Rallye Sardinia 2008 - Preview:
 

Event news:
The third round of this year's Junior World Rally Championship once again sees a full complement of Suzuki Swift Super 1600s competing on the tricky gravel stages of Sardinia. Suzuki Sport Europe will be represented by Jaan Molder from Estonia and Michal Kosciuszko from Poland while a third car entered by Suzuki Rallye Junior Team Germany will be driven by 24 year-old German Florian Niegel.

Suzuki has already experienced plenty of success in Sardinia, having contested the event continuously since it joined the Junior World Rally Championship in 2004. In total Suzuki has claimed two class victories on the event (with P-G Andersson in 2004 and Urmo Aava in 2007), as well as two further podium finishes.

Molder and Kosciuszko have previous experience of the Junior World Rally Championship and currently maintain third and fourth places in the Junior standings. Niegel made his JWRC debut in Jordan and claimed fourth place in class, putting him a provisional seventh in the championship. The rally gets underway with a ceremonial start in Porto Cervo at 20:00 on Thursday 15 May, and finishes on Sunday 18 May at 14:30 after 17 special stages totalling 343 kilometres.

News from Jaan Molder (Suzuki Swift n.32):

"Sardinia is a very tricky rally, although I know it a little bit from having competed here twice previously. The Swift should be very strong in these conditions, so I'm hoping to have a successful run and score as many points as possible. The key thing is to be consistent and avoid punctures, which are a constant risk."

News from Michal Kosciuszko (Suzuki Swift n.35):
"As always, the main thing for me will be to build up experience and get to the end of the rally with no problems. Sardinia was actually one of the first World Championship events I ever competed on, so I have some good memories of it. The stages are sure to be a big challenge, and the competition will be tough."

News from Florian Niegel (Suzuki Swift n.43):
"Finishing my first JWRC event in Jordan was a fantastic start to the year and I learnt a lot. I think the stages in Sardinia might be quite similar and the weather is likely to be hot again as well, so it was very useful preparation. Hopefully we can have another good run in Italy and get some more points."

News from Nobuhiro 'Monster' Tajima, Suzuki World Rally Team principal:
"The Suzuki drivers have taken a measured and mature approach to the two rallies that have been held to date and I hope that they can continue in this way on the Rally d'Italia-Sardegna, which is particularly difficult for all the two-wheel drive cars. This event could well be decided on punctures, so it will be more important than ever for our drivers to take a smooth and neat line over all three days."