Pafos A service: Notes and quotes

(Peugeot) - first overall: "We need a win, so we really have to push. The car feels very good and we should not be worrying about Harri's (Rovanpera's) retirement - we have to check what happened. Maybe he just hit a rock?" N.B. Rovanpera retired his evolution Peugeot 206 WRC on SS2 with front suspension damage.

(Hyundai) - second, +8.7s: "I had a puncture in stage one, but changed it in the control before stage two. I hit a bank in SS2 and stalled and had to restart, but I'm pretty happy."

(Subaru) - third, +15.6s: "We've got a problem on the jumps and the big ruts. The nose keeps digging in and it kicks dust into the cockpit and into my eyes. I lose a few seconds every time, because I can't see where I'm going."

(Ford) - fourth, +18.4s: "We knew it was going to be pretty bad on tyre wear, but I'm happy with the balance we struck between performance and tyre wear. I can see a clean line developing already, so we've just got to keep it in there second time around."

(Ford) - fifth, +21.2s: "I took it easy in the first stage because I thought I had a puncture - which I didn't."

(Mitsubishi) - sixth, + 41.0s: "In the corners during the second stage, the car was quite difficult to turn. Maybe it's a front differential problem, or it could just be tyre wear - we'll take a look."

(Grifone Peugeot) - seventh, +44.4s: "I wasn't able to swap the front and rear tyres around after the first stage because the jack broke. On the second stage, I was trapped behind Katsuhiko Taguchi's Mitsubishi for about 10 kilometres, so that cost me time."

(Mitsubishi) - 10th, +58.5s: Went off in SS2 and damaged his front suspension. "It wasn't that fast a corner, but I was just too quick through it. I stalled the engine when I went off."

(Subaru) - 11th, +59.6s: "Six kilometres into the second stage I lost the power steering. It's a very twisty stage and I thought I'd lose about two minutes, so only dropping 50 seconds wasn't too bad."



Carlos Sainz (Ford) and Didier Auriol (Peugeot) both report that they think the stages will be much cleaner second time around.

Alister McRae (Hyundai) has suffered three punctures in the first two stages - all on the right-hand side.

Bruno Thiry (Skoda) was held up by McRae's dust and also believes his center diff may not be working correctly.

Armin Schwarz (Skoda) punctured twice in the first stage. He reported the Michelin mousse worked effectively, but the extra strain on the suspension blew a damper. On the second stage, the German suffered two more punctures and lost center diff pressure. Not a good start.

Piero Liatti (Hyundai) says his suspension settings are too soft and will fit stiffer springs for the following stages.