Successful debut of Karl Kruuda in Jordan Rally

For 2010, the Jordan Rally was held at the beginning of April. The weather for the event; sunny and hot was perfect for both drivers and spectators alike.  The locations for the rally stages similar to 2008, between the Jordanian capital city of Amman and the ‘lowest point on earth’ at the Dead Sea, the surface was again, rocky gravel.

 

 

For 2010 The Suzuki Sport Europe Team were proud to have recruited a young and talented driver from Estonia – Karl Kruuda , only 17 years old and protégé of long time Suzuki pilot Urmo Aava, Karl drove the Swift S1600 for the first time, during a small shakedown test before the event. He was immediately impressed by the performance of his Suzuki Swift S1600, and could not wait for the competition to begin.

The aim for the first day was for this young driver to get used to his Suzuki Swift S1600 in race conditions and to complete the first day without incident. Throughout the day Karl gradually built up his speed and confidence and was able to achieve his goal of a fault free Day 1 finish.

During the second day his confidence and ability increased to the point where he was able to catch some of the more powerful 2 litter four wheel drive cars, again he drove without incident and his Suzuki Swift S1600 performed faultlessly.

For the final day; Day 3 Karl was able to continue with his solid performance and apart from a couple of punctures suffered throughout the event was able to finish the Jordan Rally in a creditable and respectable 22nd place overall, ahead of a couple of four wheel drive cars !

Comment from Karl Kruuda:
“I am very glad that I was able to finish the rally. When I started the event, I thought a good finish may have been difficult for me, I was a little under-prepared both physically and mentally, It was really hard for me and I made a mental note to prepare better at home for the next similar event in Turkey ! This was my first WRC event, I was very excited before we began, I didn’t sleep many nights, I forgot many things at home because my mind was thinking all the time about the Jordan Rally, so I am very glad now that it is over! My Suzuki Swift S1600 was very good and from stage to stage we realized that the car is very strong, we couldn’t break it and it performed without fault” commented Karl.

Urmo Aava, the manager of World Rally Team Estonia added: “I am also very happy that they have finished the rally, it is not an easy one to finish without any major problems. For them this is the first step… they didn’t make mistake! I am also satisfied with their speed on the third day, because on average they lost only about 5.5 sec/km compare to the best WRC cars times, so I think that this is a good start, especially for the first time in a S1600 car in a WRC event. On the technical side everything went well, the Suzuki Sport Europe Team as always, did a great job, so I think everybody can be happy with this result!”

Yasuhiro Ishii the Team manager of Suzuki Sport Europe added: “The crew has done a great job in Jordan! I was very surprised that this 17 year old driver could hold his own between more experienced rally drivers. He has driven sensibly, started carefully, built up his confidence and gradually increased his pace. We discussed this strategy in detail before the event, and Karl was able to follow through with a result, he drove faultlessly. I am sure that the experience and the result gained in the Jordan Rally is a perfect season and career starter for him. With a little more work, maybe in Turkey he can be fighting for a JWRC podium place!”