Monte-Carlo : After SS9 - Quotes
After finishing the first loop of stages, the drivers are back to the service area. Before the action restarts in the afternoon, we get some comments from the drivers after they completed the first three stages of Leg 2.
Marcus Gronholm (Ford)
"I`m happy to have widened my lead this morning but conditions have been very difficult again. The last stage was extremely slippery and it`s hard to judge what is a good pace. I`m enjoying leading, but I`m not enjoying the mixed conditions. It`s more a case of surviving than driving at maximum speed - but I`m surviving quite well! My tyre choice was good but now we have another tough tyre selection to make because the summit of the Col de Turini will be slushy."

Mikko Hirvonen (Ford)
"I fixed the problem after the first stage by disconnecting the chassis controller and had a steady drive in the next two. I hit a wall in the last stage but it wasn`t a problem. The road was narrow, covered with gravel and with big ditches alongside and it was easy to make a mistake. I tried to find a good speed but be cautious at the same time because I could earn a good finishing position without being on maximum attack."

Stephane Sarrazin (Subaru)
“All okay but it was very slippery out there – especially on the last part of the first stage (SS7) where it`s easy to make a mistake. I`m pushing when I`m sure it`s okay but when it`s not then I take it more slowly. I was very happy with the second and third stages. My target is to make good tyre choices and finish the rally with no mistakes.”

Chris Atkinson (Subaru)
“It`s going pretty well but was quite tricky this morning. We went on a slick and there were some icy patches but everything was okay. On the last stage (SS9) we had two small spins on very slow corners, which was pretty frustrating as we had to move the car backwards and forwards a few times, so lost 30 or 40 seconds. But no major mistakes. We dropped back a little bit on the leaderboard but we`re still happy and setting some good times. We`ve taken a cautious approach since the start and nothing`s going to change. We`re aiming to get in the points and if we do that we`ll be happy. “

Matthew Wilson (Stobart)
“The road conditions weren`t as bad as yesterday; there wasn`t as much ice around. The difficulty comes in trying to read the road and reading where the ice starts and stops. Where the asphalt is dry, the tyres are fantastic. We went out on the soft compound BF Goodrich this morning, and really pushed them, you can lean on them so much – it`s amazing. Then you go over a bridge or something, and the ice starts. When the car starts sliding all over the place, it takes away some of your confidence. When I came to this rally, I expected it to be quite tough, but I don`t think I expected it to be as tough as it has been. It`s a real challenge.”

Pieter Tsjoen (Stobart)
“I really hate all this ice! Back at home in Belgium we don`t have many rallies like this. Okay, there`s the odd event – like the Boucles de Spa in February – with some, but nothing like this. I`m really, really happy in the dry and the times on these kind of roads are good. But when we get ice, I`m backing off. I don`t want to crash.”

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