Suzuki World Rally Team
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| Full name | Suzuki World Rally Team |
|---|---|
| Team principal(s) | Nobuhiro Tajima |
| Technical director | Shusuke Inagaki |
| Chassis | Suzuki SX4 |
| Tyres | Pirelli |
| World Rally Championship career | |
| Debut | 2007 Tour de Corse |
The Suzuki World Rally Team, also known as the Suzuki WRC Challenge was Suzuki's factory backed World Rally Championship team, as part of the Suzuki Sport organization. The team debuted for the first time at the 2007 Tour de Corse in France. After just one full season in 2008, in which the team finished fifth in the manufacturers' championship, Suzuki announced that they would be pulling out of the WRC. The decision was attributed to falling car sales caused by the economic crisis, although reports had surfaced that Suzuki were ready to abandon its WRC program before the economic downturn began.
In 2002 Suzuki began competing in the FIA Junior World Rally Championship with a Super 1600 version of the Ignis. The following year it won two events with Daniel Carlsson and in 2004 it won the FIA Junior World Rally Championship title with Per-Gunnar Andersson. To gain experience of all the rallies in the series, Suzuki contested all 16-rounds of the WRC in 2005 and introduced a new model, the Swift S1600 in Finland. British driver Guy Wilks finished runner-up in that year’s championship. In 2007 the team had its best ever year in the J-WRC. Andersson won the title for the second time, while Urmo Aava finished second in the standings in an identical Swift S1600.
Testing of the Suzuki SX4 WRC car was conducted in Japan in February 2007, before relocating to Europe in March. Gravel testing was undertaken in Southern France in April.
The Suzuki SX4 WRC made a competitive debut in Corsica, at the 2007 Tour de Corse, driven by Nicolas Bernardi and co-driver Jean-Marc Fortin, and set several stage times just outside the top ten. The team also participated in 2007 Rally GB with driver Sebastian Lindholm and co-driver Tomi Tuominen.
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