Gardemeister achieves Suzuki’s best result

Toni Gardemeister finished the Swedish Rally in 7th position, earning two points in the ‘Drivers’ standings and three in the ‘Constructors’ standings for his new team, Suzuki. This is the best result in the young history of the Japanese team.

Following the 8th place achieved by P-G Andersson at the Monte-Carlo two weeks ago, Gardemeister enabled the Suzuki SX4 WRC to score points again in the World Championship, thanks in part to the problems faced by Loeb, Hirvonen, and Atkinson.

Andersson, on his part, was forced to retire during the first day of the rally due to a head gasket problem. Gardemeister, on the other hand, reached the finish despite hydraulic problems and an off-road excursion on Saturday. Having returned to the points after his off-course moment, the Norwegian focused on securing his position during the last six special stages. With SS18 canceled due to the lack of snow, he managed to ensure his finish in Karlstad, providing Suzuki with its second finish in the points.

Gardemeister declared: « I am very happy to have scored my first points for Suzuki after three difficult days. The biggest problem was the road conditions. There was a lot of slippery mud and we had to soften the suspension on the first day to adjust the settings to the terrain. On the second day, we went off the road. It wasn’t much, it should have only cost us 10 or 15 seconds. In the end, we lost three minutes. We are always happy to have help from spectators in these moments! »

« On the last day, we drove cautiously to finish. There was no point in taking risks. There is still a lot of development to be done on the car, but we are satisfied with the car’s performance given the limited testing. I am certain that we will be closer to the best by the end of the season », he added.