Suzuki driver P-G Andersson has finished 17th overall and comfortably won his class on the Rally New Zealand, round four of the World Rally Championship. His team mate Guy Wilks finished 27th overall, having lost 10 minutes as a result of going off the road.

Strong performance again of the Suzuki Ignis in New Zealand

P-G was quicker than the majority of the more powerful Group N runners, with two-litre turbocharged engines and four-wheel drive. P-G's giant-killing performance resulted in him finishing fifth amongst the Production Car World Championship competitors. The young Swede also finished ahead of two former World Champions: Karamjit Singh (2002 Production Car World Champion) and Brice Tirabassi (2003 Junior World Rally Champion).

Rally New Zealand does not form part of the Junior World Rally Championship, which is Suzuki's main focus this year. However, the team is also contesting all the non-Junior rounds of the World Championship, in order to gain experience for the future and give their drivers a taste of all the events.

The all-gravel Rally New Zealand is characterised by flowing corners and rollercoaster crests, with medium to high speed stages. It is an event that every driver loves, as the challenge lies in finding a good rhythm to balance the car from corner to corner. Unpredictable weather is normal in the area around Auckland, but this year's rally was typified by unusually warm temperatures in excess of 25 degrees centigrade.

This frequently gave way to overnight rain, which left the opening stages of each day damp and slippery.

Although this was P-G's first visit to New Zealand, the reigning World Champion did not put a foot wrong throughout all three days of the event. Both Suzuki Ignis entries were also one hundred percent reliable. P-G took the class lead after a dominant performance on the opening stage, and maintained his advantage to the finish.

"It was a perfect rally for me," said the Swede. "I love driving these stages, and I found a good feel for them and the car straight away. It's been great fun, but also a very valuable experience. These stages are like nowhere else in the world, and I'm very grateful to Suzuki for giving me the chance to try them. We were here to learn as much as possible, but you do not learn anything without seeing what it is like when you are pushing so we tried to attack quite hard. The feeling when you get the car working properly and flowing from corner to corner is very nice."

Unfortunately for Guy, his rally was a little more eventful. The Englishman won five stages in his class before going off the road on Saturday's SS14 (the longest of the rally) and damaging the suspension of his Ignis. He was forced to miss the two spectator superspecial stages at Manukau on Saturday night, and consequently picked up a 10-minute penalty. However, Guy was allowed to re-join the rally for the final leg under the new re-start rules and he went on to cross the finish ramp second in class.

The Rally Mexico, JWRC round 2 winner commented: "It was a pity that we went off and did not finish higher up the order, but that was not really the point in coming here. Our mission was to gain experience, and as we only missed the two short superspecial stages, we achieved what we set out to do. I knew nothing about New Zealand until I came here, but now I have more information about the sort of pace that is required and the amount of grip to expect from the surfaces. It's a fantastic rally to drive and our Suzuki Ignis was great as well. It's been an extremely valuable learning process for all of us, and I've got a lot of benefit out of it for the future."

Team director Risto Laine commented: "On the one hand, there is very little to report which is often a good thing! The car was once more totally reliable and extremely impressive. Both drivers did a good job, and speed is clearly not an issue. In a different way, it was an extremely eventful rally for us. We have never done a rally so far away from base before and we learnt so many new things: some quite major things and also other little things which are just as valuable in their own way. Many congratulations to P-G: although this was the first time he had seen New Zealand nothing ever seemed to faze him and once more he got the job done."

Suzuki is back in action in just under three week's time for round three of the Junior World Rally Championship, which Wilks is currently leading followed by Andersson in second. The all-gravel Rally d'Italia-Sardinia is based in Olbia and takes place from April 29-May 1.