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Qatar M-Sport WRT: Midday quotes, Rally de Espana, Day 2

Thierry Neuville (3rd) said:
"I'm in a podium position at the moment so it is not so bad, but still I cannot drive how I would like to. The settings are not 100 per cent correct for these stages and although we have tried a lot of different things, we're not seeing too much of a difference - maybe we should put some more abrasive Tarmac on the stages I'm struggling with and I'm sure my times would improve! We have already lost a lot of time to the front, so the mission now will be to keep that gap as small as possible."

Evgeny Novikov (5th) said:
"I think it has been quite a good morning for us. We're not taking any big risks and we have been especially careful in the cuts so as to minimise the risk of any punctures. But all in all I am happy with the driving and everything is OK. Hopefully we can increase a little bit more this afternoon and set some more good times."

Mads Østberg (7th) said:
"We made quite a big change to the car before the last stage [this morning, SS6] which helped a lot. Before that I wasn't able to find the rhythm and it was almost like I didn't trust the car going into the corners. If I braked just a little too late there was massive understeer. We raised the car and stiffened the front, and straight away I felt more confident."

Hayden Paddon (9th) said:
"We're learning the car reasonably quickly but we are just struggling a little with the balance and therefore can't carry the corner speed we would like. We're changing things after each stage and constantly learning, so hopefully we can hit the sweet spot. The combinations of what does and doesn't work are different to what we're used to so it's a bit of a learning curve at the moment. On the last stage [this morning, SS6] for example, we improved the understeer but then that sacrificed the grip too much. It's all part of the process and any time behind the wheel is great for us. It's great to be out there and the car feels good, it's just taking a bit of time to work out how to get that last little bit of performance."

Nasser Al-Attiyah (11th) said:
"I've felt a lot more comfortable this morning, but still these stages are very difficult. We don't know them [this morning's stages] so well and they are really fast with a lot of blind corners so your notes need to be really precise. We just need to continue the way we have been. We're quite comfortable with our pace at the moment so we won't make any major changes in service. Our aim is just to get through all of the stages cleanly and try to take as much knowledge and experience away from this weekend as possible."

Elfyn Evans (2nd in WRC 2) said:
"This morning wasn't bad for us, but it is not easy to get the grip. We're not having the same grip levels that you might expect here - there's certainly less grip out there than I had anticipated. The car is moving around a lot more, but at the same time it's reasonably well balanced so it is a challenge for sure. It's definitely a tricky morning, but I wouldn't say it was a bad one - the main problem is just Robert [Kubica]! After trading times with him over the past two rallies, it's difficult to say why we're not as close here. He's certainly putting in a very impressive performance."