Azores ERC: Robert Kubica finding stages tough despite early lead

Ex-Formula 1 star Kubica won all three stages in his Citroen DS3 RRC of a truncated first day on the mid-Atlantic island of Sao Miguel - his first competitive mileage on wet gravel.

"Conditions are very tricky," he said. "The roads have changed quite a lot there's much more mud and because of rain, a lot of rain, was falling this morning."

After the very wet first stage, the second and following superspecial had patches of dry gravel amid puddles of standing water. Despite this being his second-only gravel rally, Kubica won every test.

"Already when it was dry the grip level was changing a lot during the stages," he added. "Where it was muddy and wet it was very tricky. It was very demanding."

Kubica added that he is looking forward to defending his position over the two days to come, but knows that more challenging tests await, not least due to a highly-volatile weather forecast.

"Tomorrow is much longer but also very tricky," he said.

"We try to learn and pick up as many new things. Today has been a good day because I have no experience of muddy and wet conditions [on gravel]."