Sébastien OGIER wins the stage by 1.6s from Elfyn EVANS.
Ogier extends lead over Evans to 6.5s. Adrien FOURMAUX third 23.6s
Grégoire MUNSTER
We changed everything in the car and we managed to find something that works better. We are not yet where the others are in terms of pace but I managed to be much closer and had a decent feeling in the car. I could push a bit more without taking too many risks and be consistent. So it was much more enjoyable. We changed the diff, springs, roll bar, pretty much everything.
It is an event where we’ve been competitive in the past. Last we were within four seconds of the fastest time, fighting with the Toyotas and the Hyundais. And even though the feeling is improving, we are still something like 20 seconds down. That’s not enjoyable, we are competitors and we are just not managing to compete using these tires like the others. But the team has managed to turn it around. The feeling is much more enjoyable. Even if the pace is not there, at least I’m turning better and able to run smoother on the stages.
Elfyn EVANS
Overall it has been a good day. We can be happy with most of it. The last two stages we didn’t do as well as we would have liked but on the whole it has been a good day. It could be very different conditions tomorrow,, maybe very difficult tomorrow. When it rains here the grip is quite tough so we will have to see. We’re here to score as many points as we can se we have to keep fighting.
Takamoto KATSUTA
I overshot a bit and hit the water barrier which broke the radiator and power steering system. So I had no power steering and a water pressure alarm. So that’s it. Obviously, it was important to us to fix it enough to get back onto the stage and back to the service park. Aaron did an amazing job to fix the car. It was right on the limit but we managed to fix it enough to finish the day.
Adrien FOURMAUX
We nearly lost everything in the last stages. We didn’t have any issues in the morning, it was cooler. In the afternoon I was trying not to be too aggressive but the temperature of the car kept rising and I was losing quite a lot of time in the end. The car seems to be losing grip, getting more oversteer and understeer. Then you start to push a little less and you lose time and then lose confidence in the front end. Anyway, I will make adjustments with the car, it’s not a big problem. I just want to push, we are getting closer.
Tomorrow I need to be careful not to lose too much time. But if I fight like hell in the wet I might be able to move up further. So let’s see. I trust the engineers well get the car into fighting shape.
Sébastien OGIER
I feel like I did an OK job in the afternoon but I could have done a better job in the morning. We can’t be unsatisfied with what we’ve done today, we had a strong pace. We lost a little too much ground in the morning. But after that we had a strong afternoon, good response, but the other drivers were driving to the limit. So the gaps were small everywhere. Going into the last day we are mostly positive. I think tomorrow morning the conditions will be extra challenging, it will be hard for everyone. We will have to be on it straight away tomorrow, it’s money time, Sunday is the day when we have to perform at our peak. For now, I’m looking forward to my bed and recharging the battery to be ready for tomorrow.
Ott TÄNAK
I think performance wise we’re not doing so well, but it is one day, we finished the day and we have to fight another day tomorrow and finish the rally. We’ve lost the back end of the car and we’ll have to try to fix that issue. I’m three minutes behind so it’s going to be a hard day tomorrow.
Sami PAJARI
We had some strong stages, where we were good in a couple of sections. But still some of the stages I feel like I should be able to go faster. I guess it’s a never ending thing where you’re always looking for a way to be faster but we had some good sections. We will see about the weather tomorrow, we’ll discuss with the team what should be the approach. If it’s wet conditions that’s also fine, it gives me a chance to test the car in the wet and make it more efficient which is good for the future. But for now it was enjoyable on most the stages. We’ll just wait and see what tomorrow brings.
Adrien FOURMAUX
I’m really satisfied with my pace today, it was a really good day. One of the best of the season. I was really comfortable pushing in every place of the stage. Two fastest time and really close every stage. So really positive, we’re really close to the lead tonight. But tomorrow will be a different day and we don’t know what can happen so I will have to keep my head down and focus. I’m fairly confident in the wet but the last few rallies we were struggling a little with the car in the wet sections, so I hope we have progressed in that aspect and that I can push more. The car has been working very well today.
Kalle ROVANPERÄ
I’m happy that it’s over. It was a long day to drive like that. But at least we’ve made it back and we can try to do something tomorrow. We haven’t really driven on heavy rain conditions this year. We’ll see tomorrow, it will be fairly new tomorrow if everyone was on full rain spec tires. So it would at least be something new. Obviously we will be trying to get as many points as possible so SUPER SUNDAY will be pretty important. This is this season’s last tarmac rally so I’m just going to try to have some fun.
