Andersson underlines Suzuki SX4 WRC's reliability

Event news:
P-G Andersson has ended the Rally d'Italia Sardegna inside the top 10, following three days of faultless running for his SX4 WRC. Andersson - who ended up ninth - described his car as "perfect" throughout the entire rally, with the SX4 WRC requiring nothing more than routine servicing at the end of every day. On the final stage he set an excellent sixth-fastest time to finish the rally in style.

His team mate Toni Gardemeister was not so lucky, having retired from day two with broken suspension and failing to finish the final day. Nonetheless, the Suzuki World Rally Team achieved its key objective of improving the reliability of the SX4 WRC in every area, and building solid foundations for the future.

Sardinia is renowned as one of the toughest events on the World Rally Championship, because of its hard surfaces and sharp rocks. Conditions were made even more difficult this year by the unseasonably wet weather, which caused the road surfaces to degrade and exposed yet more sharp rocks. Despite these obstacles, P-G steered clear of trouble to end the rally just outside the points, having proved that Suzuki's decision to put the accent on reliability during this event has paid off. Having learnt several valuable lessons for the future, the team is now feeling confident for the next two rough gravel events in the Mediterranean: Greece and Turkey.

Car news - Suzuki SX4 WRC n.11 (Gardemeister) and n.12 (Andersson): Toni Gardemeister's car developed an electrical glitch after the mid-morning service that meant he was unable to finish the rally today, but Andersson's car was perfect from start to finish and again reported no problems at all today. Following a steep learning curve on the previous rally in Jordan, the Suzuki team had introduced several important new measures designed to enhance the underbody protection and improve the cooling on the SX4 WRC.

These evolutions worked well, despite the extremely tough conditions of Sardinia, and further improvements are planned for the next round in Greece - the legendary Acropolis Rally - which takes place in two weeks' time.

Driver news:

Toni Gardemeister: "It's not been a perfect rally for us, but the most important thing is that the team has completed lots of valuable development work on the car and proved with P-G that we can have a good level of reliability. It's always tough in your first year, but I think now we are really beginning to turn a corner and make some solid progress. I have always said that when the car is running reliably it can be a good package, and I think we have shown some potential on this rally. Of course there is plenty of work still to do but we are definitely on the right road."

P-G Andersson: "It's been a very tough rally for us but a good one: the car has been perfect from start to finish and I have been very happy with it. We've had no major problems despite the extremely challenging conditions, which made it very difficult to judge the correct pace, particularly under braking. I hope now that we have got a good basis to work from for the future. I wasn't actually thinking much about points on this event: for all of us the priority was to get the car to the finish safely and I'm very pleased that we have been able to do that."

Team news:
Paul Wilding, Suzuki World Rally Team manager: "This has been a very satisfying rally for us as we achieved a lot of what we set out to do: to try to get the cars to the finish despite some very rough and challenging conditions. It's just a pity that we couldn't achieve this with both SX4 WRCs, but we will be analysing what happened with Toni's car very carefully, and I'm confident that we'll keep learning and improving into the future. I'd like to thank all the team and drivers for a great job throughout the weekend."

Day 2: Andersson hopes to prove a point on Rally d'Italia Sardegna

The Suzuki SX4 WRC of P-G Andersson has ended the second day of the Rally d'Italia Sardegna just outside the points, after making solid progress that has underlined the Suzuki World Rally Team's focus on reliability. Andersson was ninth at the end of the opening day, while his team mate Toni Gardemeister was forced to retire from the day after hitting rear suspension problems on SS11. He made a temporary repair, but the team decided that it would be safer to withdraw him from the day in order to allow him to re-start tomorrow.

The stages on the second day of the rally were faster and more flowing than those of the previous day, but a hard base and a sandy surface meant that the roads were extremely slippery. In the afternoon, the threat of rain made the choice of set-up at midday service complicated, but both Toni and P-G opted for some compromise settings that worked well in the dry conditions.

