Leg 3 information: Stages: 5 (81.39kms competitive total) Surface: Gravel Weather: Warm and dry Suzuki Swift driver P-G Andersson has won the Junior Rally Championship category of the Rally de Portugal, ahead of his team mate Urmo Aava. The Estonian led until the final day, before a puncture on SS16 allowed P-G past in a dramatic finale. A Suzuki Swift won every gravel stage of the rally, underlining the team’s dominance in extremely tough conditions. Andersson’s win means that he maintains his lead of the championship, while Aava moves up to second. Both cars had no mechanical problems during the 1008-kilometre rally and finished more than seven minutes clear of the third-placed competitor, Renault Clio driver Jozef Beres.

News from P-G
P-G Andersson (1st in JRC after SS18): “I had a definite plan before I came to this event. I knew that I should not risk my lead of the championship by pushing too hard and having a problem, so my aim was to drive around all the rocks and stay in the middle of the road. I feel sorry for Urmo, but my strategy paid off perfectly as by staying out of trouble I won the rally on the last two stages. I didn’t expect it though!”

News from Urmo
Urmo Aava (2nd in JRC after SS18): “It’s been a fantastic rally, but very nerve-wracking! Today was really tricky: we had everything to lose and nothing to gain. Sure enough, we had a front-left puncture six kilometres from the end of SS16 that ruined our tyre strategy and meant we had to settle for second after having led from the start of the rally. It’s disappointing, but it’s been a very good fight and we still have a useful result. Punctures are one of those unlucky things that can just happen.”

News from Nobuhiro "Monster" Tajima, Team Principal
“Big congratulations to both P-G and Urmo! Not only have they driven very quickly, but also in a very mature way – and that is how you win championships. I feel very sorry for Urmo, but what happened was not his fault: I think both drivers have found the perfect compromise between speed and safety, and this is very promising for the future. We are also so pleased that a Suzuki won all the gravel stages, and that in total there are three Suzuki Swifts in the top four. Well done!”

Junior Rally Championship classification after SS18, Rally de Portugal:
1 P-G Andersson (Suzuki Swift) 4h22m43.4s
2 Urmo Aava (Suzuki Swift) +3.7s
3 Jozef Beres (Renault Clio) +7m48.9s
4 Jaan Molder (Suzuki Swift) +11m56.5s
5 Andrea Cortinovis (Renault Clio) +15m01.1s
6 Manuel Rueda (Renault Clio) +21m01.9s
7 Shaun Gallagher (Citroen C2) +26m55.1s
8 Vilius Rozukas (Suzuki Swift) +33m14.9s

Both the cars were entirely reliable, although Urmo Aava had to contend with a broken anti-roll bar in the afternoon. In total, there are now four Suzuki Swifts in the top five!News from P-G
P-G Andersson (2nd in JRC after SS13): “In the morning I think I was a little too careful: I was backing off over many of the crests and I did not want to take any risks in the slippery and wet conditions. On the first stage in particular I really didn’t have a good rhythm and I think I lost a bit too much time. In the afternoon things went a lot better and I was able to push harder in the dry. We’ll see what happens now, but I’m certainly not planning to take any risks…”

News from Urmo
Urmo Aava (1st in JRC after SS13): “This morning was really difficult with all the rain. I took a full wet cut on my tyres that worked really well, as it allowed me to get some heat into the rubber and grip the road well. In the afternoon I broke the roll bar of the car on SS12, which affected the handling quite seriously. Now the gap to P-G is just 39 seconds, which is nothing on an event as tricky as this one. So I still have to push tomorrow, but also I need to drive safely to make sure of finishing.”

News from Nobuhiro "Monster" Tajima, Team Principal
“Now it is a very tricky situation as Urmo and P-G both want to win and they are quite close. So they must be careful not to get too excited on the final day and risk going off the road. However, they are both very experienced drivers so I am sure they know exactly what to do. Both of them have driven very well again today, and our cars have once more been reliable – despite the rough and challenging conditions.”

Junior Rally Championship classification after SS13, Rally de Portugal:
1 Urmo Aava (Suzuki Swift) 3h23m35.2s
2 P-G Andersson (Suzuki Swift) +39.6s
3 Jozef Beres (Renault Clio) +4m54.3s
4 Jaan Molder (Suzuki Swift) +8m20.0s
5 Vilius Rozukas (Suzuki Swift) +8m54.5s
6 Andrea Cortinovis (Renault Clio) +11m58.2s
7 Manuel Rueda (Renault Clio) +15m51.3s
8 Shaun Gallagher (Citroen C2) +20m24.0s

Leg 1 information: Stages: 6 (122.79 kms competitive total) Surface: Gravel Weather: Warm but windy The Rally Portugal – round two of this year’s Junior Championship – got off to a perfect start for Suzuki, with the Swift Super 1600 cars of Urmo Aava and P-G Andersson ending leg one in first and second places, having set all the fastest stage times today. Although the cars enjoyed perfect reliability, both drivers picked up puntures on the rocky Portuguese roads, with P-G being delayed in the morning and Urmo losing time in the afternoon.

Luckily, the consequences were not serious and both drivers look forward to continuing their impressive pace tomorrow.

News from P-G
P-G Andersson (2nd in JRC after SS7): “This rally was actually a lot rougher than I was expecting it to be – and I was expecting it to be bad anyway! I had a right-rear puncture on the opening stage about three kilometres from the finish. It could have been worse, but as the last part of the stage was all uphill, it felt I was dragging a lorry up there. In the afternoon I made a few set-up changes to make the car firmer over all the bumps, and I just concentrated on staying out of trouble. It’s going to be a long weekend, and I think a lot will still happen.”

News from Urmo
Urmo Aava (1st in JRC after SS7): “I’m happy to be leading but I’ve had a few nervous moments: this rally is far from easy. In the morning I went wide on a corner on SS4 and stalled, then in the afternoon I had a puncture on SS5 – thankfully near the end of the stage. I’m generally very happy with the car, but the biggest risk here will be punctures. Even if you drive around the biggest rocks, you can still be unlucky and pick up a puncture that will cost you more than a minute just like that.”

News from Nobuhiro "Monster" Tajima, Team Principal
“It’s obviously hard to improve on first and second places but unfortunately this is just the first day of the rally and not the last one! Until then, we cannot really conclude anything. The Swift has stood up well to the rough conditions, while both P-G and Urmo have chosen a very good compromise between speed and safety. Now they must continue to do that, and keep their concentration at the maximum.”

Junior Rally Championship classification after SS7, Rally De Portugal:
1 Urmo Aava (Suzuki Swift) 1h36m24.8s
2 P-G Andersson (Suzuki Swift) +34.9s
3 Michal Kosciuszko (Renault Clio) +2m34.0s
4 Jozef Beres (Renault Clio) +2m36.3s
5 Andrea Cortinovis (Renault Clio) +3m17.9s
6 Jaan Molder (Suzuki Swift) +4m04.0s
7 Vilius Rozukas (Suzuki Swift) +4m25.0s
8 Conrad Rautenbach (Citroen C2) +4m29.1s