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5.10.2008 - Suzuki learns some useful asphalt lessons from Spain
The Rally de España has proved extremely useful for the Suzuki World Rally Team, as it has learned several valuable lessons about driving on asphalt for the Rallye de France-Tour de Corse that gets underway in less than a week's time. The final leg of the Spanish event took in six demanding asphalt stages today, which were as dirty as a gravel rally in places. In order to find the quickest lines through the corners, the cars always take deep cuts - and this pulls earth and stones right into the middle of the road. Despite these tricky conditions, which also carry a high risk of punctures, the Suzuki SX4 WRCs of Toni Gardemeister and P-G Andersson both arrived safely at the rally finish in Salou after 18 stages and 353 competitive kilometres.
Gardemeister was all set for a points-scoring result until he picked up a puncture at the end of day one, which caused him to lose more than two and a half minutes. He had a trouble-free run through days two and three, in which he concentrated on testing and development, to finish 13th overall despite another puncture on the final morning.
P-G Andersson also suffered a major setback early in the rally, when a pace note error on the second stage of Friday meant that he went off the road and slithered down a bank. The car was undamaged but the young Swede was unable to regain the stage. He re-started on Saturday under the super rally rules with a 25-minute penalty and also subsequently focussed on testing for the all-asphalt Rally de France.
Suzuki is now feeling confident for Corsica, renowned as the most fearsome asphalt event of them all. The SX4 WRC once more demonstrated perfect reliability over all three days of the Rally de España, as has been the case now for several months. This allowed both Gardemeister and Andersson plenty of time to experiment with differential and damper settings, which will be crucial on the bumpy asphalt of Corsica. As soon as the Spanish Rally finished, the Suzuki team packed up its trucks to head straight to the Mediterranean island. The rally begins with a ceremonial start in Ajaccio on Thursday.
Today both Suzuki SX4 WRC drivers concentrated on testing their cars on some of the dirtier roads used on the Spanish event, under cooler temperatures. This experience will be of direct relevance to Corsica, as the higher-altitude stages there tend to be cool and the roads are often bumpy and dirty. At the service park in Port Aventura, the drivers changed some settings for the re-run over the first loop of three stages. The final loop of stages proved to be extremely slippery, testing the traction and grip of the SX4 WRC on unstable asphalt surfaces. The team also focussed on adapting the range of Pirelli PZero control tyres to the SX4 WRC on dirty asphalt. Once more, both cars were perfectly reliable throughout the 93 competitive kilometres of Sunday, with Andersson making up several places relative to his start position on the final day.
Toni Gardemeister: "It's a shame that we picked up the puncture on the first day, otherwise I am sure that we could have got some good points here. This rally has been very useful for us though, as we have come away with a lot of vital information for Corsica. I'm also pleased with the level of reliability: we've had no mechanical problems from start to finish which is among the most important things on the World Rally Championship, as our double points finish on the last round in New Zealand showed. So I'm feeling quite confident as we head to Corsica; hopefully we can put all the potential we have shown on asphalt into practice there."
Shusuke Inagaki, Suzuki World Rally Team Director: "This was the first proper asphalt round of the season for us, as Monte Carlo and Germany are certainly not typical of most asphalt rallies. Despite the fact that Spain was one of the quickest and toughest rallies of the year, both cars were completely reliable, which is very encouraging. Most importantly of all, we have been able to continue the SX4 WRC's development on asphalt by taking on board several valuable lessons from this event. Now we hope to use them on the next round in Corsica, which will be another big challenge for all of us - especially coming so soon after Spain."