Having started the day in 11th position, P-G made up two places to end Saturday's action just one position away from the points-scoring places. The young Swede's aim is to maximise any opportunities that come his way tomorrow in order to score a point and reward the efforts of the Suzuki team to improve the SX4 WRC's reliability.

The cause of Gardemeister's rear suspension problem will be analysed once the car returns to service at the harbourside in Olbia this evening and it is hoped that he will re-start the rally tomorrow

Driver news:
Toni Gardemeister: "I'm not really sure what happened, but we had a problem with the rear suspension on SS11 that badly affected the handling of the car. It was a pity, as up until then we had encountered no problems at all and enjoyed another really good day. This just goes to show that when the car is reliable, it can be very effective. We have been deliberately careful not to take any risks today, and I certainly haven't been pushing to the maximum. We'll see what we can do tomorrow, but this rally has been really important for us so far, as it was vital to achieve a basic level of reliability in order to move forwards."

P-G Andersson: "The car has been perfect today, but the roads are challenging: it's extremely difficult to judge the braking as there is such inconsistent grip. Having said that, the stages today were actually in much better condition than I expected: after the rain overnight I thought that they would be more slippery and that they would cut up more than they did. Punctures were a big risk today because of all the rocks on the side of the stages, so I'm glad that we survived them. We're a minute behind eighth place at the moment, so it will be tough to score points but we have to hope: you never know what can happen."

Team news:
Paul Wilding, Suzuki World Rally Team manager: "We're obviously disappointed by the problem that Toni picked up so close to the end of today, but for the moment we don't know why it happened and we will need to have a closer look in order to find out. That shouldn't detract though from what has been a very satisfying day in other respects: in particular the flawless reliability of P-G's car, which has enabled us to end the day on the fringes of the points and gather plenty of information that will be very useful for the future."

Day 1: Suzuki drivers make a solid start in Sardinia

Both Suzuki drivers have made a solid start to the Rally d'Italia Sardegna, round six of the World Rally Championship. Toni Gardemeister returned to final service at the harbourside in Olbia occupying a provisional 10th position, while his team mate P-G Andersson was about nine seconds behind him in 11th.

The crews were greeted by cooler conditions than were expected on Italy's round of the World Championship, and stages that had been made extremely slippery by recent heavy rainfall. The Suzuki crews made a cautious start on the opening stage, but Gardemeister was up to an impressive sixth by the end of SS2 and arrived at midday service in a point-scoring eighth. Both cars have reached the finish of day one with no major problems and are poised to improve on their positions over the challenging leg two tomorrow.

Car news - Suzuki SX4 WRC n.11 (Gardemeister), n.12 (Andersson): Both cars were largely reliable throughout the day's six stages, despite the extremely rough conditions. Toni encountered some small gear selection problems throughout the day but otherwise had a clean run to the finish, while P-G struggled with a slight front brake problem. Thanks to some of the improvements introduced since the Jordan Rally, there were no other issues with the cars all day: a promising sign that the decision to concentrate on reliability is yielding results.

Driver news:

Toni Gardemeister: "Today has actually been a very good day for us. To be sixth fastest and sixth overall at the end of the longest stage of the rally this morning was very encouraging. We had a few problems with the downshifts on the gearbox all day, but really nothing major. I just tried to be very smooth and precise on these stages, because if you go off the line then it is easy to have a puncture or hit a rock."

P-G Andersson: "It's been a steady start to the rally, but these stages are very difficult. Maybe it's because of the changing level of grip, or maybe because the roads are so narrow, but it's been hard to find a good rhythm. It's been very slippery as well - a bit more than I expected. I had a problem with the brakes in the afternoon, but our objective has been to stay out of trouble and so far I think we've managed to achieve that. If we keep the same level of reliability tomorrow, then I'm confident that we can move up the order."

Team news:
Paul Wilding, Suzuki World Rally Team manager: "We're very pleased with the result at the end of the first day. The team has achieved its goal in these unusually rough conditions, and we have been able to learn a lot. We look forward to building on this solid foundation tomorrow, which will be the longest day of the rally and every bit as challenging as the conditions we faced today."