Andrea Mabellini: It was a totally crazy first loop, we hit the ground hard several times, we felt we had a puncture a lot of times, but luckily, we always managed to get away with it. I expect the same in the afternoon.
Roope Korhonen: We really enjoyed the morning stages – we had some great battles and caught up in the overall. The second loop will not be easy for us, we have to be very smart in the first and third stages, but I really like the second one, where we will try to push a bit harder. Of course, we’ll try to win the power stage as well.
Mads Ostberg: We’re going according to plan, and I feel good in the car. We are working well together with my co-driver. In the morning loop we were mainly focused on Tempestini, but he had a problem and we managed to overtake him. Second place is a long way off, so our main focus has to be on holding on to third. Miko (Marczyk) is very quick, I know his strengths and weaknesses, so we’ll see how I can use that to my advantage.
Miko Marczyk: I would like us to be able to drive with confidence in the afternoon, but we will need a bit of luck, especially in the first and last stages, because both of them are very hard on the car. We’ll do what we can, save the tyres, because I think this race will be a tight battle until the last minute.
Simone Tempestini: We had a very difficult morning, but despite that we are enjoying the stages and our position is not that bad. Unfortunately, we had a puncture on the third stage today, the truth is that I couldn’t avoid a stone that pinched the tyre. But there are three more stages that are going to be very exciting, we’ll try to find a good rhythm and avoid the problems and then see, if we can gain some positions. We want to enjoy every kilometre.
Jos Verstappen: The third stage was a nightmare, I couldn’t feel the rhythm at all. But I really enjoyed the other two, we had a good jump once or twice, it’s just amazing what this car is capable of. I’m gaining a lot of useful experience, I’m learning all the time.
Gábor Német: The first two stages were OK, although the road was quite slippery, even if we started seventh and the others had already cleaned it up before us. We couldn’t really drive the pace we wanted to, but overall, it was OK. We did get a left rear puncture at Nagylőtér with ten kilometres to go to the finish, I hesitated whether to stop and change the tyres or not, but in the end, I decided not to – luckily, the suspension held up. We feel sorry for the László Martin.
Sándor Ollé: It was a chaotic morning – we were down and up, too. We slipped over on the first stage, fell into a ditch and hit the front of the car, and finished with a slow puncture. We didn’t know what was going on with the steering, so started cautiously on the second stage, then we could see the car was working, so we pushed again at Nagylőtér. We’re leading in the Master category, but we don’t want to think about it, because it could end up in a rollover. Jos Verstappen is very quick, he’s quicker than me on quite a few stages, and when I’m quicker it’s because I’ve been racing on these stages for 30 years. And what will happen in the next loop? I need a bit of calm and composure.