Germany: Suzuki 1-2 on the leaderboard!

The 2010 Rally Deutschland, nominated by no fewer than 10 of the JWRC competitors began in inclement conditions, soon clearing to sunny and warm. Suzuki regulars; Aaron Burkart from Germany and Karl Kruuda from Estonia, joined current Championship leader Kevin Abbring for this difficult Tarmac event where weather can play a vital role in a drivers success or failure !

The fight began from the very first stage, all three drivers showing fine speed on the German tarmac however the first casualty came when Abbring pushed too hard and was forced to retire due to an accident. The Suzuki of Burkart also suffered, hitting a barrior but able to return to the service park after the 3rd stage where his team performed a brilliant job of repairing his car and getting him back on the road. This early warning and the demise of current championship leader; Abbring, warranted a change of tactic and now the goal was to ensure a solid podium finish with clever and careful driving.

Day 2 was also full of surprises, Arseno and Lemes dropped back and allowed the two Suzuki's of Burkart and Kruuda to finish the day in 2nd and 3rd place respectively, the number 1 spot being taken by Hans Weijs.

The final day was fairly uneventful, both Suzuki's staying in 2nd and 3rd finishing the event without problems.

The points haul for the two Suzuki pilots pushing Burkart to the top of the JWRC championship leader board closely followed in second place by his teammate Karl Kruuda.

"Now we have completed the longest rally of the year so far - over 400km ! We have achieved a good result for the team by finishing 2nd and 3rd and now both me and my Teammate Karl and on the top of the championship leaderboard ! It is always a pleasure to drive in a Rally in my home country, there were a lot of spectators on the stages, many of them waving flags in encouragement. I would like to thank those spectators and my team for helping me to achieve this great result" commented Aaron Burkart.

Suzuki Teammate Karl Kruuda commented " This was my most difficult tarmac rally so far, the previous events were easier. The stages were mostly narrow, with a lot of tight corners and cuts and many hairpins, the sheer number of them allowed me to study them and adjust my driving style. I lost a lot of time in hairpin corners early on but on the final day I think I was up to speed . This event has been a good experience for me and I am sure that the lessons learned here will benefit me well in the future"

Suzuki Sport Europe team manager Yasuhiro Ishii commented "Both of our drivers did a fantastic job ! Aaron scored 18 points and Karl scored 15, despite the speed that our rivals have shown us, we have made a good step forward in our goal of securing the JWRC championship title for 2010. Our next event will be in France, we still have a lot of work to do but we will be ready for the next challenge !"