Reigning Junior World Champion P-G Andersson and Englishman Guy Wilks will drive two Suzuki Swifts on the Rally of Japan. The new Swift has finished on the podium on all three rallies it has so far contested. On the Rally Great Britain, two weeks ago, it took its first win. Rally Japan is the home event for Suzuki Motor Corporation and the all-new Swift Super 1600 will run for the first time in Japan.

The Suzuki Swift Super 1600 for the first in Japan

The Rally Japan is round 13 of the World Championship, and although it is not part of the Junior World Rally Championship, Suzuki is entering two cars for Andersson and Wilks in class A6 as part of their learning programme for the future.

The Rally Japan, new to the World Championship last year, is held on the northern island of Hokkaido, using fast but narrow gravel forest roads. The stages are characterised by flat-out straights, which often lead into tight 90-degree corners. The weather is extremely variable, with rain always a distinct possibility. New for this year in Japan is the longest stage in the World Championship, Kunneywa-Niueo,covering an astonishing 50 kilometres. These factors all combine to make Japan an extremely challenging event for drivers and teams, calling for maximum bravery, impeccable reliability and shrewd judgment when it comes to set-up and tyres.

Suzuki's objective in Japan will be to put in a good showing on home territory, and to try to beat some of the Group N cars. The Production Car World Rally Championship, of which Japan is an important round, is for two-litre four-wheel drive Group N cars with turbos. Although these cars have more power and traction than the Swifts, the Suzukis have often beaten them. For example, Guy Wilks set a stage time on the final leg of the Rally Great Britain which was a full nine seconds quicker than the fastest Group N runner!

Reigning Junior World Champion P-G Andersson had an embarrassing experience in Japan last year when he retired after his car fell into a ditch when it slipped off the jack while he was changing a puncture!
The Swede said: "That was not good: I'm hoping that it will be slightly better this time! At least I got some good experience of the roads last year, and I'm hoping to use it properly this time. I think the Swift should be quite well-suited to this rally, and we always get a lot of enthusiastic local support. We don't know what the weather is going to do, so as in every rally we will have to hope for a little bit of luck as well!"

Guy Wilks is also looking forward to Rally Japan, although this will be a new experience for him.
"I think it's going to be a very tricky rally but I love a challenge," he said. "The stages are quite fast and narrow so it's important to be precise, but that suits my driving style well. The Swift has proved its pace on more or less every surface, so I see no reason why we cannot do well in Japan if we keep everything tidy and the car stays on the road! We want to show what the car can do, so hopefully we can worry a few of the more powerful cars out there."

Team Manager Risto Laine reported: "Japan is an important rally for us, but it will also be the first time that we have run the Swift on these stages, so there will be a big learning curve. We need to push as hard as we can, but we also need to take the opportunity to collect as much data about the event as possible. It's impossible to say what might happen, but that is the appeal of rallying!"

The Rally Japan gets underway on Friday September 30 from Obihiro. Drivers then tackle 26 special stages totalling 350 competitive kilometres, before the finish back in Obihiro on Sunday October 2.