Andrea Mabellini: “We started the day well, but we landed too hard on one of the jumps in Kislőtér. The car was OK, but we got hit pretty hard on the landing, I managed to hold on to the steering wheel, but my co-driver Virginia got a huge hit. She’s in pain, but she wouldn’t think of giving up the race. When I asked her she said we were in the lead, so we’d be fighting to the end. A real hero. Anyway, the car feels good, we’ve got the set-up right, we can do everything we set out to do.”
Roohe Korhonen: “The style of the stages is completely different from each other, but also from the ones I’ve raced on before – it’s a bit like being on the Safari Rally. The car is fine, we’re in a good rhythm, I hope it stays that way.”
Jon Armstrong: “We’re in a good rhythm, we’re going at a good pace. We had a puncture in Kislőtér, but luckily, we didn’t lose much time. The second section will be much harder because of the stones, but we’ll try not to make any mistakes. Overall, I’m really enjoying the stages, we’re drifting a lot, which I really like.”
Simone Tempestini: “In the first stage there was a part where we lost a lot of time, and I don’t know exactly why. In the second one we were more focused and a bit faster, and I’m aware of where we lost time. It’s a huge challenge to race on these stages, but I know now where we can improve and get faster.”
Miko Marczyk: “The first stage was good, even though it was slippery, somehow we managed to find some grip. Kislőtér went well last year, but we lost some time now. In the second section we’ll try to get a bit closer to the leaders, although we have to be careful, because it’s very easy to get a puncture here.”
Mads Ostberg: “There’s a worrying sound in the rear of the car and I was afraid to stop at the regrouping point, because I did not know, if I could restart or not. We don’t know what’s wrong, we’re trying to find the source of the problem and fix the car in the service park. As for the race, the morning didn’t go as well as I thought it would, we lost more time than usual, but we’ll try to push a bit more in the afternoon. The stages are familiar from when I raced in the Hungarian championship, so I’ll try to use the experience I gained then.”
Jos Verstappen: “It’s nice to be remembered here in Hungary, although I’m not very proud of my F1 career, but the experience I gained is useful, and I can now help my son. As for the rally, I’m not particularly happy with the result, but it’s our first gravel race and I’m trying out different driving styles. It’s great to be back in motorsport. We learn a lot on these stages, I watch the other guys and they drive in a completely different way to me – I try to imitate them, but I can’t do it overnight. We spun in a turn, we got to the turn quicker than I thought, but we modified the pacenote.”
Norbert Herczig: “We feel very good on the stages, it’s a great feeling to see the Hungarian fans and flags alongside, to be honest, I was a bit emotional about it, obviously, it comes with the age. Fortunately, age didn’t affect our pace, the morning stages went well, we only had one small mistake: in Várpalota, we drifted down the hill into the woods, but that wasn’t so dramatic either. We will push in the afternoon!”
Martin László: “We spun in the last stage and lost about eight to ten seconds, which I wasn’t so happy about, because the first two stages went quite well. I would go all day in Kislőtér, if I could, because I like it so much and it worked out well for us. What are my plans for the afternoon? Same as the morning, but without the mistakes.”
Gábor Német: “Basically, the first section was fine: Hegyesd went well despite the fact that we were sliding a lot and the car set-up was not fully comfortable for me. In Kislőtér it was difficult to keep the car on the stage, and in the middle of the stage I thought we had a puncture, so I slowed down a bit, but fortunately, it turned out that there was nothing wrong. We tried to bring Várpalota down in a smart way – and we did.”
András Hadik: “Always these punctures! We already had a slow puncture in yesterday’s qualifying stage, and again today in Kislőtér, about three quarters of the way through the stage. I thought about stopping to change it, but in the end, I decided not to and it was the right decision. As for the other two stages, the morning one was very slippery, but of course, our starting position wasn’t ideal either, so that could have been the reason, but in Várpalota everything was fine, I reset the car, so it worked fine.”
Márton Bertalan: “The feeling was good, but we have not collected many kilometres with this car – the first section was the real test for us. It’s unbelievable what the car is capable of. We’re going to learn a lot from this race, we’ve already learned a lot. We’re trying to finish the race.”