrow. It is so good to see so much people here today. I expect a tough race, my main target is Latvala.
Car #3 – K. Meeke / P. Nagle: I had a problem on the jump, we have service tonight. So no problem at all and it was nothing.
22:05 Top ten
1 5 Mikko HIRVONEN RC1 P1 1:19.1; 2 7 Thierry NEUVILLE RC1 P1 1:19.3 +0.2 +0.2; 3 1 Sebastien OGIER RC1 P1 1:19.3 +0.2 +0.0; 4 8 Juho HANNINEN RC1 P1 1:20.3 +1.2 +1.0; 5 2 Jari-Matti LATVALA RC1 P1 1:20.8 +1.7 +0.5; 6 3 Kris MEEKE RC1 P1 1:20.8 +1.7 +0.0; 7 6 Elfyn EVANS RC1 P1 1:20.9 +1.8 +0.1; 8 9 Andreas MIKKELSEN RC1 P1 1:20.9 +1.8 +0.0; 9 16 Henning SOLBERG RC1 P1 1:21.2 +2.1 +0.3;
10 4 Mads OSTBERG RC1 P1 1:21.7 +2.6 +0.5;
Lo hanno detto i piloti allo stop della PS 1
Chardonnet: “L’asfalto era abbastanza scivoloso e con i pneumatici freddi non è stato facile, ma l’atmosfera era fantastica”.
Al-Attiyah: “Un sacco di gente, davvero fantastico. Da domani dovremo stare attenti a non commettere errori, è grande essere qui”.
Fuchs: “Ho perso un po’ di tempo in una curva, ma ho poi spinto al massimo. Da domani si fa sul serio”.
Al Qassimi: “Non era una prova semplice ed era facile commettere errori. Il rally è lungo e da domani sarà importante non commettere errori”.
Hanninen: “E’ stata una buona partenza, abbiamo del margine di miglioramento ma abbiamo iniziato con il piede giusto”.
Prokop: “Ho cercato di fare il massimo. C’era davvero tanta gente e la cornice di pubblico era fantastica”.
Kubica: “Ho commesso un errore in una curva sullo stretto. Vedremo domani come andrà!”.
Paddon: “Non è andata male, ma in realtà stiamo guardando a domani”
Evans: “L”atmosfera è incredibile! Abbiamo iniziato con il piede giusto, vedremo come andrà domani”.
Mikkelsen: “Un ottimo inizio, nessun problema in una prova davvero spettacolare”.
Neuville: “La macchina è ok e abbiamo iniziato bene. Ho fatto del mio meglio”.
Ostberg: “Una prova incredibile, fantastico!”
Latvala: “In Argentina tutto è andato per il meglio e spero di confermarmi anche qui. La SSS è terminata senza problemi, ma questo rally sarà lungo e impegnativo”.
Hirvonen: “Sono contento di aver vinto questa prova, ma la gara inizia domani. Fa piacere vedere tanto pubblico e siamo venuti a Cagliari per fare divertire”.
Ogier: “Una speciale molto bella, con un sacco di gente. Il vero rally inizierà domani e mi aspetto una bella lotta con Jari-Matti”.
Meeke (atterrato violentemente in un salto): “Ho avuto un problema in un salto che verificheremo in assistenza. Ho perso un po’ di tempo ma da domani proveremo a dire la nostra”.
