Toni Gardemeister and Tomi Tuominen drove an inch-perfect final day to bring their Suzuki SX4 WRC home in eighth place. Gardemeister's drive is rewarded with a drivers' championship point for him and two for the Suzuki World Rally Team. The Finn's team-mate P-G Andersson did not re-start this morning following an incident yesterday afternoon, when the car went off the road and into a tree.

Car news - Suzuki SX4 WRC n.11 (Gardemeister), n.12 (Andersson):
Gardemeister's Suzuki SX4 WRC ran without any faults through the final day. The Finn had dialled himself into the super-quick final-leg stages and was delighted with the handling and suspension of the car.

Driver news: Toni Gardemeister: "It's been a really good day today - a day I've really enjoyed. The stages are nice, the sun was shining and, of course, there were plenty of Finnish flags flying! It looked as though we could be having a big fight with Matthew [Wilson] today, but we managed to keep him behind. Once I realised that we had the speed to stay ahead of him, it was okay. I could relax and enjoy the roads. To end the event in Ruuhimaki, with those jumps at the end of the stage, is fantastic. That's why people love Rally Finland. I came here feeling we could make points and we have done that. It's been a good week.?

Team news:
Paul Wilding, Suzuki World Rally Team manager: "Toni has driven very well today. He's made no mistakes and the car hasn't missed beat. We're very pleased with the performance and reliability we've found from the latest development of the Suzuki SX4 WRC. Taking points is why we're here, so we're delighted with that. Of course, it's a shame that P-G went off the road yesterday, but these things happen in this sport - particularly on such a high-speed event as Finland. Now, though, our focus switches to Rallye Deutschland and the new challenge of a pure asphalt rally. One thing is sure, though, we go there on a high after a points-finish in Finland."

Final Result:
1 Sebastien Loeb 2:54:05.5 0.0
2 Mikko Hirvonen 2:54:14.5 +9.0
3 Chris Atkinson 2:57:22.5 +3:17.0
4 Daniel Sordo 2:57:36.4 +3:30.9
5 Henning Solberg 2:58:03.2 +3:57.7
6 Petter Solberg 2:58:09.6 +4:04.1
7 Matti Rantanen 3:00:16.6 +6:11.1
8 Toni Gardemeister 3:02:24.2 +8:18.7

Day 2: Points still on offer despite a day of mixed fortunes for Suzuki

Day two lived up to its billing as the most demanding of this year's Rally Finland. With 168 kilometres of flat-out action on a difficult and often deceptive mixture of roads and varying surfaces, Suzuki drivers Toni Gardemeister and P-G Andersson were both making strong progress. Unfortunately, P-G's rally ended prematurely and in dramatic fashion when he crashed out of the event not far from the end of SS16. While Toni went on to maintain a provisional points-paying position in 8th, P-G was left to rue the very fast section of the fabled Ouninpohja road in the Kakaristo test which caught the Suzuki-driving Swede out. He and co-driver Jonas Andersson were both left bruised by the accident and will not restart tomorrow.

Driver news:
Toni Gardemeister: "My arm has been quite painful from at times today, but otherwise it's been a good day. I've enjoyed the stages, I always do on this rally. I didn't want to take any risks, the team and I need points from this rally - and that's the aim for tomorrow. But, Matthew [Wilson] was not far behind and I had to push to make sure we didn't let him pass."

P-G Andersson: "I was caught out by a very difficult left-hand corner in Kakaristo stage - another car had already crashed at this point. The car went off the road and into a tree. Fortunately, neither myself, nor Jonas were seriously hurt, but we are both feeling quite stiff from the impact. I'm very sorry for everybody in the team. The car had been running really well; we'd had no problems at all during the event and the pace had been good. We were looking at points here, but that's the way the sport goes sometimes."

Team news:
Paul Wilding, Suzuki World Rally Team manager: "Today has definitely been a day of mixed fortunes. Both cars were running well and Toni remains in a very strong position going into the final day. He's sensibly driving in, what he calls, preservation mode and is looking good to take points tomorrow. As for P-G, the first thing to say is that we are all very relieved that he and Jonas are both fine, that's our number one priority in an accident like this. That said, we're disappointed for him and the team - his SX4 WRC was running faultlessly and very quickly until the accident."

Day 1: Suzuki battle keeps the fans on the edge of their seats

The first leg of the event known as the 'Finnish Grand Prix' took the crews out to the west of the rally's base in Jyvaskyla for nine long tests and one final run around the Killeri superspecial stage. After warm summer sunshine throughout the recce and shakedown for the event, rain and damp conditions greeted the drivers as they headed out of service for Vellipohja, the morning's opener. Both Suzuki SX4 WRCs featured at the front of the field, with P-G Andersson and Toni Gardemeister scrapping over points-paying positions; the tense battle between the brace of SX4 WRCs was one of the features of the opening day.

Car news - Suzuki SX4 WRC n.11 (Gardemeister), n.12 (Andersson):
Both Suzukis ran without fault throughout this opening leg. The drivers were particularly pleased with the transmission and hydraulic systems, following all of the work done by Suzuki over the summer on the cars. Both drivers spent time off the road as they pushed their SX4 WRCs to the limit on the fastest roads the World Rally Championship has on offer. Andersson span his car on the day's opening test at the cost of 25 seconds. Gardemeister went off on stage seven, but both Suzukis remained on track to end the day with strong placings of 8th and 10th.

Driver news: Toni Gardemeister: "When we went off in the second run through Palsankyla this afternoon. It was a very, very big moment for us. I would say we went off the road at about 180kp/h - incredible! I really thought we were going to roll. We collected a puncture on the left-rear tyre which was there for the rest of the stage and I hurt my right shoulder in the impact. It was bad. Otherwise, the car has been good. It's a fantastic fight between myself and P-G and the best thing is that we're both in the top 10!"

P-G Andersson: "The SX4 WRC has been great today. We've had no problems. Given the testing we did, we've got a very good set-up with the car. We had a small problem in the second loop, when the back of the car was kicking up a little bit in the ruts and jumps, but the team was soon able to rectify that at service. After that, it was very good and we were able to close on Toni. The spin this morning was frustrating. We hit some water a couple of kilometers into the test, that pulled the wheel in and spun us into the ditch. The car was in the ditch. And facing the wrong direction. It cost us about 25s to get the car out and turned around, but we're in the points - and that's all that matters."

Team news:
Paul Wilding, Suzuki World Rally Team manager: "Suzuki has had a very strong day with the two SX4 WRCs in the top 10 at the end of the opening leg. This is a good reflection on the work which Suzuki has been doing on the SX4 WRC for the duration of the summer. Finland is an event which is all about performance and that's what Suzuki has been working on recently. To be in this position so early in the event is very, very positive."