Final positions
1. S Loeb/D Elena FRA Citroen C4 3hr 21min 17.4sec
2. D Sordo/M Marti ESP Citroen C4 3hr 21min 42.3sec
3. M Hirvonen/J Lehtinen FIN Ford Focus RS 3hr 22min 19.9sec
4. F Duval/P Pivato BEL Ford Focus RS 3hr 22min 28.2sec
5. P Solberg/P Mills NOR Subaru Impreza 3hr 24min 44.8sec
6. J-M Latvala/M Anttila FIN Ford Focus RS 3hr 25min 21.2sec
7. C Atkinson/S Prévot AUS Subaru Impreza 3hr 25min 22.3sec
8. A Mikkelsen/O Floene NOR Ford Focus RS 3hr 26min 37.0sec
9. M Wilson/S Martin GBR Ford Focus RS 3hr 29min 00.6sec
10 B Tirabassi/F Gordon FRA Subaru Impreza 3hr 30min 22.4sec
4.10.2008 - Suzuki drivers continue to make progress on day two in Spain
After an unlucky opening leg yesterday - in which P-G Andersson went off the road and Toni Gardemeister picked up a puncture - the Suzuki SX4 WRC drivers have had a trouble-free second day of the Rally de España. Both drivers lost a lot of time with their respective misfortunes yesterday and so today they concentrated on testing set-ups for the next asphalt round in Corsica, which takes place in less than a week's time.
Once more the sealed-surface action was split up into two loops of three stages today, with just one service halt in between them. Whilst the competitive distance of 127 kilometres was not quite as far as the opening leg on Friday, Saturday's stages were renowned as being the trickiest of the entire rally with a number of tight corners and highly technical sections. On this most selective day of the event, neither SX4 WRC experienced any mechanical problems: a sure sign that all the hard work to improve the car's reliability is well and truly paying off.
At the end of the day Toni Gardemeister is 15th and not far off the manufacturer points. P-G Andersson re-started the event under the super rally rules this morning and is still well down the order, thanks to a 25-minute penalty for not having completed five stages following his off on SS2 yesterday.
After a chilly start this morning the weather conditions remained dry and warm for the rest of the day, which meant that the two factory Suzuki crews used Pirelli's hard compound tyres throughout the leg. Tomorrow's final day takes in six more demanding asphalt stages before the finish ramp back in the popular coastal resort of Salou at 15:07.
With their hopes of a top-eight finish ended by bad luck yesterday, the Suzuki drivers concentrated on testing different set-ups throughout today's six stages. In order to bring back the maximum possible amount of development information, neither driver took any risks over the course of the action. Most of the set-up work concentrated on dampers and suspension, although the drivers also spent time evaluating wear on the new Pirelli PZero control tyres with a different range of settings.
Both SX4 WRCs were entirely reliable, and thanks to this consistent form Gardemeister and Andersson were able to make up two and 24 places compared to their start positions this morning respectively.
The information gained today will be extremely useful for the next asphalt round in Corsica, as the leg two itinerary in Spain most closely resembles the conditions that the drivers will encounter on the Mediterranean island next week.
Toni Gardemeister: "We still had a lot of understeer in the morning, which may be related to the way that we use the tyres. The most important thing is that we investigate the reasons why this is happening and try to find a solution. We made some small changes to the set-up in service and these seemed to work well. Tomorrow we will continue to check our findings, and then hopefully we should be in good shape for Corsica. The really positive thing about this event is that so far our car has been extremely reliable: without picking up the puncture yesterday we would have been comfortably in the top 10."
Shusuke Inagaki, Suzuki World Rally Team Director: "We are very pleased to note that our car has been completely reliable over the toughest day of the rally. Today we have concentrated on testing for Corsica, so we have not really been looking at the stage times. It looks like we are on track to bring two cars safely home to the finish which is satisfying for us. But it is also clear that there is plenty more work to do, so this will be our aim for tomorrow."
