Flash Day 1-SS1 |
Date: October 2, 2009 Time: 08:46
Stage: La Mussara 1 (20.48 km)
Weather conditions: 16º C
Road conditions: highly wet, intense gusts of wind, especially in the higher areas. The sun blinds the drivers in some stretches, especially the first participants.
Additional data: The downhill area is very wet and complex. Mikko Hirvonen banged a wheel when cutting on a corner but his car is unaffected. Dani Sordo (Citroën) clinched the scratch time, 1 second faster than Mikko Hirvonen (Ford) and 2 secs faster than Sébastien Loeb (Citroën).
Drivers' quotes
3 - Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen (Ford Focus RS WRC)
"I banged one wheel, but there's nothing to be worried about. The car is very slippery downhill"
1 - Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena (Citroën C4 WRC)
"I've got some understeer. The final part is wet and it's impressive"
2 - Daniel Sordo/Marc Martí (Citroën C4 WRC)
"I'm very happy with the scratch time. I was really careful in the final section, though"
4 - Jari-Matti Latvala/Mikka Anttila (Ford Focus RS WRC)
"My driving was not good, but it's my problem, because the car is working smoothly"
6 - Henning Solberg/Cato Menkerud (Ford Focus RS WRC)
"The final downhill section is impossible"
11 - Petter Solberg/Phil Mills (Citroën C4 WRC)
"I don't feel confident enough on the new C4 WRC, so I was reluctant to take any risks".
12 - Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia (Citroën C4 WRC)
"I've got brakes problems, so my time is not good"
7 - Evgeny Novikov/Stephane Prevot (Citroën C4 WRC)
"I spun off and I have some troubles with my brakes"
31 - Aaron Burkart/Michael Kölbach (Suzuki Swift S1600)
"I came off the track and the exhaust pipe is hanging off"
38 - Martin Prokop/Jan Tománek (Citroën C2 S1600)
"It's a very fast stage, but the final part is really hard on the brakes"
59 - Jordi Martí/Gabriel Sánchez (Renault Clio R3)
"I felt very nervous in this first stage. Besides, it was wet and that made things worse. I hope I'll have calmed down for the next stage".
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