Wales Rally Great Britain (GB), Saturday 6 December, Suzuki day two (SS9-SS15)

Wales Rally Great Britain (GB), Saturday 6 December, day two (SS9-SS15)

Two Suzukis in the points heading into final day of Wales Rally GB

With just one day of this year's World Rally Championship remaining, both
the factory Suzuki SX4 WRCs are in the points and are set to finish the
team's debut season on a high. P-G Andersson is currently fifth while Toni
Gardemeister is eighth, with neither car encountering any problems
throughout the day's seven stages.

In contrast to the interruptions on the opening day, Saturday's stages all
ran according to plan, with the crews completing the 129.21 competitive
kilometres scheduled. Another difference compared to the first day was the
fact that Saturday's stages were all well-known to most of the crews, having
traditionally formed part of the Rally Great Britain route in recent years.
Amongst the highlights of the day were two runs over the longest stage of
the rally - Resolfen - which contained all the hazards Rally Great Britain
is best known for: variable grip, bad weather and tricky corners. Conditions
were once again cold but dry, with mud making the stages slippery. The
action ended with a short superspecial stage in Cardiff's Millennium
Stadium, held entirely under cover.

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

Neither of the Suzuki SX4 WRCs gave any cause for concern throughout the
seven stages that were run today, enhancing Suzuki's reputation for strength
and reliability. Once more, the car showed itself capable of setting top
five stage times, underlining the progress that has been made throughout the
season. However, with the road conditions degrading considerably,
particularly during the second run through the stages in the afternoon, it
was hard for the Suzuki drivers to improve on their impressive pace during
the opening day, when P-G Andersson put an SX4 WRC on the provisional podium
for the first time.

Driver news:

Toni Gardemeister: "Today has been a very tough day: typical Rally Great
Britain. We've had quite a good run and managed to set some decent times,
particularly on the first stage, but maybe I was a bit too cautious
sometimes as well. On the final stage before service the engine stopped, but
it was just a small problem that we fixed at service. Now we have to keep
concentrated and make sure that we avoid making any mistakes on the final
day tomorrow - but we need some bad conditions to help us as well."

P-G Andersson: "I've enjoyed the stages, but after our provisional podium
place yesterday, today has not been quite as good as we had hoped. I
couldn't quite get the feeling that I needed to push hard, which was a
little bit frustrating. I think the car works a bit better in the softer
conditions of yesterday but the big thing today for us has been the ice,
which was really difficult. Having said that, fifth overall is still an
excellent position and we can look forward to a really exciting battle
tomorrow, as Henning Solberg is right behind us."

Team news:

Suzuki Team Director Shusuke Inagaki: "We always knew that today would be
more difficult for us than yesterday but we have succeeded in our main
objective, which is to bring two cars safely to the finish, ready for the
final push tomorrow. The last day of the rally is nearly as long as the
preceding two days, so anything can still happen. With both cars in a
points-scoring position, we are well placed to end the season on a positive
note, providing we steer clear of trouble."

Article and images: Suzuki Press

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