1: Sebastien Loeb/Daniel Elena
“It was very difficult with a lot of grip changing. Little ice in the corners where we completely lose the grip – not funny at all being first on the road. In these conditions I would rather go home!””

3: Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen
“It was difficult to charge fast. Really slippy and dreadful there. It makes it difficult because it is different from when we recced. You don’t know what is under the wheels. Cancelling the first stage was a good decision. We might have rain later – so bring it on!”

2: Dani Sordo/Marc Marti
“At the moment not bad, but we had to be careful in there. It is important for us to score points here. The target is to finish in the top seven, but in these conditions it is not easy.”

8: Matthew Wilson/Scott Martin
“Very hard not knowing what is coming up, but we are driving steady.”

11: Toni Gardemeister/Tomi Tuominen
“Too cautious at the start of the stage, but getting better now”

4: Jari-Matti Latvala/Miika Anttila
“Normally I am OK with this but with these tyres it is not easy. I can see the braking points in there and it’s getting less slippy.”

6: Chris Atkinson/Stephane Prevot
“There are a few patches of ice in some corners so you have to be a bit cautious but we tried to push. We need a bit of luck today and I am learning about the changes we have made to the car since Japan.”

5: Petter Solberg/Philip Mills
“This is very difficult – the ice is breaking up but it is very hard. I just have to stay calm and keep the car on the road.”

14: Henning Solberg/Cato Menkarud
“That was hard – hard to get into a proper flow with the unpredictable grip.”

12: Per-Gunnar Andersson/Jonas Andersson
“We nearly stalled at the start of this stage which lost us about a second which was very annoying. There was not as much ice left by the time we came through so the grip was a lot better.

16: Conrad Rautenbach/David Senior
“We started slow and it has been a long morning – but we are taking it steady.”

18: Mads Ostberg/Ole Kristian Unnerud
“It is difficult to know where to drive with the ice remaining in some places. I am sure it will be much better this afternoon.”

19: Khalid Al Qassimi/Michael Orr
“Learning all the time! These conditions are incredible!”

20: Barry Clark/Paul Nagle
“Love it! I don’t mind the weather but we spun at 4mph driving through the cancelled stage this morning. It will get better this afternoon, I’m sure.”

22: Gareth Jones/Clive Jenkins
“The car is not warm yet – crazy slippy on the first stage, so I am glad they cancelled that one.”

63: Dave Weston Jr/Aled Gardner
Really happy to do this. Just difficult to get into the swing of things. Steep learning curve!”