Catalunya : Suzuki Motorsport
Ignis driver Kosti Katajamaki is second on leg two of the all-asphalt Catalunya Rally, the final round of the Junior World Rally Championship, after an eventful day for Suzuki.

Guy Wilks finished the first leg in the lead with his Suzuki Swift but was forced to retire on SS8 as the result of an accident, ending his challenge for this year`s title. This means that Kosti is now second, while Ignis drivers Urmo Aava, Martin Prokop and Pavel Valousek are fourth, fifth and sixth. However Valousek went off on the last stage of the day, and his JM Engineering team are hoping to get his Ignis back in time to re-start the final day under the Super Rally system. If he does get going again, it will be with a five-minute penalty, but the gaps are so big that he will keep sixth place.

The second leg of the all-asphalt event consisted of six stages, split into three loops of two. The roads were slightly smoother than those used on the opening leg, but the most unpredictable aspect was once again the weather. Some heavy overnight rain had made the stages extremely slippery, but temperatures gradually climbed to more than 27 degrees centigrade. This made it very difficult to choose the right tyres and assess the amount of grip available.

Guy led confidently for the first two stages, but was caught out by a slippery piece of road about halfway through SS8. The back of the car stepped out under braking, pitching it into a roll. Unfortunately his Swift is too badly damaged to continue, and he joins his team mate P-G Andersson on the retirements list. Guy needed a win to clinch the Junior World Rally Championship title, which is now destined for Citroen driver Daniel Sordo.

Guy said: "I`m very deeply disappointed, both for myself and for the entire team. It was just one of those mistakes, but this time it had more far-reaching consequences. The road was extremely slippery, and the back of the car was gone before I knew it. In any case a championship is won over the course of an entire season rather than a single rally, so I`d like to congratulate Dani Sordo and I look forward to trying to take the title off him next year!"

Kosti finished yesterday`s opening leg third with his Ignis run by Suzuki Sport Europe, but he has now climbed to second after a flawless drive. The Finn once again enjoyed perfect reliability, but he said that he found the leg two stages even more demanding than those of the previous day.

"There was a lot more water in the morning and there was a big risk of going off," he said. "I`ve tried to take no risks at all today – I am nearly cruising! I don`t have so much experience of asphalt but I am really enjoying it. The Ignis is very easy to drive which helps a lot, and if we can finish in second place tomorrow, which will be my best result on asphalt, I will be very pleased."

Urmo Aava was held back by a puncture on the final stage of the day but still finished in fourth. He elected to keep going rather than stopping to change the puncture, but was not entirely happy with the set-up of his Ignis all day.

The Estonian commented: "It was a marginal decision, but we still saved a bit of time by not changing the puncture rather than stopping. I am not quite sure how it happened, but you cut so many corners that punctures are mostly just a question of luck. I`ve not had a very good feeling with the car though: we need to think more about the set-up."

Czech youngster Martin Prokop is on course for the best result of his young career, ending leg two fifth with his Jipocar-run Ignis. He said: "We`ve had no problems at all. I`m very happy with the car, and I definitely want to drive safely to the finish!"

Suzuki Sport president Nobuhiro `Monster` Tajima said: "I am very disappointed for Guy, who had driven an excellent rally until he went off, but I am also very happy that the Suzuki Swift has shown some excellent speed on asphalt. On only the second Junior World Championship asphalt event for the new car, it is already setting times that are comparable to those of Citroen – who are well-established experts on this surface. We still have some excellent drivers in the Suzuki Ignis very high up the classification here in Spain, and I wish them good luck for the final leg tomorrow."

Tomorrow`s closing leg of the Catalunya Rally takes in three final stages, but with more uncertain weather a strong possibility, anything could still happen…


Tags: catalunya, suzuki, spain, swift, katajamaki,