Suzuki at its strongest with the SX4 WRC taking Acropolis points

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 event¹s base for the last three days. Sweden¹s 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 Champion¹s scintillating pace through these rockiest of roads was enough to land him a top 10 position on the event. Andersson¹s 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 the World Rally Championship so far this season. Andersson climbed as high as sixth overall before slipping back on yesterday¹s second day. Gardemeister¹s Suzuki remained reliable, save for a small problem on day two due to a damaged exhaust system. The team¹s reward for its effort on the Acropolis comes in the shape of both cars scoring points in the manufacturers¹ championship.

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 didn¹t suffer any similar troubles, allowing him to take the car to its most competitive day in the championship so far.

Toni Gardemeister: ³We¹ve 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.²

Paul Wilding, Suzuki World Rally Team manager: ³The team has achieved its objectives here on probably the toughest rally the World Rally Championship will encounter all season. It¹s 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.²

Final positions
1. S Loeb/D Elena FRA Citroen C4 3hr 54min 54.7sec
2. P Solberg/P Mills NOR Subaru Impreza 3hr 56min 04.2sec
3. M Hirvonen/J Lehtinen FIN Ford Focus RS 3hr 56min 50.8sec
4. U Aava/K Sikk EST Citroen C4 3hr 59min 14.4sec
5. D Sordo/M Marti ESP Citroen C4 3hr 59min 44.1sec
6. M Wilson/S Martin GBR Ford Focus RS 4hr 01min 06.0sec
7. J-M Latvala/M Anttila FIN Ford Focus RS 4hr 01min 42.2sec
8. H Solberg/C Menkerud NOR Ford Focus RS 4hr 04min 08.7sec
9. T Gardemeister/T Tuominen FIN Suzuki SX4 4hr 05min 08.5sec
10 C Rautenbach/D Senior ZIM Citroen C4 4hr 08min 23.8sec