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.
22-600: 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,
44-580: A Peugeot 206 WRC , ahead of Petter Solberg and Carlos Sainz . The manufacturers' title was won by Peugeot , ahead of Ford and Subaru . The 2002 championship was contested over fourteen rounds in Europe, Africa, South America and Oceania. Rallye de Portugal was dropped from the calendar after a disastrous running of the event in 2001 due to heavy rain which was heavily criticized by drivers such as Marcus Grönholm , Colin McRae and Richard Burns . It
66-486: A podium in the early stages of Rally GB before going on to finish fifth, while Gardemeister finished seventh ahead of the works Ford of Mikko Hirvonen . 2002 World Rally Championship season The 2002 World Rally Championship was the 30th season of the FIA World Rally Championship . The season consisted of 14 rallies. Marcus Grönholm won his second drivers' world championship in
88-684: Is a rally event held in Germany. The event was first held in 1982 and originally hosted by e.g. Frankfurt , Mainz and Koblenz . In 2000, the rally was relocated to the region around Trier . Previously part of the European and German championships, the event was in the World Rally Championship calendar from the 2002 season to 2020 season . The 2020 event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic . Previously part of
110-550: The 2008 Monte Carlo Rally , with Suzuki getting two points in the manufacturers' title race. In the 2008 Swedish Rally , Gardemeister finished seventh, earning Suzuki three more manufacturers' points. Both of these early races were marred by engine problems due to faulty head gaskets, with Gardemeister retiring from the Monte Carlo Rally and Andersson retiring from the Swedish Rally, before both cars retired from
132-510: The 2009 calendar. It returned in the 2010 season , with Sébastien Loeb taking his eighth consecutive win; a WRC record for wins in a single event. Rally Deutschland is entirely held on asphalt . A significant part of its attraction originates in the mixture of track characteristics encountered throughout the three-day period. This setup has earned it the description of "three rallies in one". The vineyard stages consist of tight and twisted support roads, with short straights and hairpins in
154-697: The European Rally Championship and the German Rally Championship , the rally was included in the World Rally Championship calendar for the 2002 season . The organisers opted for a split in locations: media center, rally headquarters and the parc ferme were placed in Trier, the parc ferme being a prominent display of all remaining cars on the Viehmarkt, surrounded by restaurants, pubs and special events such as music and
176-670: The Rally of Mexico. After struggling with reliability issues for several rallies, Suzuki achieved their best result in New Zealand , with Andersson finishing sixth and Gardemeister seventh. At their home event, the 2008 Rally Japan , the team did even better and took fifth and sixth places. During a super special stage in the Sapporo Dome , Gardemeister also gave Suzuki and the SX4 WRC their first stage win. Andersson challenged for
198-805: 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
220-691: The World Rally Championship but neither materialized for the 2002 season. Japan would create Rally Hokkaido for the 2002 Asia-Pacific Rally Championship which would join the WRC as Rally Japan in 2004 while India would likewise create Rally India in Mumbai for the 2003 APRC season although this would fail to join the WRC. The highest finishing competitor entered in each WRC class is listed below. Non-championship entries may have finished ahead of WRC competitors in individual rounds. Rallye Deutschland The ADAC Rallye Deutschland
242-518: The brewery festival. Start and finish ceremonies were also held in Trier in front of the Porta Nigra with the cars making their way through the spectators. Meanwhile, the service park was located roughly 60 km southeast on the shore of the picturesque Bostalsee. The rally traditionally started with the shakedown close to the servicepark on Thursday morning, before moving to Trier for the showstart. The next three days were separated according to
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#1732783713679264-488: The center of rally. For the 2007 edition , the layout was modified accordingly. The service park along with the media center moved from Bostalsee to Trier's convention center grounds, which offer better infrastructure and are easier to reach. Fans can park in the streets nearby or make use of special shuttle services serving large parking grounds throughout Trier. Both parking and the service park itself are now mostly based on asphalt making them more weather-safe. The shakedown
286-468: The curbside. In 2008, the WRC run through stage was broadcast live on television. The revised layout received a lot of praise. 2007 saw 15,000 spectators in Circus Maximus alone, with a total attendance of more than 200,000 for all three days. Due to a cutback in the number of rallies included in each season's calendar and the introduction of alternating rallies, Rallye Deutschland was not part of
308-401: The legendary crest known as "Gina". On this terrain small driving-errors almost automatically lead to serious damage to both car and driver, the most prominent victim being Petter Solberg in 2004. Finally, the asphalt roads in the rural northern Saarland are very fast with high-speed curves, only interrupted by some tight turns onto smaller roads. Besides the different track characteristics,
330-577: The small town of Sankt Wendel . Leg three was held in the northern Saarland around Sankt Wendel, followed by a second pass through the spectator special stage. In the early afternoon the crews returned to Trier for the Finish ceremony. The existing layout received criticism from fans, teams and the FIA with many complaining about the long liaison between stages, and the town of Trier, especially its small businesses, looking for more involvement by moving Trier into
352-520: The steep mountains surrounding the Moselle . Fans particularly like the stages because of the close proximity to the cars, sitting on small walls and in between the vines, often less than 2m from the ideal line. However, this layout has also raised serious concerns with the FIA regarding spectator safety. In 2008, the final stage of leg one was cancelled after too many fans where trying to make their way through
374-459: The teams return to Trier for the newly created spectator special stage Circus Maximus. Advertised as the highlight of three days of Rally Germany, this stage is a 4.37 km run through downtown Trier around the Porta Nigra. Four cars enter the track separated by 10 to 20 seconds and drive four laps on the roads of Trier. Fans can watch the stage on specially erected grandstands or simply from
396-477: The three different track characteristics. Friday's leg one was held to the northeast of Trier around the Moselle in the vineyards. For afternoon and evening service the cars returned to Bostalsee before heading to Trier and parc-ferme. Saturdays' stages were held on and around the military training grounds of Baumholder, including the famous special stage "Panzerplatte". The day ended with a spectator special stage in
418-487: The vineyards. The roads on the military training ground, called the panzerplatte or armour flat, near Baumholder are made of rough concrete and surrounded by the dangerous "Hinkelstones" ( Calque of "Hinkelstein" meaning Menhir in German) rocks up to a meter in size lining either side the roads as a restraint for military vehicles. The stages are fast and the vast military grounds offer endless spectator points, including
440-479: Was relocated to the Luxembourgish border and the stages reorganised altogether, putting more focus on the vineyards close to Trier. As before, Friday consists of stages northeast of Trier. However, the second day now combines both the military grounds of Baumholder with a shortened version of Panzerplatte as well as some of the previous Saarland-stages. Sunday again moves the crews back to the vineyards, before
462-541: Was replaced by Rallye Deutschland which had an impressive candidate Rally in 2001 won by Philippe Bugalski after main rival Marcus Gronholm received a puncture and spun multiple times. The Tour de Corse was moved to be earlier in the season while Rally New Zealand was moved later to be back to back with Rally Australia while the Cyprus Rally and Rally Argentina swapped places. FIA President Max Mosley had stated that Japan and India had been two candidates to join
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#1732783713679484-843: 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. Drivers for the 2008 season were announced Monday, December 17, to be Toni Gardemeister and Per-Gunnar Andersson . Technical Director Michel Nandan has been replaced by Shusuke Inagaki and Akira Kawada has been appointed as team manager. Suzuki scored on their proper debut with Andersson finishing eighth in
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