The first leg of the event known as the 'Finnish Grand Prix' took the crews out to the west of the rally's base in Jyvaskyla for nine long tests and one final run around the Killeri superspecial stage.

After warm summer sunshine throughout the recce and shakedown for the event, rain and damp conditions greeted the drivers as they headed out of service for Vellipohja, the morning's opener.

Both Suzuki SX4 WRCs featured at the front of the field, with P-G Andersson and Toni Gardemeister scrapping over points-paying positions; the tense battle between the brace of SX4 WRCs was one of the features of the opening day.

Day two lived up to its billing as the most demanding of this year's Rally Finland. With 168 kilometres of flat-out action on a difficult and often deceptive mixture of roads and varying surfaces, Suzuki drivers Toni Gardemeister and P-G Andersson were both making strong progress. Unfortunately, P-G's rally ended prematurely and in dramatic fashion when he crashed out of the event not far from the end of SS16.

While Toni went on to maintain a provisional points-paying position in 8th, P-G was left to rue the very fast section of the fabled Ouninpohja road in the Kakaristo test which caught the Suzuki-driving Swede out. He and co-driver Jonas Andersson were both left bruised by the accident and will not restart tomorrow.

Toni Gardemeister and Tomi Tuominen drove an inch-perfect final day to bring their Suzuki SX4 WRC home in eighth place. Gardemeister's drive is rewarded with a drivers' championship point for him and two for the Suzuki World Rally Team.

The Finn's team-mate P-G Andersson did not re-start this morning following an incident yesterday afternoon, when the car went off the road and into a tree.

Car news - Suzuki SX4 WRC n.11 (Gardemeister), n.12 (Andersson):
Gardemeister's Suzuki SX4 WRC ran without any faults through the final day. The Finn had dialled himself into the super-quick final-leg stages and was delighted with the handling and suspension of the car.

Driver news:
Toni Gardemeister: "It's been a really good day today - a day I've really enjoyed. The stages are nice, the sun was shining and, of course, there were plenty of Finnish flags flying! It looked as though we could be having a big fight with Matthew [Wilson] today, but we managed to keep him behind. Once I realised that we had the speed to stay ahead of him, it was okay. I could relax and enjoy the roads. To end the event in Ruuhimaki, with those jumps at the end of the stage, is fantastic. That's why people love Rally Finland. I came here feeling we could make points and we have done that. It's been a good week.?h

Team news:
Paul Wilding, Suzuki World Rally Team manager: "Toni has driven very well today. He's made no mistakes and the car hasn't missed beat.

We're very pleased with the performance and reliability we've found from the latest development of the Suzuki SX4 WRC. Taking points is why we're here, so we're delighted with that. Of course, it's a shame that P-G went off the road yesterday, but these things happen in this sport - particularly on such a high-speed event as Finland.

Now, though, our focus switches to Rallye Deutschland and the new challenge of a pure asphalt rally. One thing is sure, though, we go there on a high after a points-finish in Finland."