Round one of the 2019 FIA World Rallycross Championship, the World RX of Abu Dhabi, is in the books. You’ve seen the footage, read the report, now hear what the teams had to say:

Team Hansen MJP:

Kevin Hansen P1, Timmy Hansen P11

Kevin Hansen: “A win in the stewards’ room isn't the perfect way but it's been a great job by all the guys in the team to get the cars here and prepared. This one's for Timmy as he should have been with us on the podium.”

GRX Taneco:

Niclas Gronholm P2, Timur Timerzyanov P8, Reinis Nitiss P13

Timur Timerzyanov: “It was a mixed feelings weekend in Abu Dhabi. I was able to keep up the pace, but felt unlucky at several occasions. It was really action-packed race and I am happy for Niclas and we will work together to succeed in the future.”

Monster Energy RX Cartel:

Liam Doran P3, Andreas Bakkerud P15

Andreas Bakkerud: “What an insane first race weekend of the World RX season. We launched the team on Thursday, raced Friday, and I completely smashed my car on Saturday because of my own mistake. A huge thanks to all the Monster Energy RX Cartel mechanics for doing an awesome job and getting the car back on track for Q4! Mega work, I’ve never seen anything like it. See you all in Barcelona.”

EKS Sport

Krisztian Szabo P4

Krisztian Sazbo: “After some eventful finals, I ended up finishing the first race weekend of the season in Abu Dhabi in fourth place. I’m glad to have fought in the final and can't wait for the next round in three weeks in Barcelona.”

Team STARD:

Janis Baumanis P5, Pal Try P14

Manfred Stohl (Team Manager): "Janis started great in the new season. He showed strong performance and picked up the deserved applause of the fans. With his fifth place, he is now third in the World Championship. That is an honour for him and for us, but also confirmation for the great work of the team in the recent weeks and days. It's always a strange feeling after the winter break. With a completely reworked car it’s always a risk that something is not going to work as it should. But everything was fine, after a small change from Friday to Saturday it was even almost perfect. This proves that our engineers have done a really great job. I am very, very proud of the whole team.”

ALL-INKL.COM Muennich Motorsport

Timo Scheider P6

Timo Scheider: “We were P3 in the final with the potential for more, but in the end were P6 and unfortunately had gearbox damage. S*** happens, but we showed good speed. Thank you to the ALL-INKL Racing guys, who gave everything in 38 degree heat. We leave Abu Dhabi P4 in World RX and that is a good base for the rest of the year.”

GC Kompetition:

Anton Marklund P7, Guerlain Chicherit P10

Anton Marklund: “With the first weekend done, we look back on plenty of learnings. For sure, we need to be positive that the development we have done on the Meganes over the winter is really paying off, with us being a lot closer to the pace we want to be racing. However, we still need to push on and develop the car further as there’s more potential to be unlocked before we can fight for a win. I had a good weekend though, solid runs in Q1 and Q2 with two wins, playing it safe, Q3 was a lot of drama and messy contact cost us time which put us on the backfoot but we fought back in Q4 with a solid run and a safe space in the semi-finals. The semi-finals were a bit crazy - I was just keeping the line into turn two and then Nitiss jumped a kerb and landed on top of the Megane, destroying the rear wing and roof and without the rear wing, I had no downforce, so a lot of oversteer, which of course affected the time.  We’ll just come back bigger and better in Barcelona.”

ESmotorsport – Labas GAS

Rokas Baciuska P9

Rokas Baciuska: “It’s so sad that our hopes to be in the final died two laps to the finish of the semi-final because of a technical problem. But what doesn‘t kill us makes us stronger. We know our pace and we will get fight back in Barcelona.”

GCK Academy:

Cyril Raymond P12, Guillaume De Ridder P16

Cyril Raymond: “It’s a super satisfying weekend for the GCK Academy team. I’m really happy to have got the second fastest time in Q4, which proves the car works very well - we are on the right path. The starts are excellent, as was proven in the semi-finals, where I had a great start but unfortunately after I hit the inside kerb to avoid contact, I suffered a puncture. The first round in Abu Dhabi is now done and we can be very, very happy. I am grateful for what the team has done throughout the weekend. Now a lot of work remains to be done on the car to be really good and get the top five - everything is possible.”

Xite Racing

Oliver Bennett P17

Oliver Bennett: “Not the best weekend, seemed to be a lot of bad luck in the air. Positive news for us is the winter updates look to be strong with a strong increase in performance. XITE'D for what's to come!”