Suzuki News

Dealer Team Suzuki’s Lorna Smith and co-driver Joanne Oakey were crowned British Ladies Rally Champions 2007 on Saturday 6th October after finishing 4th in class at the Yorkshire International Rally.

“We have thoroughly enjoyed a great season so far driving for Suzuki GB, the camaraderie and spirit within the team is fantastic and the Swift Sport is ultra reliable and great fun to drive. Joanne and I are loving this opportunity, it’s like a dream, we really don’t want the season to end,” said delighted Smith at the Pickering Showground finish.

Both girls were called up by Suzuki GB Team boss Ian Robinson at the start of the year to campaign the new Swift Sport rally car in both the Tesco 99 Octane MSA British Rally Championship and the Irish Tarmac Championship. Despite a few brushes with the scenery, Lorna’s superb combination of speed and reliability have already secured her the Irish Group N2 and Ladies’ title.

A delighted Ian Robinson said: “It’s fantastic that Lorna and Joanne have won the British Ladies’ title to add to their Irish wins. The teams focus now is on Wales Rally GB at the end of November with the objective of securing the British Rally Class R2 Championship, and we still have an outside chance of securing the Manufacturers title too.”

Dealer Team Suzuki’s James Wozencroft and Lorna Smith finished 2nd and 4th in Class R2 at the Yorkshire International Rally, the penultimate round of the Tesco 99 Octane MSA British Rally Championship held in the forests around Pickering on Saturday 6th October.

Both crews reported early problems, with the revised gravel control tyre significantly reducing grip and the top speed of the cars. James also lost 2 minutes on stage one with gear selection problems.

Team manager Ian Robinson commented: “After stage one our hopes of posting a good result looked decidedly bleak, but both James and Lorna pushed on throughout the day, and the strength and reliability of the Suzuki Swift Sport N2 cars came to the fore, as one by one our main opponents fell by the wayside.”

This result means that Dealer Team Suzuki now heads for Wales Rally GB with the objective of securing the British Rally class R2 championship, with Lorna in 1st position and James 2nd.