Zoom Turkey was tough on the Suzukis

Both Suzuki drivers Toni Gardemeister and P-G Andersson enjoyed a thrilling first day on the Turkish stages, as they hurled their SX4 WRCs along some of the twistiest and roughest roads around. Andersson moved into the top 10 on the fourth stage and remained there with some stunning times - including fourth fastest on the day's penultimate test. He only slipped out of the top 10 when a suspension problem cost him time on the final stage.

Gardemeister's day proved to be among the most physically challenging of his entire world rally career. The Finn suffered the agony of a dislocated shoulder on stage six, but battled on to end the day in ninth position. Gardemeister ended his day on a high setting fifth-fastest time, just 1.9 seconds slower than four-times World Champion Sebastien Loeb on the day's final stage.

The second day of the Rally of Turkey provided one of the toughest challenges of the World Rally Championship season. The mountainous stages to the west of the rally's host town of Kemer were, once again, bathed in sunshine ensuring they were baked hard. Both Suzuki SX4 WRCs made it through the opening stage of Day Two without any problems.

Unfortunately for Toni Gardemeister and P-G Andersson, both drivers retired on the next stage - Gardemeister's car with a broken radiator, Andersson's with an electrical glitch.

Toni Gardemeister:
"There are positives to take away from this rally. We have been quick, quicker than before with the gap regularly below one second per kilometre down on the leader. But when you have some trouble, it's always disappointing. We were about halfway through the stage when I noticed the car was starting to lose power. Then the engine temperature was going up. I thought this could be because we were in a very twisty section of the stage - it's normal for the temperature to rise in this condition. But when it carried on going up, then I knew we had to switch off - the radiator was broken. My shoulder was also hurting a little. I hit a big rock early in the stage, which knocked it badly. I had to drive one-handed for a while again. The next round of the championship takes us home to Finland and that's an event I'm really looking forward to. We will have a test and some new parts to come from the car. It's nice to know the SX4 WRC will be even faster when we get to my home."