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Urmo Aava has recorded the third FIA Junior Rally
Championship (JWRC) victory for Suzuki in as many rounds, with an emphatic win
at the Rally d'Italia-Sardegna over the weekend.
Suzuki driver Aava claimed his first Junior Rally Championship
victory of the season, finishing over a minute ahead of his team-mate Per-Gunnar
Andersson.
"This win makes up for the disappointment of Portugal last
month, where I lost the lead on the final afternoon with a puncture." Suzuki
driver Urmo Aava said.
"We're lucky to be here at all after hitting a tree on the
second day, but luckily the Suzuki Swift is very strong so it was fine.
"The car has not given us a single problem throughout all
three days of this very tough rally, and I've also moved two points closer
towards challenging P-G for the lead of the championship."
The Suzuki Swift was dominant on the rough and rocky gravel
roads of Sardegna, winning every stage of the rally.
Aava lost time after hitting a tree on day two and Andersson
dropped back with a puncture, but despite these setbacks, both Suzuki drivers
finished more than five minutes ahead of their closest rivals.
Team Principal Nobuhiro "Monster" Tajima was pleased that both
Suzuki Swifts ran reliably during the event.
"Congratulations to Urmo: he really deserves this win! Both
drivers did everything we asked of them and I am very pleased that our Suzuki
Swift claimed all the stages and proved its reliability once more." Monster
said.
"Now we have a long gap to the next round of the Junior
Championship on the Rallye Deutschland in August. There the surface will be
asphalt, we hope we can be strong but the competition is sure to be very tough."
The result means that Andersson continues to lead the title
race, with Aava in second and fellow Suzuki driver Jaan Molder in third.
CLASSIFICATION- RALLY D'ITALIA- JWRC
1. Urmo Aava Suzuki Swift 4h15m
03.9s
2. P-G Andersson Suzuki Swift +1m
09.4s
3. Martin Prokop Citroen C2 +6m
22.8s
4. Aaron Burkart Citroen C2 +9m
09.0s
5. Jaan Molder Suzuki Swift +9m40.3s
FIA JUNIOR WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS (AFTER ROUND
3 OF 7)
1. Per-Gunnar Andersson- Suzuki 28
2. Urmo Aava- Suzuki 24
3. Jaan Molder-
Suzuki 14
4. Patrick Sandell- Renault 9
5.
Jozef Beres- Renault 9
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