The final day of the Acropolis Rally of Greece took crews through another six tough stages to the north of Athens, with the last test being played out in front of thousands of passionate rally fans at the superspecial at Tatoi military airbase, the event's base for the last three days. Sweden's P-G Andersson turned in a sensational day at the wheel of his Suzuki SX4 WRC. He was only out of the top 10 times once and managed one fifth and one sixth quickest time after a trouble-free day. Unfortunately, not even the double Junior World Rally Champion's scintillating pace through these rockiest of roads was enough to land him a top 10 position on the event.

Andersson's team-mate Toni Gardemeister did collect a top-10 finish, placing the sister SX4 WRC in ninth place after a similarly straightforward day. Despite three days of high drama and astonishingly tough competition, Suzuki has had one of its SX4 WRCs in the top 10 for the duration of the toughest round of th! e World Rally Championship so far this season. Andersson climbed as high as sixth overall before slipping back on yesterday's second day. Gardemeister's Suzuki remained reliable, save for a small problem on day two due to a damaged exhaust system. The team's reward for its effort on the Acropolis comes in the shape of both cars scoring points in the manufacturers' championship.

Car news - Suzuki SX4 WRC n.11 (Gardemeister) and n.12 (Andersson): Toni Gardemeister was pleased with the tweaks the Suzuki World Rally Team made to his car yesterday. His only problem through the day was being caught in the dust after he caught competitors starting in the stage ahead of him. P-G Andersson re-started the event this morning after suffering from suspension trouble yesterday, but despite the intensely rough conditions, the SX4 WRC didn't suffer any similar troubles, allowing him to take the car to its most competitive day in the championship so far.

Driver news:

Toni Gardemeister: "We've had a good day today. The dust has been quite bad on some of the stages. With the very hot conditions and the rocky roads, when there is no wind around, you know the dust can stay around. I was pleased with the car. Today the engine felt very good. This rally shows we are going in the right direction with the car and making very good progress."

P-G Andersson: "The car has been fantastic today. I've really enjoyed driving in these stages, we've had a lot of fun. Parts of the third and sixth stage were so rough, you couldn't believe it - but we came through without the car missing a beat. It's been perfect. My only problem today was this morning, when I missed one junction in the dust. This is a great event for the whole team - particularly coming on the back of Sardinia which was strong for us as well. Now we're all looking forward to Turkey in two weeks."

Team news:
Paul Wilding, Suzuki World Rally Team manager: "The team has achieved its objectives here on probably the toughest rally the World Rally Championship will encounter all season. It's been amazingly rough in places, but Suzuki and the SX4 WRC has encountered less problems than many of its rivals. We have picked up manufacturers points with both cars and set some great times along the way. All-in-all, this has been a very good event for us. We go home from here happy and looking forward to the challenges which lie in wait."

Day 2: Suzuki maintains top 10 position on the toughest day of the season

It has been a day of mixed fortunes for the Suzuki World Rally Team. At one stage, both SX4 WRCs of P-G Andersson and Toni Gardemeister were inside the top 10, with Andersson was running sixth after an agonisingly tough second run through the Agii Theodori test. The second day of this Acropolis Rally had been billed as one of the toughest of the year so far. It certainly lived up to that, with cars succumbing to the searing heat and exceptionally twisty and rocky roads. Andersson failed to finish the day after his SX4 WRC hit suspension trouble in the day's penultimate test. Gardemeister battled on to ensure Suzuki retained a presence inside the top 10 as this harshest of rallies moved into the final day.

Driver news:

Toni Gardemeister: "The day was tough. After we had made some good progress with the engine this morning, we had a problem in the afternoon which took some of the power away, but we're here and ready to push on to the finish tomorrow."

P-G Andersson: "I was really pleased with this morning. The car was running well, and I was able to push a little bit. This afternoon's suspension problems were a real shame. We'd come through the longest and roughest stage sixth overall and things were looking really good. It just shows what a tough event this one is. But we will be back on track again tomorrow."

Team news:
Paul Wilding, Suzuki World Rally Team manager: "This rally doesn't have its tough reputation for nothing. We discovered that today. Both P-G and Toni were setting good, consistent stage times earlier this morning, but then these roads have hit back. Like many of our competitors who have suffered similar trouble, we have been caught by the exceptionally rough conditions. On a positive note, Toni has completed the second day and remains on-course to achieve our objective of getting the SX4 WRC to the finish of what is undoubtedly the most technically difficult rally of the season. Both of our cars are set to score points in the manufacturers' championship and that's what we came for."

Day 1: Suzuki in the top 10 on the toughest event of the year

Following last night's exceptionally popular ceremonial start at the Parthenon in the centre of Athens, the Suzuki SX4 WRC drivers Toni Gardemeister and P-G Andersson started the main event and the competitive action north of the city of Athens this morning. Arguably the harshest rally on the calendar, the Acropolis Rally combines the rockiest roads with the hottest conditions. Both Suzukis coped admirably with everything this Greek summer could throw at them. Andersson was never out of the top 10 and was ninth overnight, while his team-mate Gardemeister ended the day on the fringes of the top 10 in 11th position.

Tomorrow's stages are likely to be the toughest on the route. The itinerary includes the longest test of the whole event, the fearsome 32.16km Aghii Theodori test - which is also expected to be the roughest and rockiest in this year's championship: a true test for the world's fastest rally drivers.

Car news - Suzuki SX4 WRC n.11 (Gardemeister) and n.12 (Andersson): Suzuki arrived in Greece with the brace of SX4 WRCs sporting a similar set-up to the one employed by Gardemeister and Andersson on the last round in Italy. Clearly, it's a set-up which works in Greece, as both cars ran well across the rough terrain. Neither car suffered any significant technical issues on the stages.

Driver news:
Toni Gardemeister: "Everything has been quite okay today. We had some trouble this morning with the fuel pumps, but the afternoon was good. I was at 95 per cent. There is more to come."

P-G Andersson: "The first and third stages today were really technical, very twisty, but good fun in the SX4 WRC. I haven't been going at the maximum today; this rally is about surviving until the finish and that's what we've got our sights firmly set on. Tomorrow's a really tough day. There's still a very long way to go in this event."

Team news:
Paul Wilding, Suzuki World Rally Team manager: "Suzuki's target for this event is to get the SX4 WRCs to the end of the rally. We're one-third of the way through the toughest rally of the year - and we've had a clean run. The team is very pleased with that. We're not so focused on stage times here in Greece, what we want to see is good, consistent pace and reliability and both drivers have delivered that. We're looking forward to more of the same tomorrow, but we remain mindful of just how hard this rally can be."