Rally Italia Sardegna: Day 2Toyota Yaris WRC fighting for the lead after another fine Friday performance

Quotes:
Tommi Mäkinen (Team Principal)

“Overall it’s been quite a strong day for us. Jari-Matti was doing really well this morning and leading the rally, so it was a shame that he rolled this afternoon. It seems the car was still running OK after that, but then something happened with the steering in the final stage and he went off the road. Once again, Ott has been very strong on a Friday despite being at the front of the road order. It was a great job by him and he is in a good position going into tomorrow, even though he had to do an extra stage on his tyres this afternoon. I think Kris always knew today wouldn’t be easy as he didn’t know the stages, but I think he managed it well and he can move forward tomorrow.”

Ott Tänak (Driver car 8)

“It has been a challenging day but I believe we did everything we could. This afternoon we had an extra challenge running first on the road: Some sections were OK but in the narrow sections the ruts were full of loose gravel and it was really hard to find traction. In the last stages it was difficult for us to compete with the guys whose tyres had done one less stage. But we had a good rhythm and I could just try to push on every stage. Tomorrow it will be a big fight but we will have a better road position and hopefully this will make all the difference.”

Jari-Matti Latvala (Driver car 10)

“We had a really good morning. It was very hot and I knew the tyre wear would be high in those conditions, so I took five hard tyres and I think it was a great choice. Then in the first stage of the afternoon, at a hairpin I pulled the handbrake too early, we cut the inside of the corner and rolled. It was a stupid mistake. It took a lot of effort for Miikka and I to get the car back on its wheels. The car was driving fine in the next stage and we could set a good time. But on the last stage, accelerating out of a hairpin the steering locked to the left and we went off the road and couldn’t continue. It’s difficult to take at the moment but hopefully we can come back and enjoy it tomorrow.”

Kris Meeke (Driver car 5)

“These stages today were mostly new for me, and I struggled a bit this morning just to find my way. We maybe could have had a different tyre choice as well, as the temperatures were very high already by mid-morning which was tough on the medium tyres. This afternoon was stronger and we had a decent rhythm. The car’s been near perfect and I’m generally quite happy. Tomorrow’s stages are more traditional from this rally and I have knowledge of them from the past, so hopefully the feeling should be better and we’ll try to take every position we can.”

What's next?

Saturday is the longest day of the rally, containing 142.42 competitive kilometres. The three stages, each run twice either side of mid-day service in Alghero, are the furthest east on the event.

Key stage: Monte Lerno (SS12 & SS15, 28.03 kilometres)

Martin Järveoja (Co-driver car 8):“This is probably the most famous stage of the rally – certainly Micky’s Jump is very well known. It’s generally quite fast and flowing but it has some very technical sections in it too. As the last stage of a long loop, tyre wear is going to be a big factor.”