WRC » Paul Wilding - Suzuki: Q&A - EXCLUSIVE.

Friday, 4th July 2008

Suzuki team manager Paul Wilding speaks exclusively to Crash.net Radio's Rob Wilkins.

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by Rob Wilkins

TO HEAR THE INTERVIEW IN FULL WITH PAUL WILDING: CLICK HERE

Suzuki made the step up to the 'senior' level this season in the World Rally Championship and while the first half was somewhat trying, the pace of the SX4 WRC car was still pretty promising and in total Toni Gardemeister and Per-Gunnar Andersson have combined to notch up ten manufacturers' points. Crash.net Radio's Rob Wilkins caught up with team manager Paul Wilding recently to get his thoughts on the first eight events and to chat about the team's hopes for Finland and beyond...

Crash.net:
Paul, how do you assess the first half of the season for Suzuki?

Paul Wilding:
It has not been an easy first half of the year. It has been six months of learning - a fairly intensive learning experience. We have learnt a lot though and we have made some really good progress. The SX4 World Rally Car has come a long way since we began at the beginning of the year. The team also and the drivers have all learned. I think we have made the most of the last six months.

Crash.net:
How much of a boost was it to get that first two-car finish in Greece?

PW:
It was very, very good. Greece is undoubtedly one of the toughest events in the World Rally Championship calendar. It was very satisfying for us as a team and also for the drivers'. The progress that we have made with the SX4 WRC car has allowed us to construct a couple of cars that are capable of sustaining one of the toughest events in the calendar. It was very, very satisfying.

Crash.net:
One of the big issues for Suzuki has been reliability. What is being done to address those issues?

PW:
We haven't had many problems that have re-occurred and as each problem has happened, it has been addressed. The whole six months so far have been one big testing and learning experience. Each problem as it has occurred has been sorted and rectified. As we are going along it would be unrealistic to think that we wouldn't have problems in our first year of competition. So far we are quite pleased with the progress we are making.

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