Suzuki Swift Super 1600 drivers Jaan Molder and Michal Kosciuszko have finished the Rally Mexico, round one of the Junior World Rally Championship, in second and third places respectively.

In a remarkable display of consistency and reliability, the Suzuki drivers occupied two of the three podium places from the very beginning of the rally. As a result, they are now also second and third in the championship.
Neither of the Suzukis had any major problems throughout the three days of the rally, despite tough and arid conditions. Neither Jaan nor Michal had ever contested Rally Mexico before, so they chose a cautious and risk-free approach in order to be sure of making the finish. Nonetheless, they still managed to enjoy a spirited battle amongst themselves, swapping positions twice on the second day of the event.
In the end Jaan ended up a minute and a half ahead of his Suzuki Sport Europe team mate, who in turn was nearly three minutes ahead of the next-placed Junior World Championship competitor.
The final day of the all-gravel rally was cut short after SS18 was cancelled due to spectator overcrowding. The Suzuki drivers drove sensibly to the finish, and they are now looking forward to the next round in Jordan in April, where they will be joined by a third Swift in the hands of German driver Florian Niegel.

News from Jaan Molder (Suzuki Swift n.32):
"It's been a very demanding rally, and I'm pleased to get to the end. A second-place finish is a very good way to start the year. The car has been reliable from the very start of the rally, and after I started today with a minute over Michal it was just a question of preserving that advantage to the finish. Now we have to analyse where we are losing time in order to improve for the future."

News from Michal Kosciuszko (Suzuki Swift n.35):
"I've enjoyed this rally a great deal, and I'm very happy to be on the podium. Obviously I would have preferred to have been second like I was yesterday afternoon, but then Jaan got past me again and it was too risky to try and close the gap. My aim from the beginning was to make a solid start to the championship and I am very satisfied that we have done that. In Jordan, I'll be aiming for another podium."

News from Nobuhiro 'Monster' Tajima, Suzuki World Rally Team principal:
"Congratulations to both drivers, who have driven sensibly but quickly in these extremely tough conditions at high altitude. They have followed instructions perfectly, and the result is that we now have two Suzuki Swifts on the Junior World Championship podium, which is a great result. Now we are eagerly awaiting the next Junior round in Jordan, where we will have three Suzukis in the battle. "

DATE	SS 17	SS 18	SS 19	SS 20
Sunday March 2nd	16.09	22.30	17.88	4.42

Pos.	Driver	Machine	Time
1	Sebastien Ogier	CITROEN C2 S1600	3:58:54.8	0.0
2	Jaan Molder	Suzuki Swift S1600	4:00:26.7	+1:31.9
3	Michal Kosciuszko	Suzuki Swift S1600	4:02:00.0	+3:05.2
4	Aaron Burkart	CITROEN C2 S1600	4:04:56.6	+6:01.8
5	Patrick Sandell	Renault Clio S1600	4:06:40.5	+7:45.7
6	Shaun Gallagher	CITROEN C2 S1600	4:44:16.0	+45:21.2
7	Martin Prokop	CITROEN C2 S1600	4:48:43.2	+49:48.4
8	Francesco Fanari	CITROEN C2 S1600	4:51:28.8	+52:34.0