SUZUKI IGNIS SUPER 1600s DOMINATE

ALL 3 PODIUM POSITIONS AND 5 OUT OF THE FIRST 6 PLACES!

Suzuki driver P-G Andersson has claimed his first ever Junior World Rally Championship victory, leading home a Suzuki one-two-three! The young Swede won a tight battle for the lead against his colleague Kosti Katajamaki, with another Ignis driven by England's rising star Guy Wilks completing the podium.

The 2003-specification Ignis of Urmo Aava came home fifth, while Mirco Baldacci finally finished sixth - having led from the first day of the rally.

The Rally of Turkey, round three of the Junior World Rally Championship, was characterised by rough roads and extremely hot temperatures, making it one of the toughest tests of the year. Sharp rocks meant that punctures were a constant risk, while the demanding roads meant that only eight of the original 20 starters managed to finish with five of them Suzukis, the same number that started the rally, underlining both the speed and the reliability of the Ignis.

The Suzuki Ignis teams in action:

Suzuki Ignis number 45 - Per-Gunnar Andersson (S)/Jonas Andersson (S) - First

P-G climbed a steep learning curve on the Turkish Rally and was overjoyed to emerge at the front after a challenging three days. The young Swede showed impressive maturity to build up his speed gradually and not take any risks. His plan to stay out of trouble worked perfectly, and he was helped by the exemplary reliability of his car.

He said: "I'm very happy to win the rally with the car intact and score my first JWRC victory! I've been happy with my speed in the car, but the priority for me on this rally was to get to the end and score points. I'm very pleased that we've been able to achieve this in such a successful way."

Suzuki Ignis number 35 - Kosti Katajamaki (FIN)/Timo Alanne (FIN) - Second

Last year's Turkish Rally winner completed an impressive run through the stages to end up second overall. He was in a position to challenge for the lead since the start and consistently achieved exceptional times. He, too, suffered with punctures on the second day, but otherwise his Ignis remained perfectly reliable.

Suzuki Ignis number 33 - Guy Wilks (GB)/Phil Pugh (GB) - Third

Guy, who won the Acropolis Rally, started Turkey full of confidence and this showed in his immaculate drive to third place overall, despite going off in a dust cloud on the Friday night superspecial after being unfairly paired against a World Rally Car.

His Ignis was damaged and he dropped a further couple of minutes in road penalties on day two when he stopped to secure a loose sump guard. The final day was much better and he steered clear of trouble in order to ensure that his Suzuki reached the finish in a safe podium position.

He said: "I'm very pleased to have racked up yet another good result and this means that we are now very well placed in the championship. After the problems we had on the superspecial on Friday night to be on the podium is more than I would have hoped for.

He said: "It's been an extremely tough rally and I'm very pleased to get to the finish. I'm obviously slightly disappointed not to get a win, because I had a chance of victory throughout the whole event and maybe in some places I could have pushed harder. But this rally is so unpredictable that it would have been very easy to make a mistake."

Suzuki Ignis number 32 (2003 specification) - Urmo Aava (EE)/Kuldar Sikk (EE) - Fifth

Urmo had mixed fortunes on the Rally of Turkey, being affected by punctures and also a time penalty for checking into a time control early. Nevertheless, he showed himself capable of setting some excellent times in his 2003 car, and stayed out of trouble on the final day to secure a well deserved points-scoring finish.

He said: "This has been one of the toughest events I can remember and I'm very glad to reach the finish. The key to doing well here was to find the correct pace and stay out of trouble!"

Suzuki Ignis number 31 - Mirco Baldacci (RSM)/Giovanni Bernacchini (I) - Sixth

Mirco proved his skills on this type of tricky surface by leading the Acropolis Rally, and he was just as impressive in Turkey, blasting into the lead on the opening day of the rally. He showed himself to be the man to beat, and his Ignis was entirely reliable.

He said: "It's bitterly disappointing to lose the chance to win the rally with such stupid things like punctures - particularly as I was in a position to win in Greece as well. I'm not sure why I've been quite so unlucky, but this is what rallying is like sometimes!

Monster Sport Europe team manager Risto Laine commented: "We're delighted to achieve what is a dream result for us and we couldn't ask for more from the drivers or the cars.

"We've got to the end of the two rough gravel rallies now, and have shown that the Ignis is right up there with the very best. Our pre-event testing indicated that we were looking good, but you never know that for sure until you see the final results."

The Junior World Rally Championship resumes in just over a month's time on the legendary Rally Finland from 6-8 August. Finland presents a total contrast to the broken-up roads of Turkey, consisting of flowing smooth gravel that usually makes it the fastest round of the Championship.

With Guy Wilks, now just two points away from the Junior World Rally Championship lead, there is everything to play for!!

Junior World Championship classification, Rally of Turkey:

1 P-G Andersson (Suzuki Ignis) 5h24m46.2s

2 Kosti Katajamaki (Suzuki Ignis) +6.4s

3 Guy Wilks (Suzuki Ignis) +57.6s

4 Guerlain Chicherit (Citro