Coming off a very successful first round of the 2004 Asia Pacific Rally Championship in Canberra three weeks ago a confidant Suzuki team returns to the tropical island with the French flavor for the Rally New Caledonia. The event is run over the weekend of 29th and 30th May. The rally is back in the championship after a year's absence due to the unavailability of suitable roads in 2003.
The rally comprises of two legs, both with different and distinct characteristics. Leg one takes the competitors 200 kilometers to north of Noumea to two stages, each run three times, with a total of 123 stage kilometers. These roads run through mountainous areas with picturesque back drops, they are very fast, and have a hard packed surface. On leg two the crews head to a unique geographical area south of Noumea. The area is noted for its red soil and for containing the world's largest deposits of nickel ore. The roads become rougher and the surface is very slippery, especially if wet. Again there are two stages, and these are run three times, with a total stage length of 99 kilometers. Although New Caledonia is a tropical island the ambient daytime temperature is in the mid 20's, and should cause no discomfort for the team's.

Two Suzuki Ignis Super 1600 are entered for Australian Chris Atkinson and rookie Finish driver Vesa Mikkola. This is the first time they have competed in New Caledonia and Chris said before the start of the rally "Leg one will suit the Suzuki Ignis Super 1600 very well, because the car is so light we can carry more speed into the fast corners, our strategy for the rally is to go pretty hard, but with prudence". He went on to say about leg two "These stages are completely different and we will adopt a more cautious approach. They are rough and twisty and our first priority is to get the Suzuki Ignis Super 1600 to the finish, and maximize our points haul".

Vesa said at the start "This is the first time we have competed in New Caledonia, and it is a learning curve for us. After our small mistake in Canberra our goal is to get the Suzuki Ignis Super 1600 to the finish".

Both Suzuki Ignis Super 1600 arrived from Canberra with panel damage. In addition to the normal preparation and pre rally maintenance, the team, with assistance from the local Suzuki dealer, have prepared the cars to the usual high standard. Suzuki team manager Paul Wilding said before the event "The team has done a tremendous job getting the cars ready for the rally. It's another example of how well the whole team works when we are away from our base".

The championship point's placing's are very close at the top and although Chris Atkinson is lying in fourth place overall he is only 1 point behind third placed Katsu Taguchi and 2 points behind second placed Armin Kremer. Karamjit Singh leads with 12 points. Both Chris and Vesa are looking forward to once again take the fight to the leading four-wheel drive teams.