"We did the event in 2005 but this time the circumstances are much different and we won’t be able to push too hard from the start. We need to build the speed up over the rally, not make any mistakes and hopefully collect more points for me and the team. It would be great to stay inside the drivers’ championship top-10 after the first half of the year."
Suzuki WRT:
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Toni Gardemeister, car #11 and Per-Gunnar Andersson, car #12]
Suzuki: Turkey is an excellent opportunity.
Suzuki boss Nobuhiro Tajima has said that the aim this weekend in Turkey will be again to get both cars to the finish in the points and build on what was achieved in Greece.
Toni Gardemeister and Per-Gunnar Andersson gave the Paris-based squad its first two-car finish with the SX4 WRC on the Acropolis Rally two weeks ago and the target now is to consolidate that speed and reliability to go into the summer break on a positive note.
Turkey is very similar in nature to the Acropolis and as such the car will start off with the same base set-up. Some modifications have been made however, including adjustments to the suspension and dampers, as well as alterations to the cars cooling system to deal with the expected high temperatures more efficiently. In addition
Suzuki's engineers have recently upgraded the SX4 WRC’s underbody protection.
"Turkey is an excellent opportunity for us to continue developing the car in these types of conditions," said Tajima. "So far we have made a lot of progress, but there is still plenty of work ahead of us if we are to achieve our objective of eventually challenging for podiums.
"Our objective for Turkey is to once more finish with both cars in the points and build some solid foundations for the future."
Toni Gardemeister and Per-Gunnar Andersson meanwhile were both encouraged by the outcome on round seven in the World Rally Championship and both also have experience in Turkey.
