Suzuki Ignis drivers P-G Andersson and Guy Wilks have finished first and second in class A6 on the Swedish Rally, beating the majority of four-wheel drive Group N cars on the slippery stages
P-G, the reigning Junior World Rally Champion, finished 18th overall, while his Monster Sport Europe team mate Guy Wilks was 22nd overall. A third Ignis, driven by local man Peter Zachrisson, finished 4th in class and 29th overall.
Rally Sweden is round two of the World Rally Championship, and the first event for Suzuki outside of the Junior World Rally Championship. The stages are normally covered in a thick layer of snow, but unusually warm weather meant that there was plenty of loose gravel on the fast and flowing roads. Cars run on skinny snow tyres in Sweden, with sharp studs to penetrate the icy surface and find good grip underneath. But the loose gravel meant that the two-wheel drive Suzukis were constantly struggling for traction. Nonetheless, the 1600cc Ignis proved to be faster than most of the four-wheel drive Group N cars with larger two-litre engines. On the final day, the Monster Sport Europe entries beat all of the Group N machinery on stage times!
P-G has won the Swedish Super 1600 championship twice, but he had an adventurous start to his home rally when he went off on the opening stage! He was in good company, as when the stage was repeated reigning World Champion Sebastien Loeb went off in the same place. P-G regained the road having lost about a minute and a half, and from there he made rapid progress to take a 13.7s class lead by the end of the first day. Afterwards, he was able to control his pace despite setting more fastest times than any other driver in the class! He ended the rally with a winning margin of 3m09.8s, having enjoyed perfect reliability on his Ignis.
Guy was competing in Sweden for the second time, but it was his first taste of two-wheel drive machinery on snow. He started off strongly, but was forced to stop and change a left-front puncture on SS3 after hitting the same rock that claimed a number of high-profile World Championship drivers, such as Daniel Carlsson and Mikko Hirvonen. Guy's problems were compounded when he went off on SS5 and damaged the wheel alignment, which affected his car's handling. By the end of the second day, his Ignis was fixed and he went on to claim second in class with no further worries.
Guy commented: "It's been a big adventure, and a fantastic learning experience. My car did not feel quite right after our off on SS5, but the mechanics did a fantastic job to get it pointing straight again. Conditions here were very difficult, and completely different to the last time I drove in Sweden. I feel that I'm improving all the time, and we've also proved the speed, strength and reliability of the Ignis in some of rallying's toughest conditions."
Monster Sport Europe Team Manager Risto Laine commented: "I've actually been surprised at how competitive we are against the Group N cars, despite having two fewer driven wheels! Our performance is a testimony to the skill of the drivers and the preparation of the cars. Everybody expected P-G to be quick, but the times that Guy has been setting proves what a quality driver he is as well. Also the class A6 was at a high level with a strong local opposition from Peugeot driver Joge and another very competitive Suzuki of Peter Zachrisson. We, the team and the drivers, have achieved our goal in Sweden: gaining experience on logistic level as on pure performance. This will be useful for us in the future."
The Monster Sport Europe team will be back in action on the second round of the Junior World Rally Championship, Rally Mexico from 11-13 March.
Swedish Rally Class A6 final classification:
1. P-G Andersson (Suzuki Ignis) 3h 17m 10.0s 2. Guy Wilks (Suzuki Ignis) +3m 09.8s 3. Jimmy Joge (Peugeot 206) +4m 32.5s 4. Peter Zachrisson (Suzuki Ignis) +15m 37.7s
