Suzuki celebrates with both SX4 WRCs in the points in New Zealand

The final day of Rally New Zealand took crews to some of the most photographed and talked about stages on the whole World Rally Championship calendar. The Te Hutewai and Whaanga Coast stages go as far west of the rally base in Hamilton as possible - they run along the headland of the Tasman Sea. Both Suzuki drivers Toni Gardemeister and P-G Andersson were looking forward to the stages, which are as much a treat for the drivers as they are for the spectators. And they turned out to be a fitting setting for Suzuki's best World Rally Championship finish yet, with Andersson climbing the leaderboard through the final day to sixth and his team-mate Gardemeister finishing just one place further back in seventh place. It was no wonder the drivers received such a rapturous welcome back into Hamilton from the local Kiwi fans and everybody in the Suzuki World Rally Team. A trouble-free run to seven points on one of the toughest rallies in the world was the perfect result for everybody.

Car news - Suzuki SX4 WRC n.11 (Gardemeister), n.12 (Andersson): Andersson's only problem through the final day's 85 kilometers of competitive action was a double puncture on the penultimate stage, beyond that both Suzuki SX4 WRCs ran without any technical faults - as they have done for all three days and 353 kilometres of Rally New Zealand.

Driver news:

Toni Gardemeister: "I really enjoy these roads and today, like every day on this rally, the SX4 WRC worked very well. I had a spin on the long one this morning, it was quite tough to find the feeling on the gravel in there, but after that the day has been getting better and better. The team has worked really hard for this and we deserve the points and the finish. I'm really happy."

P-G Andersson: "I drove a little bit like my grandmother this morning! I knew there was so much to lose by making a mistake today, which meant there was quite a lot of pressure. The car was really good, but it was tough to find a rhythm and get into the morning stages, they were really loose at times. As well as that, I was struggling a little bit with the pace notes, they were too fast for the corners. It was such a shame for the last run through Whaanga Coast, that's a great stage, but a couple of kilometres into the stage we got a puncture, so we had to do the whole stage like that. Then later on, we got another puncture and dropped more time. Okay, this wasn't the best way to end it, but it has been a great rally for the whole team - and our faultless SX4 WRC."

Team news:

Paul Wilding, Suzuki World Rally Team manager: "As you can imagine, I'm pretty delighted with the way things have gone. This is a great payback for all the incredible hard work everybody in the team has put in. We have all worked tirelessly towards seeing the Suzuki SX4 WRC show this kind of reliability and pace. There's more to come, but for now we're all just going to enjoy this result. Fantastic!"

Final results:
1 Sebastien Loeb 3:59:18.9 0.0
2 Daniel Sordo 3:59:36.4 +17.5
3 Mikko Hirvonen 4:00:00.4 +41.5
4 Petter Solberg 4:02:07.8 +2:48.9
5 Urmo Aava 4:02:49.6 +3:30.7
6 Per-Gunnar Andersson 4:06:56.3 +7:37.4
7 Toni Gardemeister 4:07:13.8 +7:54.9
8 Federico Villagra 4:07:53.9 +8:35.0

Day 2: Suzuki maintains pace and points places through tough day two in NZ

The second day of Rally New Zealand included the three longest stages of the event. Once again, the story was about finding grip through the deep gravel, which coated the fast, but technical North Island roads. Despite those tricky conditions, P-G Andersson drove consistently and quickly through the day's six stages to maintain his grip on eighth place. Toni Gardemeister ensured both Suzukis were in the top 10 after another fine day behind the wheel of his ninth-placed SX4 WRC.

Car news - Suzuki SX4 WRC n.11 (Gardemeister), n.12 (Andersson):
Andersson's Suzuki SX4 WRC ran without any problems throughout the second day, but the Swede made some changes to the car to try and improve the traction and damping. The sister car of Gardemeister suffered a brake problem in the Franklin stage, probably caused by a stone. Gardemeister managed to get through the stage, back in the service area the team changed all of the components and both cars enjoyed a trouble-free afternoon.

P-G Andersson: "I am in the points and am really happy for that. I'm not going to take any risks to try and catch the car ahead. At the same time, I have a nice gap to the car behind. This morning was quite hard work, though. The stages were so full of gravel, it was hard to find a line and to get any grip. We tried to soften the car through the morning. That helps with the traction, but it means the car loses precision in the faster sections. For the afternoon, where the stages were faster, we stiffened the roll bars, which worked quite well. The confidence was not so bad this afternoon."

Team news:

Paul Wilding, Suzuki World Rally Team manager: "It's been another strong day for the Suzuki team and the SX4 WRC. Toni's brake trouble was frustrating this morning, but otherwise it's been good today. These conditions are not easy, all of the teams are talking about the gravel and the same problem. However we're really happy with the performance of the car, the drivers and the whole team."

Day 1: Suzuki SX4 WRCs in points positions at the end of Rally NZ day one

Both Suzuki SX4 WRCs held top-10 positions at the end of an impressive opening day of Rally New Zealand for drivers P-G Andersson and Toni Gardemeister. Swede Andersson was never out of the top-10 fastest times on the long stages out west of the rally's base in Hamilton. In SS2.2, Andersson was fifth fastest, just 4.2 seconds off the fastest time - a feat he repeated on the day's final stage at Mystery Creek. His team-mate Gardemeister (Finland) was disappointed when he dropped more than a minute in the first stage of the day due to a puncture, but he battled back to move and incredible 14 places up the leaderboard by the close of play. The torrential rain ahead of the event had washed a section of the Waitomo stage away, forcing the organisers to split the stage in two in order to avoid the worst affected area. Despite the terrible weather ahead of the event, the entire opening leg was run in glorious sunshine, with temperatures closing on 20 degrees in this southern hemisphere winter.

Car news - Suzuki SX4 WRC n.11 (Gardemeister), n.12 (Andersson):
Both cars ran without any technical fault through the opening day's 138 kilometers of flat-out action. Gardemeister's only trouble was his SS1 deflation on the right-rear tyre. Both Toni and P-G worked on the set-up of their SX4 WRC at the lunchtime service halt, softening the car in order to try and find more traction on the gravel-strewn North Island roads.

Driver news: Toni Gardemeister: "This morning was disappointing for me. I really wanted a good run here and had a nice feeling, but then we got the puncture. After that, the rest of the day has been good. No problems. The car has been running well, but the conditions have been tough this morning. Running through the stages the second time, the line is looking cleaner which is helping to give us more traction."

P-G Andersson: "The first stage was really tough, it was a bit of a surprise. The car was much too hard and this was combined with the driving been too bad. The tyre was too hard for the conditions, but this is the same for everybody, so we don't have to think about this. We came out of the first stage and made some changes to the suspension on the car - we softened it as much as we could. This helped in the second stage and then in the third, everything was going really well. I found the re-run of Pirongia West (SS4) quite hard, I couldn't find a rhythm in the stage. It's been a good day today, though. The car has been perfect and we're in the best position possible. Now we have to stay there."

Team news:

Paul Wilding, Suzuki World Rally Team manager: "Without Toni's puncture this morning, this would have been pretty much the perfect day for the team. Neither car has had any kind of a problem, which is really satisfying for Suzuki after all the hard work, which has been put in on the SX4 WRC. Tomorrow's stages are a bit faster and more flowing, so we're looking forward to some more trouble-free and fast running from both P-G and Toni."