Suzuki team buoyed by pace on day three

Suzuki's Per-Gunnar Andersson recorded his team’s most competitive stage time to date when he was fifth fastest on stage 11 - today's opening test.

Andersson, who won the Junior championship with Suzuki last year, was delighted to have got up to speed with the new WRC car so quickly. "It's fantastic; I never believed I could drive the stages as fast as this," said Andersson. "Yesterday was the first time for me to drive this car for a full rally day and it takes time to learn and get into a rhythm. This afternoon I'll try to keep the same pace but I expect the other drivers will be faster on the second run, so we'll have to see."

After encountering a number of technical problems during the first two days of the rally, team principal Nobuhiro Tajima was delighted with Andersson's performance. "As we expected, we have had some small problems with the new car on its first event, but this morning P-G's car ran as it should and he has been able to do some fantastic times. I'm very happy!

Toni Gardemeister's SX4 returned to service with a broken clutch and rear driveshaft, but the Finn completed each of the morning stages inside the top 10.