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Suzuki in
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Suzuki take positives from tough Jordan Rally
Prior to the event, the third and final day of the Jordan Rally had been billed
as the toughest. With the arduous Jordan River stage - at 41.45km, the longest
of the event - run twice, it was not going to be a battle to the finish in the
continued scorching temperatures. The day started well for P-G Andersson and his
co-driver Jonas Andersson. They turned in an exceptional time on the Wadi Shueib
test which followed, posting fourth fastest time in the SX4 WRC. Unfortunately,
that was the last stage Andersson and the Suzuki would complete on this fifth
round of the FIA World Rally Championship. Andersson slid off the road in the
ensuing Jordan River stage and retired from the event. Andersson returned to the
service park where he met His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan.
The Suzuki World Rally Team endured mixed fortunes in Jordan. Toni Gardemeister
retired on the opening day when he was unlucky enough to have a stone hit the
bottom of the car, damaging the sump. Andersson went off the road on day one,
but bounced back with top 10 times through day two, only for the Swede to fall
victim to the difficult road conditions for the second time this morning.
Car news - Suzuki SX4 WRC n.11 (Gardemeister), n.12 (Andersson):
Andersson's Suzuki SX4 WRC ran without any technical faults through the final
morning. The team had made no significant overnight changes to the set-up after
the Swede's solid run through Saturday's eight stages. The sister SX4 WRC of
Andersson's team-mate Toni Gardemeister did not re-start this morning.
Driver news:
Toni Gardemeister: "Of course I am disappointed not to have finished this
event. You go to every rally wanting to get to the end; chasing the best
possible result. Here I had a real feeling that we could get the SX4 WRC high up
the order. I knew there would be a high rate of attrition on what's going to be
one of the hottest rallies of the year, but I was really sad that we were one of
the early victims. The good thing is that P-G has shown some pace yesterday,
which is an indication of what the SX4 WRC is capable of."
P-G Andersson: "This is a reallyarXdisappointing end to the event for me and
for the team. I don't really understand what happened on stage 19 and how I
ended up off the road. It had been going well for me. It was very loose, with a
lot of gravel on the surface of the road, but we hadn't had a problem. We came
into a slow left-hand bend, which led into a hairpin right. I had a half-spin
after the left which dropped the front of the car down into the inside of the
hairpin. The car went nose in. The rear wheels were still on the road. I put the
car in reverse gear straight away, hoping it would reverse out, but the gradient
was too steep. Jonas and I jumped out of the car to try and get some more people
to help us. Only two people were around. We tried to lift the car out, but it
was impossible. On the stage before we'd been fourth quickest, and I was really
enjoying it. Obviously I didn't want to retire from the event, but it was an
honour to meet His Majesty King Abdullah II. He was very interested to take a
look at the SX4 WRC."
Team news:
Paul Wilding, Suzuki World Rally Team manager: "Our goal today was not to risk
anything, but to bring the car home to the finish and build on the positive
results for the SX4 WRC yesterday. Everything was looking good this morning,
particularly the fourth fastest time in SS18. The circumstances surrounding P-G
going off the road on the next stage are quite strange. I don't think he was
taking risks or pushing too hard. We have seen all the way through this event
how difficult this event has been. Many of the other drivers have been caught
out by the stage conditions. I think the performance which the team has turned
in has demonstrated the speed and the potential of the SX4 WRC. We have been
able to take a lot of encouragement from this result. P-G was under a second per
kilometre off the pace of the fastest car yesterday, which demonstrates what the
Suzuki SX4 WRC is capable of."
Catch
up with the latest on Suzuki in WRC
http://www.suzuki-wrc.com
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