It's been another triumphant day for Suzuki on leg two of the Rally Finland, resulting in first, second, third and fourth places for the Ignis! P-G Andersson currently leads, ahead of his team mates Kosti Katajamaki, Mirco Baldacci and Urmo Aava.
The Suzuki Ignis Super 1600 cars of Jakke Ketomaki and Jussi Valimaki, who are not registered for JWRC points, ended the day in 3rd and 7th places respectively in the A6 category.

The second day of the Rally Finland was once again characterised by massive crests and flowing forestry roads, making the event the most spectacular on the World Championship. Temperatures remained dry and warm over today's eight stages, which included two runs over the legendary Ouninpohja test. The crews returned to Parc Ferme in the university town of Jyvaskyla having completed a total competitive distance of 286 kilometres so far.

Our teams in action
Suzuki Ignis number 31 - Mirco Baldacci (RSM)/Giovanni Bernacchini (I)
Third after leg two

Mirco enjoys the fast roads of Finland, and aimed to build up his speed today after a strong opening leg yesterday. He started today fourth and overhauled Renault driver Nicolas Bernardi to grab third on SS14. His Ignis was entirely reliable throughout the day, and he experienced no major problems apart from a broken exhaust in the morning.

He said: "Finland is one of the biggest challenges of the year for me, and the rally is living up to its awesome reputation! Today has been exactly the sort of day we wanted, and we've not had much to worry about. The car has felt very good indeed and I'm happy with all of my times."

Suzuki Ignis number 35 - Kosti Katajamaki (FIN)/Timo Alanne (FIN)
Second after leg two
3 fastest stage times

Kosti loves his home event and today he demonstrated just why Finns are so dominant on local territory. He started the day in a strong second place and was determined to challenge his team mate P-G Andersson for the lead. He kept up the pressure on P-G all day, moving to within two seconds of the young Swede during the morning. After P-G had a puncture in the afternoon he took over the lead by a scant four seconds. The two Suzuki drivers continued to battle to the finish, with P-G squeezing out a small advantage.

He said: "We've been attacking at a good pace, because it's important for us to finish well here. Battling for the lead is tough, but we don't want to go completely crazy either. Ouninpohja was an interesting stage - we had some big moments there, and also at the end of Ehikki! I'm certainly looking forward to tomorrow..."

Suzuki Ignis number 45 - Per-Gunnar Andersson (S)/Jonas Andersson (S)
First after leg two!
4 fastest stage times

Per-Gunnar continued his highly impressive performance, undaunted by the conditions. He grabbed the lead yesterday and set about trying to extend his advantage over today's fast roads. He chose the right compromise between speed and safety, but was hindered by a front puncture four kilometres from the end of SS15. He chose to drive to the finish, but lost 17 seconds and the lead when the tyre came off the rim. Nonetheless, he fought back and was able to grab the lead again during the final loop of stages.

He said: "I'm absolutely delighted with the way things are going. I'm really enjoying myself and the car feels fantastic. The only bit of bad luck we had was the puncture, but it could have been a lot worse: the puncture could have happened at the start of the stage. As it was we were able to continue, but it was a bit of a risk - we nearly went off a couple of times. But never mind - we are leading!"

Monster Sport Europe team manager Risto Laine commented: "We always expected to be very competitive in Finland, so the situation is not a complete surprise to us. Our cars seem both fast and reliable, which is the main thing, and a lot of that is down to the testing work we completed before the event. Of course you can't take anything at all for granted, so we'll be keeping our fingers crossed for a top finish tomorrow. "

Suzuki Ignis number 32 (2003 specification) - Urmo Aava (EE)/Kuldar Sikk (EE)
Fourth after leg two

Urmo used his knowledge of the stages to good effect today, after being hampered by a few niggling problems yesterday. He set several top three times and had no dramas all day, to finish a highly impressive fourth.

He said: "I've enjoyed today and the feeling has been much better. When we have no problems we're able to set some very good times, and I hope that everybody can see what we are capable of."

The final leg of the rally gets underway at 0700 (GMT + 2) from Jyvaskyla, with four more spectacular stages that will decide the Junior World Rally Championship winner in Finland. The route consists of two quite long stages that are repeated with a service halt in between. The winner will cross the finish ramp and begin the victory celebrations at 1440 tomorrow.

Today in JWRC

Today's action was predictably rapid. The Suzukis of P-G Andersson and Kosti Katajamaki started the day in first and second places, but they swapped places after SS15. Meanwhile, Mirco Baldacci overhauled Renault driver (and JWRC points leader) Nicolas Bernardi to claim third place. 11 JWRC cars still remain at the end of the leg, and four of them are Suzukis!