FIA Junior Rally Championship: Suzuki Leg 1 Recap WRC News / World Rally News Date: Oct 12, 2007 - 06:39 PM |
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Suzuki drivers Urmo Aava and P-G Andersson are fighting for this year's Junior Championship on the Rallye de France - and after leg one it is the Estonian Urmo Aava who leads the category. P-G Andersson is currently third, just 16.9 seconds behind his team mate after five all-asphalt special stages (SS1 was cancelled due to spectator overcrowding). Corsica - the venue for France's round of the World Rally Championship - is characterised by fast and twisty narrow mountain roads, where mistakes rarely go unpunished. Both drivers found the right compromise between speed and safety today, to head into day two with their championship chances intact. News from Urmo (EE): Urmo Aava (1st in JRC after SS6): "Today has not been too bad - I've only been pushing hard in the places where I think that it's possible to get away with it. Above all I've tried to avoid punctures by taking clean lines. I've been pleasantly surprised by the stages here today though: there is not too much loose gravel on the corners, which is not always the case on an asphalt rally. I think we will try and keep the same pace tomorrow and see what happens." News from P-G (S): P-G Andersson (3rd in JRC after SS6): "This morning I felt I had a little bit in reserve but then in the afternoon I pushed harder and I still couldn't always stay with Urmo's pace. It's obviously frustrating to be third, but it's more important to consider that the time gap to Urmo is not so big and that we haven't made any mistakes today. The car has been really good all day, and I look forward to continuing this great fight with Urmo tomorrow." News from Nobuhiro 'Monster' Tajima, team principal: "Congratulation to both our drivers, who have been sensible enough to get to the finish today with no problems. The gap between them is relatively small, but they need to keep the same discipline tomorrow and avoid problems such as punctures in order to be sure of maximising their championship chances. Good luck to both of them - may the best man win!" Leg information: Stages: 6 (124.28 kms competitive total) Surface: Asphalt Weather: Warm and dry Junior Rally Championship classification after SS6, Catalunya Rally: 1 Urmo Aava (Suzuki Swift S1600) 1h06m05.9s 2 Martin Prokop (Citroen C2 S1600) +8.8s 3 P-G Andersson (Suzuki Swift S1600) +16.9s 4 Aaron Burkart (Citroen C2 S1600) +42.1s 5 Josef Beres (Renault Clio S1600) +45.6s 6 Conrad Rautenbach (Citroen C2 S1600) +1m03.7s 7 Arnaud Augoyard (Renault Clio R3) +1m57.8s 8 Yoann Bonato (Citroen C2 S1600) +3m00.0s |
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