Suzuki withdrawal from World Rally Championship leaves Toni Gardemeister without a job

Rumoured Subaru pull-out would dash return by Marcus Grönholm

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Everybody knows these are hard times indeed for the automobile industry, and on Monday we saw yet another example.
      For the second time in as many weeks, a Japanese manufacturer pulled the plug on its involvement in motor sport: last week it was Honda withdrawing from Formula One, and now Suzuki decided to quit the World Rally Championship after just one season.
      Suzuki justified the decision by the contraction in car sales, which the company believes is not going to be a brief and fleeting problem. Suzuki Motor Corporation is to concentrate on its core business functions, and rallying at the top level is no longer on the agenda.
     
Monday's announcement is a blow for Finnish driver Toni Gardemeister and his co-pilot Tomi Tuominen, and for Gardemeister's Swedish teammate Per-Gunnar Andersson.
      The decision came as an almost complete surprise to Gardemeister.
      "At the end of last week, I had heard rumours that Suzuki might be pulling out, and today it was already official, according to the news agencies. The team itself hasn't yet had time to inform me about anything", said Gardemeister by telephone on Monday.
      "This confirms that the decision was made at the highest level inside the company and in something of a hurry."
     
The team has provided the 33-year-old Finnish driver, who has managed six podium places in 108 WRC starts, with a Christmas present he could have done without.
      "This came at a pretty bad moment for me. I have had no time whatsoever to look around for alternatives for next season", said Gardemeister.
      "Right now I have nothing in the pipeline, and as soon as I hang up this call, I will have to start ringing around."
      Gardemeister commented that the Suzuki team, which only joined the WRC roster at the beginning of the 2008 season, had been looking ahead with some confidence.
      He said he believed the car had been performing better and better towards the end of the season, but now the development work will all come to a juddering halt.
     
The driver is not even sure when his contract runs out. "In principle I have a contract with Suzuki until the end of next year."
      In practice, Gardemeister's chances of snagging a seat with another teram for the 2009 WRC season are slim. Most contracts have already been signed and sealed.
      Suzuki planned long and hard for their entrance into the highest echelon of rallying. The team started in the junior world Championships in 2002 and won two drivers' titles.
      They felt ready to make the step up at the beginning of 2008, but the début season's results were only modest, as was really only to be expected. Andersson collected 12 points and Gardemeister 10, and they finished in 12th and 13th places respectively, while Suzuki came 5th in the manufacturers' table.
     
At the same time as Suzuki have decided to withdraw, there are signs that Subaru might be joining them on the sidelines.
      If this proves to be more than just industry rumour, it will mean no return to the World Rally Championship for former World Champion Marcus Grönholm, who had hoped to drive a full season next year for the Japanese works team.
      Negotiations had earlier hit a speed-bump as the Japanese team seemed more eager to offer him a contract for four rallies rather than the full complement of 12.
      Now it is beginning to look as though even four may be a bridge too far, as Subaru consider their options for 2009.
      Grönholm, who won the WRC drivers' title in 2000 and 2002, retired from the sport at the end of the 2007 season, but he has been hankering after a return to the cockpit.


Links:
  Suzuki press release 15.12.2008
  Toni Gardemeister official site
  Toni Gardemeister (Wikipedia)

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