Double trouble for Suzuki

Suzuki’s Toni Gardemeister is out of the opening day of Rally Jordan.

The Finn’s Suzuki SX4 WRC stopped 5km into the third stage of the day, the 11km Mount Nebo test. He had been in tenth place overall. His retirement came shortly after the exit of his team-mate Per-Gunnar Andersson.

The Suzuki World Rally Team says that before examining the car they are unable to say exactly why it stopped but they believe the problem is engine related. The team hopes to get Gardemeister back out again on Saturday as a SuperRally entrant.

Toni’s car was reported to be leaking oil when it finished the previous 20km Mahes test (SS2).