Leaderboard after Day 2
1. S Loeb/D Elena FRA Citroen C4 2hr 22min 57.2sec
2. D Sordo/M Marti ESP Citroen C4 2hr 23min 24.9sec
3. F Duval/P Pivato BEL Ford Focus RS 2hr 23min 48.6sec
4. M Hirvonen/J Lehtinen FIN Ford Focus RS 2hr 24min 01.8sec
5. P Solberg/P Mills NOR Subaru Impreza 2hr 26min 04.1sec
6. U Aava/K Sikk EST Citroen C4 2hr 26min 05.5sec
7. C Atkinson/S Prévot AUS Subaru Impreza 2hr 26min 39.9sec
8. J-M Latvala/M Anttila FIN Ford Focus RS 2hr 26min 43.3sec
9. A Mikkelsen/O Floene NOR Ford Focus RS 2hr 27min 14.4sec
10 M Wilson/S Martin GBR Ford Focus RS 2hr 29min 23.0sec
3.10.2008 - Gardemeister optimistic despite bad luck on opening day of Catalunya
The Rally de España - which is the first 'real' asphalt event of the season - got underway with six stages today, split into two loops of three speed tests with service in between at Port Aventura, Europe's largest theme park, to the south of Barcelona. At the end of another challenging day, Toni Gardemeister has brought his SX4 WRC home in 17th overall. The Finn picked up a front-right puncture on the penultimate stage of the leg, which caused him to lose two and a half minutes. Nonetheless, he still has the chance to claim points over the two long days that remain in Spain. His team mate P-G Andersson unfortunately went off the road on the second special stage of the day, having set a top-10 time on SS1. His SX4 WRC was undamaged and he will re-start tomorrow under the super rally system, with a penalty of five minutes for every stage missed.
Today's six stages totalled 131 competitive kilometres and made up the longest leg of the rally, with cool temperatures in the morning becoming progressively warmer as the day went on. Consequently, the majority of drivers elected to use Pirelli's hard-compound asphalt tyres throughout the day. Thanks to a number of new stages for this year the drivers often found themselves on unfamiliar terrain, with this year's Spanish stages being slightly slower and twistier than they have been in the past. Gardemeister's SX4 WRC was entirely reliable throughout the day, to continue the consistently strong run that Suzuki has enjoyed from the middle of the season.
The drivers reported no problems with their SX4 WRCs throughout the day, although the slippery nature of the asphalt meant that Gardemeister suffered from a lack of grip during the morning's loop of stages. He made some suspension adjustments at service to try and soften the car in order to gain better traction, having experienced some understeer and a spin on the opening stage. The changes worked well, but then on the penultimate stage of the day Gardemeister picked up a front-right puncture.
Andersson had no problems on the opening stage, where he set 10th fastest time. Tomorrow he hopes to continue the task of adapting himself and the Suzuki SX4 WRC to the challenging asphalt stages of Spain.
Toni Gardemeister: "After I heard about P-G's off on the second stage, I just drove carefully to the end of the morning's loop of stages. During service at midday I made a few changes and the car definitely felt better but we didn't really get the chance to show it as we caught a puncture 10 kilometres into SS5. We continued to the end and then changed the wheel for the last stage, but we had already lost two and a half minutes."
Shusuke Inagaki, Suzuki World Rally Team Director: "Just as we expected, the opening day of the Rally de España has provided us with a big challenge, but I have to say that we were also a bit unlucky. A mistake with the pace notes is something that can happen, but it is a pity that this happened to P-G on only the second stage of the day and that there was a steep bank to prevent him from re-joining straight away. Toni had bad luck to pick up a puncture. Looking on the positive side, at least we end tonight with two cars that are intact and the chance still to drive two more challenging legs tomorrow and on Sunday."
Leaderboard after Day 1
1. S Loeb/D Elena FRA Citroen C4 1hr 10min 11.5sec
2. D Sordo/M Marti ESP Citroen C4 1hr 10min 27.3sec
3. F Duval/P Pivato BEL Ford Focus RS 1hr 10min 52.8sec
4. M Hirvonen/J Lehtinen FIN Ford Focus RS 1hr 10min 55.6sec
5. P Solberg/P Mills NOR Subaru Impreza 1hr 11min 59.0sec
6. U Aava/K Sikk EST Citroen C4 1hr 12min 12.7sec
7. J-M Latvala/M Anttila FIN Ford Focus RS 1hr 12min 15.9sec
8. C Atkinson/S Prévot AUS Subaru Impreza 1hr 12min 24.9sec
9. A Mikkelsen/O Floene NOR Ford Focus RS 1hr 12min 36.4sec
10 M Wilson/S Martin GBR Ford Focus RS 1hr 13min 53.6sec
26.9.2008 - Suzuki aims to gain on the rapid roads of Spain
The Rally de España is the fastest asphalt event of the entire World Rally Championship, with fast, sweeping stages that are often reminiscent of a racing circuit. The pair of Suzuki SX4 WRCs will use a ground-hugging asphalt set-up in order to cling to the road and find the quickest line through all the corners, which vary hugely in speed and radius.
