NEWS

Home result is best yet for Suzuki

The Suzuki World Rally Team claimed its best-ever WRC finish on Rally Japan, a result which team boss Shusuke Inagaki says is the clearest indication yet that the team’s performance is heading in the right direction. Approaching the end of a difficult debut WRC season, P-G Andersson’s fifth place and Toni Gardemeister's sixth were a welcome boost to Suzuki - and couldn’t have come on a more important event. “We are all very proud of the achievements of the Suzuki World Rally Team here at home in Japan!” said team director Shusuke Inagaki. “An important thing to remember is that the rally route was brand new for this year, which meant that nobody started with any real advantage in terms of experience. This proves that when the conditions are equal, we can fight with some of the frontrunners. Of course we still have a long way to go and much to learn, but this is the clearest indication yet that everything is heading in the right direction." Before the weekend the team’s best result were the sixth and seventh places it scored on Rally New Zealand. But in Japan a better overall placing wasn’t the only thing the team was celebrating. As well as scoring driver and manufacturer points with both cars - and moving ahead of the Munchi’s team in the standings - the team set its first fastest stage time on Saturday (Gardemeister, SS19) and was never out of the top six times throughout the whole of the final day’s competition. "I've really enjoyed this event and I hope that we've given all the Suzuki fans here something to remember!” said Andersson. “The car has been completely reliable and without the time we lost to stop and change a puncture yesterday, I think we could have been even closer to the leaders. This rally shows that all the hard work and development we have put in over the course of the year really works and it is a very encouraging sign for the future. After struggling a bit on the asphalt rallies, my confidence is back to full strength and I am looking forward to a solid season finish now.” Toni Gardemeister said: "This has been a very tough but a very good rally for us, which has confirmed what I always thought: when we have a nice clean run with no problems, we are able to fight for a good position. I was also really proud to set Suzuki's first fastest stage time on Saturday. Given that we have not even finished our first full year yet and that we have done no testing, it really shows our potential for the future. We head now to the final round of the season in Great Britain with quite a lot of confidence."