JWRC - Urmo Aava Succeeds on Rough Gravel Roads of Sardinia
May-21 2007 / 19:58 EDT | posted by RallyJGD

Suzuki driver Urmo Aava has claimed his first Junior Rally Championship victory of the season on round three of the series, the Rally d’Italia Sardegna. Aava finished over a minute ahead of his team mate P-G Andersson, in second. The result means that Andersson continues to lead the title race, with Aava in second. The Suzuki Swift was dominant on the rough and rocky gravel roads of Sardinia, winning every stage of the rally. Both cars ran reliably during the event, although Urmo lost time after hitting a tree on day two, while P-G dropped back with a puncture. Despite these setbacks, both Suzuki drivers finished more than five minutes ahead of their closest rivals.

“It was a really good fight,” said P-G Andersson. “For me, the important thing is that I come away from here still leading the championship. The key to winning the title is to be consistent as well as quick, so I took no risks today to be sure of bringing the car home in one piece.”

After a disappointing race in Portugal last month, where Urmo Aava lost the lead on the final afternoon with a puncture, this time he bore the palm: “We’re lucky to be here at all after hitting a tree on the second day, but luckily the Suzuki Swift is very strong so it was fine,” stated Aava. “The car has not given us a single problem throughout all three days of this very tough rally, and I’ve also moved two points closer towards challenging P-G for the lead of the championship.”

Team principal Nobuhiro “Monster” Tajima also was more than happy with the result: “Both drivers did everything we asked of them and I am very pleased that our Suzuki Swift claimed all the stages and proved its reliability once more.”

Junior Rally Championship classification after SS18, Rally d’Italia Sardegna:

1. Urmo Aava (Suzuki Swift) 4h15m03.9s 2. P-G Andersson (Suzuki Swift) +1m09.49 3. Martin Prokop (Citroen C2) +6m22.8s 4. Aaron Burkart (Citroen C2) +9m09.0s 5. Jaan Molder (Suzuki Swift) +9m40.3s 6. Jozef Beres (Renault Clio) +15m11.1s 7. Bryan Bouffier (Citroen C2) +21m51.7s 8. Patrik Sandell (Renault Clio) +22m39.2s