Mixed start for Suzuki at Rally Finland

Toni Gardemeister set a top six time at shakedown for Rally Finland, but teammate Per-Gunnar Andersson's SX4 WRC needed a new engine after it dropped a cylinder this morning.

Andersson is near certain to start the event with a five-minute penalty because of the engine change, but this won't be confirmed until this evening's stewards' meeting.

"There was no warning, but at the end of the stage we lost a cylinder," said Andersson. "It's not the best start, it looks like we'll have five minutes, which is tough - but now it's straightforward for us: it's flat out all of the time."

Suzuki team manager Paul Wilding said the decision to change the engine - and likely incur the penalty - was not a difficult one.

"We didn't want to start the rally with an engine which was making a strange noise," he said. "It's better that we're starting with the new engine."

Gardemeister was upbeat after his start to the event, though.

"I've got good confidence," he said. "We had a good test on Monday and that's continued this morning at shakedown. The team has worked on the car through the summer, taking some weight out and giving us some more power lower down - both of those have helped us this morning."

Fastest time at shakedown was shared by Solberg brothers, Petter (Subaru) and Henning (Stobart Ford).