WRC Rd 4: Loeb wins, Solberg leads title, Peugeot extends lead

Petter Solberg, Subaru World Rally Team, third and leads title with 26 points: “I'm very happy actually. My plan for this rally was third or fourth place and we've come away with some good points and the lead of the championship. We knew it would be difficult right from the start. In fact we did okay but later on, on the hard and dry roads, we were far away. But that's how it is sometimes, I didn't want to lose those six points, so took it steady and went for the best possible finish. I'm feeling very positive about the championship now. For sure we have some work to do, but overall the feeling is good. I'm very happy with the new car and with 12 more rallies to go, things are looking very interesting.

David Lapworth, Subaru World Rally Team Principal: “For us, it's mission accomplished. We came here with a very clear strategy - to finish on the podium and Petter has done exactly that. He's kept out of trouble, there not a mark on the car, he hasn't taken any risks and has maintained his lead in the Championship. It's not easy for any of us not to drive for a win, but I think it was the right thing to do and now Petter goes into a run of events that suit him. Chris has had a very good weekend. His times on Friday underlined his potential and he's learned an enormous amount about the event, which will put him in a very strong position next year. That's exactly what he came here to do.

Francois Duval, Citroen Sport, fourth place and first points for the season: "My target was always to finish inside the top five," underlines. "I needed to score my first points with the team and I couldn't have taken more risks than I took. It was only my second outing on gravel with the Xsara and I succeeded in being consistent. I am really very happy with this result…"

Markko Martin, Total Peugeot WRC, fifth: "I have made a big step in understanding how to drive the 307 WRC on this rally, but I think I discovered it a bit late. I tried changing my driving style during the last afternoon of the rally and it seemed to work well: I was able to pass Toni Gardemeister and take fifth. I need to left foot brake a bit more, but this is quite a different driving style to what I am used to. The final result could have been better, but it's more important that I understand the 307 WRC and our new Pirelli tyres as best as I can, so this rally has been an extremely useful experience."

Toni Gardemeister, BP-Ford World Rally Team, sixth: "The morning started well. I was quicker than Martin on the first stage. On the next I was nervous about the condition of the tyres so I drove carefully at the beginning. The final 10km were twisty and narrow so I tried to keep the Focus on the clean line in the road that had been created by the cars ahead. It was still pretty slippery so I drove as smoothly as possible. I chose harder compound tyres for the final stages but because there were no new tyres left in our allocation, I had to use ones with an older construction. The grip wasn't quite as good as the new version. I tried my hardest, but I couldn't keep Markko behind me. A points result is always good but I'm disappointed not to finish fifth. I would have been much happier if I could have finished in front of him."

Malcolm Wilson, BP-Ford team director: "After losing one of our drivers before the start following an accident, a points finish is a good result and extends our scoring record to 48 rallies. On the other hand, I'm disappointed Toni lost out to Markko on the final stage. It's the second rally in a row where we have lost places on the last stage. We paid the price for using our allocation of new construction tyres on the first two days. It's nobody's fault, just the way the rules are.”

Chris Atkinson, Subaru World Rally Team, seventh and first WRC points: It's good to get to the finish, but it would have been nice to get a better result. It's a bit of a shame that we lost some of the pace we had earlier in the rally. The plan was to build up the speed, but in fact we've ended up doing pretty much the opposite. We've certainly learned a lot about the set-up of the car though. Some things worked well, others not so well. The last two stages actually felt pretty good, I was much more comfortable with the handling, but at that point there was no reason to push too hard. Overall I'm pretty happy. We did some good times this weekend, and that's encouraging, the pace is there, but I need more time in the car to go fast all the time.

Gigi Galli, Mitsubishi, eighth: "Our goal was to get to the finish and be in the points, so I think we did our job well. We had some technical problems in the first leg and then today we drove these stages for the first time; they are very twisty and complicated but we didn’t have any problems. Personally I have to feel very satisfied with our own performance."

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