SUZUKI SWIFT drivers made 1-2 finish in Rally Argentina

It comes to the middle of 2009 JWRC in Argentina. Rally Argentina was taken place based at Cordoba the second biggest city in Argentina and many longing rally fans gathered to see the event. As 4th event of JWRC, three young drivers came to South America. Michal Kosciuszko and Aaron Burkart, both supported by Suzuki Sport Europe and Alessandro Bettega who drives Renault Clio S1600.

After winning at the previous event in Portugal, now Michal is leading JWRC standing point with Citroen driver Martin Prokop and Aaron is just 2 points behind them. Martin has skipped Rally Argentina so both SWIFT S1600 drivers needed to win and score points at this rally for the champion title.

 

 

Basically, Michal has lots of experience at driving on gravel and Aaron also made a huge improvement on the 3 days gravel testing of Suzuki Sport Europe with SWIFT S1600 and both drivers started in a good mood on Day 1. Michal and Italian driver Alessandro took fastest stage times, and Aaron also drove very close to this two drivers. They were in a good competition but at the end of Day 1, the continuous impacts caused by the rough gravel made Suzuki SWIFT’s steering arms broken. Probably, Michal and Aaron drove too fast. At the result, Alessandro took a lead and finished Day 1. Following Day 2, Michal and Aaron re-started and they drove more carefully with knowledge from the trouble they had in Day 1. Despite the reduced speed Michal and Aaron clould shrink the gap between them and Alessandro. It seemed that Alessandro still finishes Day 2 on the lead but on SS18, he could not start the stage because he broke alternator and had to give up the competition for Day 2. It could have been happened to everybody but it seemed that this day was not for Alessandro.

It might have been almost new experience for Michal and Aaron such a type of rough gravel stages like in Argentina. To compete in this kind of stages, what the most important and at the same time, the most difficult thing for drivers is to find the proper balance between “speed” and “saving the car”. To settle this balance is the key point to win and survive this rally. Even WRC drivers find difficulty in this point so it must be tough for young drivers. Such a high-speed and rough stages are easily possible to make mistakes and badly destroy the suspension.

Michal took the lead on Day 2 and Aaron jumped up to 2nd. At the result, Michal managed to keep his lead and won the tough Rally Argentina and Aaron finished in 2nd. SUZUKI SWIFT drivers dominated 1st and 2nd. 10 points for Michal and 8 poits for Aaron, it will be a big step forward for the championship.

 

Comment from Michal Kosciuszko
“I am really happy with the result because I won the most difficult rally in this year’s calendar. It was really difficult. The team managed to repair the car so we could continue the rally and won. I didn’t think that our SWIFT S1600 could even survive these rough stages but everything went fine. Thanks to the good work of the team and mechanics. We tried to make some fastest stage time and we did it. It is great. 10 points is very good result for me for the championship.”

Comment from Aaron Burkart
“Finally, we are in 2nd place and I think it is quite ok. Michal won and we are in 2nd, so we are 4 points behind him and it seems to be interesting championship. This rally was really rough and I have never drove like that there were lots of stones and big ruts. You should have to try to find the good rhythm of not to be in too aggressive and onå the other hand saving the car. Unfortunately, we made a mistake that we were pushing too hard on the first day then steering arm was broken.

Comment from SUZUKI SPORT EUROPE managing director, Yasuhiro Ishii
“This Rally Argentina was really tough for drivers and SWIFT S1600. Under such a condition, 1st and 2nd finish is the best result and it is crucial point to get the champion title back in our hands. The next rally is in Sardegna. Michal won his first victory with SWIFT S1600 last year at there and we have been always lucky in Sardegna so I hope it will go on this year, too”