Patrik started with the second fastest time in a pretty demanding first stage. Mikkelsen got the fastest time with 3,8 seconds ahead of Patrik. Third fastest time was Sepp Wiegand with 4,6 seconds behind. Patrik was not quite satisfied with the car after stage one, "it was hard to get control of the car properly so we need to adjust it a little" says Patrik.

The SS2 is problably the hardest stage in the rally and Patrik and Göran almost lost four minutes due to a flat tire with six kilometers still to go. "We had to take it really slow and unfurtunatly I slowed Delecour down" says Patrik. " It is so hard to see where the other cars are with all the dust and I am really sorry for slowing him down" says Patrik. Patrik and Göran lost the second place due to the flat tire and are now 3:32 minutes behind.

Mikkelsen had the fastest time on this stage. Sepp Wiegand lost over a minute due to a flat tire, Arzeno Mattieu and Andreas Aigner stopped on stage. Dan Girtofan went of the road and blocked the road. The times for the remanining cars will problably be adjusted.

In SS3 Patrik got the second fastest time, Mikkelsen finished in first place 3, 6 seconds ahead of Patrik and 4, 5 seconds ahead of Delecour. "It was quite all right, but I am not entirely happy with the car yet, before the flat tire on the previous stage it worked really good" says Patrik.

In SS4 most of the drivers had big problems with the dust even though the cars started with two minutes apart. Patrik and Göran made their way through the stage but lost over a minute because of the lack of visibility. " It is almost impossible to drive in this conditions, it is very dangerous and dusty and we needed to stop several times" says Patrik. Mikkelsen was the fastest with 39,2 seconds ahead of Delecour and a minute ahead of Patrik.

Patrik was a bit worried to drive stage seven in the dark with this conditions "After a few cars it is almost impossible to drive on the road and we have to take it slow, the stage should simply be deleted" says Patrik. Many of the drivers fully agree, they say it´s very dangerous and impossible to see, this is not rally they say.

The good thing is that Patrik is quite happy with the settings on the car now.

In SS5 Patrik got the fourth fastest time, Mikkelsen and Porcisteanu won the stage 1, 1 seconds ahead of Tempestini and 2,4 seconds ahead of Patrik. The organisation has now decided to have four-minute intervals between the cars after the service. Several of the drivers don´t think this will be enough due to hard conditions and the darkness.

SS6 was an asphalt stage and the cars were starting with four minutes apart. Mikkelsen was 4.4 seconds ahead of Delecour and 4.8 seconds ahead of Weigand. Patrick and Göran had fourth best time, 9.4 seconds behind.

SS7 was a gravel stage running in the dark, and Patrik got fourth best time on this stage. The cars were starting with four minutes apart but unfurtunatly the dust remained. " It´s been a difficult day, now I wan´t to go home and sleep, tomorrow it will be full attack, it´s really fun to drive" says Patrik. Mikkelsen was the fastest on the stage with 37.9 before Delecour and 38.4 before Patrick and Göran.
" I am so happy with the team, the car, and the tires, it´s such a shame the heavy dust makes us loose time" says Patrik.

Patrik and Göran got a flat tire in the second stage and the lost a lot of time and positions. But at the end of the day they managed to advance to 6th place.
"We must be happy with this position, given that we were not able to run at full speed" says Patrik.

That's all for today. Tomorrow there will be five remaining stages, starting 11:12 local time.