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 The Suzuki Swift Super 1600 of Jaan Molder holds a strong second place in the Junior World Rally Championship classification at the end of day one of the Jordan Rally. Fellow Suzuki drivers Michal Kosciuszko - in the second Suzuki Sport Europe car - and Florian Niegel, who drives a Swift S1600 run by the Suzuki Rallye Junior Team Germany, were also running inside the points positions on the hot and dry gravel roads of the Middle East. Unfortunately, Kosciuszko retired from third place in SS7, with Niegel dropping out of eighth place on the same test.
Estonian Molder, however, maintained his pace throughout the day moving up from third to second place in stage six and remaining in the runners-up spot until the end of the day's final test. With more than two minutes in hand over his nearest rival, Molder admitted he was not taking any risks, preferring to drive within himself in search of a second consecutive second place - which would leave him in a strong position in the JWRC standings. He is just under a minute behind the JWRC leader Patrik Sandell after today's 115km of flat-out action. His only problem through day one was sliding into a bank on the first stage.
News from Jaan Molder (Suzuki Swift n.32):
"I didn't lose much time when I hit the bank in the first stage - I just slid a little wide. The team changed the dampers at lunchtime service, putting some softer suspension on the car. The tyres we have for this event are a bit soft for the hot conditions. I'm happy we didn't have any problems today and we'll be pushing hard tomorrow so we don't lose time to Patrik."
 News from Michal Kosciuszko (Suzuki Swift n.35):
"The soft tyres were struggling in these conditions - but it's the same for everybody, so we pressed on. Unfortunately, the engine stopped at the start of SS6 and wouldn't re-start, but I'm sure the team will find out what the problem is so we can start tomorrow and test for Sardinia - where we want to score some more points."
News from Florian Niegel (Suzuki Swift n.43):
"The morning was okay. We had a good run in the first couple of stages, but then the brakes began to fade in stages three and four. I was happy with the position, though and everything was working well. In SS8, I was too fast for a corner and we hit a stone with the left-rear wheel. We couldn't carry on. It has been great fun to compete against the best JWRC drivers in the world - and now we will look forward to the challenge of tomorrow."
DATE |
SS 01 |
SS 02 |
SS 03 |
SS 04 |
SS 05 |
SS 06 |
SS 07 |
SS 08 |
Friday 25th Apri |
13.03 |
20.00 |
11.10 |
13.46 |
13.03 |
20.00 |
11.10 |
13.46 |
Pos. |
Driver |
Car |
Time |
1 |
Patrik Sandell |
Renault Clio S1600 |
1:24:07.2 |
0.0 |
2 |
Jaan Molder |
Suzuki Swift S1600 |
1:25:07.0 |
+59.8 |
3 |
Alessandro Bettega |
Renault Clio |
1:27:21.5 |
+3:14.3 |
4 |
Shaun Gallagher |
Citroen C2 |
1:28:01.1 |
+3:53.9 |
5 |
Gilles Schammel |
Renault Clio R3 |
1:28:04.8 |
+3:57.6 |
6 |
Sebastien Ogier |
Citroen C2 1600 |
1:28:56.6 |
+4:49.4 |
7 |
Hans Weijs Jr. |
Citroen C2 R2 Max |
1:29:04.8 |
+4:57.6 |
8 |
Kevin Abbring |
Renault Clio RS |
1:29:39.6 |
+5:32.4 |
11 |
Florian Niegel |
Suzuki Swift S1600 |
1:37:46.3 |
+13:39.1 |
12 |
Michal Kosciuszko |
Suzuki Swift S1600 |
1:40:13.0 |
+16:05.8 |
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