Team Suzuki gets off to winning start

Dealer Team Suzuki GB is celebrating after a win in the first round of the 2007 Tesco 99 Octane British Rally Championship at the weekend.

The championship’s only all-female team, Lorna Smith and co-driver Joanne Oakey, won the hotly contested Rally 2 class in their Suzuki Swift Sport, finishing a highly creditable 9th in the overall standings.

Commenting on her win, Smith said: “It was a very smooth event for us. The car was fantastic. We didn’t put a foot wrong and we got the result in the end.”

Having led the Rally 2 field from the start, Dealer Team Suzuki GB’s James Wozencroft and co-driver Chris Ridge were forced to retire with damaged front and rear left suspension following an off on stage 6.

Team Principal, Ian Robinson, said: “A Pot hole lifted the rear of the car, throwing it sideways into some rocks, which resulted in the damaged suspension.”

The teams’ next event is the Ireland Rally of the Lakes for the second round of the Irish Tarmac Championship, the second championship in which Smith and Wozencroft are competing for Dealer Team Suzuki GB.