The Suzuki Swift Super 1600s of Jaan Molder and Michal Kosciuszko have ended the day second and third respectively in the Junior World Rally Championship classification. Despite tricky conditions on the Mexican stages - which were entirely new to both drivers - neither of them had any major problems or dramas during the 135-kilometre long day.
Running after the World Rally Cars, the Junior competitors had to avoid some big rocks that had been pulled onto the racing line by previous competitors. On these challenging surfaces, both Jaan and Michal chose to drive carefully within their limits, in order to acclimatise to their cars and the conditions on this opening round of the Junior World Rally Championship.
On SS6 both drivers had very minor incidents: Jaan lost about 10 seconds when an alternator warning light came on, whilst Michal hit a rock with the rear wheel - luckily without any consequences. Jaan is now just under a minute behind the leader, Sebastien Ogier, while Michal is 25 seconds behind Jaan.

News from Jaan Molder (Suzuki Swift n.32):
"It's been a very good day for us with no problems at all. We only had a very minor thing with the alternator on a hairpin in SS6. Apart from that I've just been concentrating on keeping a clean and tidy line. The Swift feels very good to drive, and it's clearly had some more development compared to the car I drove last year."

News from Michal Kosciuszko (Suzuki Swift n.35):
"I drove carefully today; maybe a bit too carefully in places. Everything went well but I didn't really feel at ease in SS2, which was repeated as SS5. Maybe my notes were not quite right or something like that. The stages are very beautiful and I'm really enjoying them but I need to push a bit harder tomorrow."

News from Nobuhiro 'Monster' Tajima, Suzuki World Rally Team principal:
"The Junior drivers have followed instructions perfectly so far, to get to the finish without taking any unnecessary risks. I hope they can see now how this cautious approach pays off. Relatively speaking the gaps between the top three drivers are very close. However, each driver must just focus on doing their own rally and steering clear of punctures rather than chasing the person in front. The best way to learn is by gradually increasing the pace."

DATE	SS 01	SS 02	SS 03	SS 04	SS 05	SS 06	SS 07	SS 08
Friday February 29th	22.96	23.83	18.87	22.96	23.83	18.87	2.21	2.21