Juniors take on new challenge in Germany
 

Just two weeks after Rally Finland, this year's Junior World Rally Championship resumes with the Rallye Deutschland based in Trier - but the two events could not be more contrasting. Whereas Finland was run on flat-out gravel stages, Rallye Deutschland takes in a wide variety of tricky and technical asphalt. With the move to Germany, the emphasis of the championship now changes, as all three remaining rounds now take place on sealed surfaces.

Germany contains three challenges in one: the tight and twisty roads of the Mosel vineyards, the rough and punishing concrete tracks of Baumholder, and the wide and sweeping stages of the final day.

In order to succeed in such a wide variety of conditions, the drivers need to be quick to react to changing circumstances and they also need to find a set-up that is well-suited to all the stages.

The Suzuki Sport Europe entries of Jaan Molder from Estonia and Michal Kosciuszko from Poland have decided to miss this event (as the JWRC rules state that drivers must nominate only six points-scoring rallies), so just one Suzuki Swift Super 1600 will take the start, entered by Suzuki Rallye Junior Team Germany and driven by 24 year-old German Florian Niegel.

His last outing in the Swift Super 1600 was on the Rally d'Italia-Sardegna in May, but he competed in Finland using a Group N Swift. Niegel will face strong opposition on the Rallye Deutschland from a number of renowned asphalt experts in the category, so he has a very tough task ahead of him on only his fourth JWRC event. Outside of the Junior World Rally Championship, a privateer Swift Super 1600 (car n.70) will also be driven by Martin Johansen in Germany.

News from Florian Niegel (Suzuki Swift n.43):
"I am really looking forward to Rallye Deutschland. We didn't use the Suzuki Swift Super 1600 in Finland so we could save it for Deutschland, and I can't wait to get started now. As you can imagine, it's going to be a really big event for Suzuki in Germany: I will have a lot of friends out there watching. I have never done the event in a car like the Swift Super 1600. Last year I used a Group N Swift, which was a lot of fun, but the Super 1600 car is going to be even better. Of course, everybody always enjoys their home rally. It's nice to compete at home in an environment where you are comfortable, but at the same time, Rallye Deutschland is an event which I really appreciate. I like the variety of stages and the difficult weather. It's going to be a big challenge."