Rally de France-Tour de Corse (F), Friday 10 October, day one (SS1-SS6): Suzuki in the points after strong opening day in Corsica

Posted by Scott Coursey 10 October, 2008

0.jpg picture by C4B

The two Suzuki SX4 WRCs of Toni Gardemeister and P-G Andersson have finished
the opening day of the Rallye de France-Tour de Corse within the points in
seventh and 12th places, after a strong and reliable run.

Corsica is arguably the most respected asphalt event of the entire calendar, with
sinuous roads that test the performance of the cars and the bravery of the
drivers to the utmost.

Corsica was also the scene of the SX4 WRC's debut one year ago, and the team
has been able to take on board a number of lessons learned from its previous
participation. Toni Gardemeister battled a flu-type illness throughout the
day, which made life extremely difficult for him in the warm weather that
characterised the day's action. Both drivers were committed straight out of
the box to end the day's 119.92 competitive kilometres in the points. Once
more, the SX4 WRC exhibited perfect reliability throughout the day,
underlining the consistent progress that has been made since the start of
the year.

s2.jpg picture by C4B

The action was split up into two loops of three stages, with service on the
harbourside at Ajaccio. The stages used today were quite varied, with some
extremely bumpy and narrow roads as well as faster sections that are more
reminiscent of the Rally de España, which finished less than a week ago.
When the drivers tackled the speed tests for the second time in the
afternoon, there was plenty of loose gravel to catch them out. This put grip
at a premium, and also meant that there was a high risk of punctures.
Tomorrow's day two takes in six more demanding asphalt stages before
returning to Corsica's capital of Ajaccio for overnight parc ferme.

s7.jpg picture by C4B

Car news - Suzuki SX4 WRC n.11 (Gardemeister), n.12 (Andersson):

Having completed some useful runs over the six-kilometre shakedown stage
yesterday, the Suzuki SX4 WRCs started off with a good base set-up for
today's action. During the morning's stages, both drivers reported that the
car felt good on Pirelli's hard compound control tyres. At midday service in
Ajaccio, the drivers made small adjustments to the suspension in order to
optimise the car's handling for the repeated stages in the afternoon, which
were held in warmer weather with more loose gravel on the roads. Both cars
were entirely reliable from the start to the finish of the leg, despite the
incredibly challenging nature of the roads on 'the rally of 10,000 corners'
- as it used to be known.

Having finished the opening leg in a strong position, the Suzuki World Rally
Team is now well-poised to attack the longest day of the rally tomorrow. No
major changes are planned to the set-up of the cars for leg two.

s4.jpg picture by C4B

Driver news:

Toni Gardemeister:

The biggest problem I had today was the fact that I was
feeling really ill for most of it: I had a very sore throat and during the
afternoon my legs felt like spaghetti! Under those circumstances it's quite
difficult to drive flat-out, but I did my best and we are not in a bad
position overnight. The car today has been very good and so we've ended up
in the points, which is good. Hopefully tomorrow I will feel better and we
will continue to move up the leaderboard."

s8.jpg picture by C4B

P-G Andersson:

After going off the road in Catalunya, it was important for
me to try and get my confidence back so I wasn't pushing so hard today. We
steadily improved the car and I'm happy with the progress we made, after I
carried out a few small suspension adjustments at service. The roads today
were really tricky and surprisingly slippery, but now that I have a good
feeling with the car I can push hard tomorrow."

Team news:

Shusuke Inagaki, Suzuki World Rally Team Director: "Once more, our SX4 WRC
has been perfectly reliable all day. Toni has done a fantastic job to finish
provisionally in the drivers' points at the end of the opening leg, despite
his illness. As for P-G, he has built up confidence without putting a foot
wrong and so he is now in the manufacturer points. To have two Suzukis in
points-scoring positions at the end of such a tough first day is a solid
achievement, and now we hope to build on this promising start over the rest
of the weekend."

s3.jpg picture by C4B