Suzuki enjoys a strong day in the Turkish sunshine

Both Suzuki drivers Toni Gardemeister and P-G Andersson enjoyed a thrilling day on the Turkish stages, as they hurled their SX4 WRCs along some of the twistiest and roughest roads around. Andersson moved into the top 10 on the fourth stage and remained there with some stunning times ­ including fourth fastest on the day¹s penultimate test. He only slipped out of the top 10 when a suspension problem cost him time on the final stage. He starts tomorrow¹s second day in 12th place. Gardemeister¹s day proved to be among the most physically challenging of his entire world rally career. The Finn suffered the agony of a dislocated shoulder on stage six, but battled on to end the day in ninth position. Gardemeister ended his day on a high setting fifth fastest time, just 1.9 seconds slower than four-times world champion Sebastien Loeb on the day¹s final stage.

Toni Gardemeister¹s SX4 WRC ran without any technical faults through the opening day¹s nine stages. Gardemeister¹s only car-related problem came with a puncture on the day¹s opening test. The sister Suzuki of P-G Andersson was hit by a minor hydraulic glitch for two mid-day stages and then suffered broken suspension for the majority of SS9.

Toni Gardemeister: ³About five kilometres from the end of the stage [SS6] I was turning in a right-hand hairpin. I hit a rock and the steering wheel was ripped out of my hand; the impact dislocated my left shoulder. The pain was incredible. The shoulder went back in after a couple of seconds. The doctor worked on my shoulder in service and it wasn¹t so bad in the last two stages. It was really good to come through the last stage with a good time.²

Paul Wilding, Suzuki World Rally Team manager: ³Our objective for this event is the same as it was for Greece: to get cars to the finish. From that perspective, it¹s been another good day. We haven¹t seen the SX4 WRC running at under half a second per kilometre slower than the lead car before today and I have to say I¹m really pleased with that. We know what risks the guys are taking at the front and we know what risks our guys are doing to set these times. This is a good pace, but there¹s more to come from Suzuki.²

Leaderboard after Day 1
1. S Loeb/D Elena FRA Citroen C4 2hr 02min 35.2sec
2. H Solberg/C Menkerud NOR Ford Focus RS 2hr 02min 36.2sec
3. J-M Latvala/M Anttila FIN Ford Focus RS 2hr 02min 36.3sec
4. G Galli/G Bernacchini ITA Ford Focus RS 2hr 02min 37.4sec
5. M Hirvonen/J Lehtinen FIN Ford Focus RS 2hr 02min 42.1sec
6. P Solberg/P Mills NOR Subaru Impreza 2hr 03min 24.3sec
7. M Wilson/S Martin GBR Ford Focus RS 2hr 03min 41.1sec
8. D Sordo/M Marti ESP Citroen C4 2hr 03min 42.0sec
9. T Gardemeister/T Tuominen FIN Suzuki SX4 2hr 05min 02.3sec
10 C Rautenbach/D Senior ZIM Citroen C4 2hr 05min 25.2sec