Norway : Suzuki – JWRC - FinishThere were two Suzukis in the top three at the end of the inaugural Rally Norway, underlining a stunning performance for the Swift in which the little yellow car won 16 out of a possible 18 stages!
Former Junior World Champion P-G Andersson
claimed victory on the first round of this season after a fault-free drive, while his team mate Urmo Aava was third. Throughout the three days of this extremely demanding event, characterised by sub-zero temperatures, none of the Suzuki drivers had any mechanical problems. The next round, by contrast, takes place on gravel in Portugal from March 30-April 1.
P-G Andersson, 1st in JRC
"It's been a fantastic rally: I've really enjoyed myself over all three days and the car has not missed a beat. I took a five-minute advantage into the final day, so really today was all about keeping out of trouble and making sure I got to the finish. The stages today were actually really difficult and it is never easy to drive in a situation where you have nothing more to gain and everything to lose.
Nonetheless we did it, and I'm relieved to start my championship campaign in the best possible way!"
News from Urmo Aava, 3rd in JRC
"It's been a tough rally: I knew that I had no chance of reaching second today as the gap was too big, so I concentrated on trying to defend my third place and score some useful points in the championship. Unfortunately I lost a lot of time after hitting a tree stump on the opening day: without that problem I believe I could have been challenging for a win. Still, I am happy to take the points for third place, and I am sure we will be fighting for victory again in Portugal."
Nobuhiro 'Monster' Tajima, Team Principal
"This has been an extremely challenging rally for everybody: even three-time World Rally Champion
Sebastien Loeb went off twice in two different stages! Despite this, P-G has driven in an extremely sensible way while Suzuki has taken the vast majority of the stage wins. We have two cars on the podium: an excellent result!"
Suzuki – JWRC
