Dealer Team Suzuki score in Ireland

Dealer Team Suzuki competed in their first Irish Tarmac Championship round over the weekend of 5th/6th May at the International Rally of the Lakes based in Killarney.

This was the first time the Swift Sport Group N2 rally car had appeared on a tarmac surface, and the 17 stages that comprise the Rally of the Lakes are some of the most demanding and spectacular in Ireland where spectator numbers were calculated to be around 60,000 over the two days.

James Wozencroft led the way for Dealer Team Suzuki in car 87 and team mate Lorna Smith was in car 103 out of the 150 cars that started the International Rally.

Saturday saw bright skies and no threat of rain, and the order of the day was slick tyres, which performed extremely well to the point that both cars finished the day on the same set of tyres having completed 139.52kms on stage and 183.35kms on road.

James was conservative on day one, as he was very aware that he had to bring the car home, after his accident at the Pirelli International two weeks earlier. Lorna and co driver Joanne Oakey completed an excellent first day and were pushing James on all stages. However, neither were able to stay with the Honda Civic of Enda Hallinan and Ollie Ward from Galway which had an extra 40hp over the Swift Sport, so team orders were to consolidate on day two and gain 2nd and 3rd in class behind the Honda.

Sunday arrived, with cooler temperatures and the threat of rain up in the mountains, so tyre choice was critical. Both cars left for stage 1 on Sunday with slick tyres on the front, intermediates on the rear and two rain tyres in the back, a decision that was to prove exactly right for the future conditions that all competitors would face.

James found his form on the Sunday and was back to his best, but so was Lorna who pushed her team mate all the way to the finish with just 17 seconds separating them at the end of day 2 having completed 143.06kms on stage and 234.79kms on road. During their tussle, they even managed to overtake on stages Subaru Impreza Group N and Mitsubishi Evo Group N cars, to finish a fine 2nd and 3rd in class 2.

The reliability of the Suzuki Swift Sport Group N2 car in the hands of the very capable crews resulted in them finishing in 30th and 31st position overall. A great result for Dealer Team Suzuki and the Swift model range.

The International Rally of the Lakes was also used as a test for the control tyres that will be used for the next round of the British Rally Championship, the Jim Clark International on 25th-27th May. Both crews reported that the Pirelli tyre was performing well and that the suspension set up on both cars would be ideal with minor changes for the next event in the busy calendar.