The Rally de España, formerly Rally de Catalunya, is now a classic event on the World Rally Championship, but it has only been based to the south of Barcelona since 2005, presenting the drivers with a new collection of stages. The route now runs around the coastal resort of Salou, with rally headquarters situated in the well-known Port Aventura theme park. Even the rollercoasters that thrill the holidaymakers are tame compared with the spectacle of state-of-the-art World Rally Cars blasting over the challenging Spanish stages. The surfaces are on the whole smooth and quick, but there are also some slower and bumpier older roads. Accurate pace notes are a must in Spain, as the racing line must be described as precisely as possible to shave off the vital tenths of a second that make the difference between winning and losing.
The Suzuki drivers have been encouraged by a promising initial performance on asphalt from the SX4 WRC, which is still in only its first full season of competition. On the last tarmac round in Germany, Toni Gardemeister scored a valuable manufacturer point - and the SX4 WRC indicated that there was plenty of asphalt potential still to come. Rally de España however is extremely different in character to Germany, although it holds the same promise of uncertain weather conditions. With Europe now in the grip of autumn, the rain in Spain is a distinct possibility.
The SX4 WRC will start with the same base set-up that it utilised in Germany just over a month ago, but with a lower ride height and stiffer springs. Getting the set-up right is vitally important, because the car settings in Spain are just as critical as they would be for any Formula 1 Grand Prix. However, the car cannot run too low as this would risk damaging the sump while cutting the corners: an essential ingredient to success in Spain. The flat-out speeds and reasonably high altitudes test engine strength to the maximum, but there are also many areas of heavy braking that challenge the brakes and cooling system.
A particular risk of corner-cutting is the possibility of punctures, when the vulnerable tyre sidewalls scrape the sides of the roads. The rocks and stones within the corners can also be a source of problems. With the previous two asphalt events in Monte Carlo and Germany providing a very different type of challenge, Spain will once again be a whole new adventure for the Suzuki team and the SX4 WRC.
The Rally de España is one of the rare events where P-G Andersson actually has more knowledge of the conditions than his experienced team mate Toni Gardemeister. The 33 year-old Gardemeister has contested five Catalunya rallies in total, but only one in the current area around Salou. Andersson has already competed on the Salou stages twice, claiming a win in the Junior World Rally Championship class last year. For both drivers, Spain will be an important warm-up for the Corsica Rally - which takes place only a week later.
Gardemeister said: "I've not driven the Catalunya Rally since 2005, so I don't really know what to expect. It's an event that I like, but it's not always liked me in the past! For some reason we've often had little problems on this rally that have prevented us from getting a good result. It won't be easy because we have many opponents, but if we have a good level of reliability I think that we can score points."
The Rally de España will be only the SX4 WRC's fourth-ever asphalt outing, so the team has plenty to learn on the rapid stages. However the potential shown from previous sealed-surface rallies has been very promising, with Gardemeister's SX4 WRC scoring a manufacturer point on the last asphalt round in Germany.
Logistical planning for the Rally de España has been extremely complicated, as the cars and equipment will move straight from Spain to the next round in Corsica the moment that the rally finishes. The team has had to pack enough spares and equipment to cope with both events, although extra supplies can be flown into Corsica at the last minute if needed. This will be the first time that the Suzuki team embarks on a pair of back-to-back events, representing another important step in the learning curve.
Shusuke Inagaki, the Director of the Suzuki World Rally Team, concluded: "Catalunya will be a very difficult rally for us, as it is extremely fast and there is a lot of strong opposition. The priority will be to sustain the level of reliability we have recently shown and try out some new asphalt settings, which will be extremely useful when we move on to Corsica just one weekend later. After Germany we came up with a few ideas as to how the car could be improved on asphalt. In Spain we will now have the chance to see if those ideas will work. It's a very big challenge but that is why we are here."
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