FIA pre-event press conference for WRC drivers

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Questions to Toni Gardemeister of the Suzuki World Rally Team

Six rounds into the Championship with the Suzuki SX4 and you have yet to complete an event without the help of Superally. Is the team making headway on the reliability problems you have been experiencing?
Okay, the team is trying to learn from the problems and the mistakes, but it's difficult because you need homologation to sort the problems. On the last event the problems weren't the same, which is a good thing.

How was shakedown this morning?
I stalled at shakedown which wasn't a good start. After the team changed the engine mapping it worked very well, actually.

Have you had to change your approach to events this year, knowing that the car is not as competitive as you would like?
Now we think in a different way. We're not flat everywhere. I like to go flat, but sometimes you have to cool down and bring the car to the finish.

What is the team's strategy for this event?
Bring the cars to the finish - that's the only goal at the moment. We want a clean run.

How's your confidence?
Okay. I like this event. I am very confident, but the roads are quite rough. I know how we can go and try to stay away from problems.

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