Suzuki ready to go

Suzuki drivers Toni Gardemeister and Per-Gunnar Andersson will step into a brave new world this season, when they begin their first full year with the Suzuki World Rally Team.

The WRC’s latest manufacturer made a solid start to its world championship campaign, finishing both of the 2007 warm-up events it started (Tour de Corse and Wales Rally GB).

Since then, the Suzuki team has been working on making small changes and introducing new components to the SX4 WRC in time for the opening round of this year’s series in Monte Carlo later this month.

Team principal Nobuhiro Tajima said: “We were very encouraged by the testing we did last year, but now we have to move forward. We have learned a great deal about the SX4 and we are looking ahead to 2008.

"It is going to be hard, because there are many rallies which will be a new challenge to us. There will be new parts to the car, we have found areas which need to be strengthened - that is why we went testing - and we have focused on those areas.”