Suzuki World Rally Team

Suzuki Sport
Full nameSuzuki World Rally Team
Team principal(s)Nobuhiro Tajima[1]
Technical directorShusuke Inagaki [ja][2]
ChassisSuzuki SX4
TyresPirelli
World Rally Championship history
Debut2007 Tour de Corse[3]
Last event2008 Wales Rally GB
Manufacturers' Championships0
Drivers' Championships0
Rally wins0

The Suzuki World Rally Team, also known as the Suzuki WRC Challenge, was Suzuki's factory backed World Rally Championship team, as part of the Suzuki Sport organization. The team debuted for the first time at the 2007 Tour de Corse in France.[4] After just one full season in 2008, in which the team finished fifth in the manufacturers' championship, Suzuki announced that they would be pulling out of the WRC.[5] The decision was attributed to falling car sales caused by the economic crisis, although reports had surfaced that Suzuki were ready to abandon its WRC program before the economic downturn began.[6]

  1. ^ Suzuki WRC Press Room: Home Archived 2007-10-30 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ "WRC: Suzuki appoints new technical manager". Crash.net. 2008-01-02. Retrieved 2011-11-27.
  3. ^ Bonjour Suzuki! | World Rally | News | WRC | WRC Latest News
  4. ^ "RallySport Magazine – Suzuki WRC – the dream has begun". Rallysportmag.com.au. 2007-10-12. Archived from the original on 2011-10-02. Retrieved 2011-11-27.
  5. ^ "Suzuki suspends its WRC programme". wrc.com. 2008-12-15. Archived from the original on 2008-12-16. Retrieved 2008-12-15.
  6. ^ David Evans (2008-05-02). "Suzuki's WRC future in question". Autosport.com. Retrieved 2008-12-15.