Teemu Suninen admitted that “the bosses were asking for more pace” before his podium finish on last weekend’s Rally Mexico.
Suninen took M-Sport Ford’s first top three result of the season on the gravel event and had been running in second place before defending world champion Ott Tänak got the better of him on Saturday afternoon.
The Finn had also been suffering from brake problems during the final few stages of the rally and he said after completing the event: “I’m really happy with what I was able to do here this weekend, and really proud to bring this good result home for the team.”
“After Sweden it wasn’t looking too good and the bosses were asking for some more pace! Then I switched the switch and was able to come back a stronger man – back on the good pace, and back challenging for the top results.”
His podium also became more important to the Cumbrian team after the horrific fire that destroyed the sister car of Esapekka Lappi earlier in the event and Suninen continued on his weekend: “I think it was a good drive from me this weekend and we were able to be really consistent which was important.”
“Of course it would have been nice to have taken the second position, but Ott was driving really fast and we had some brake issues that we had to manage. Still I think we have shown that the potential is there, so let’s see what we can do in the next rallies.”
The podium finish moves Suninen up into sixth in the Drivers Standings, 12 points behind his rival from Mexico Tänak.
