After last year's great success, the historic one-make series repeats with the exciting formula that admits to the start any off-road Suzuki, of any era and with the most disparate types of homologation. The Suzuki Challenge takes place over six trials within the prestigious Italian Cross Country Rally Championship.
Filed a 2022 that saw it win its 15th consecutive Manufacturers' title in the Italian Cross Country Rally Championship and the Casco D'Oro award for the Best Single-brand Trophy, Suzuki is once again ready to be a major player on the national off-road scene with the 24th edition of the Suzuki Challenge.
In the upcoming season, the historic one-make series reintroduces the exciting formula introduced last year. On the strength of its more than 50-year tradition with 4x4s and their proverbial reliability, the Hamamatsu company has decided to admit to the start any off-road Suzuki, of any era and with the most diverse types of homologation. The Suzuki Challenge thus allows a large number of enthusiasts to take part at reasonable cost in the prestigious trials of the tricolor CICCR and to try to win the rich prize money up for grabs.
A trophy open to all
In 2023, the Suzuki Challenge is counting on the registration of a large number of enthusiasts, to the delight of the public and the competitors themselves, who are always happy to take part in a gripping and hard-fought series with the utmost respect for the rules and opponents.
Crews will be able to compete in all kinds of Suzuki off-road vehicles, from Samurais to Grand Vitaras, via Jimmies and Vitaras, belonging to T1, T1 national, T2 and TH groups. To ensure that everyone has a chance to win, the rankings will be drawn up by applying specific scores to the best-performing prototypes and simplified prototypes, as well as to production-derived cars and competition cars with older homologations.
This approach, designed together with organizer Emmetre Racing, allows those with older but still efficient cars in their garages to bring them back to race and have fun at a reasonable cost, on magnificent and selective courses, as well as in a first-rate organizational framework.
Six breathtaking races
The Suzuki Challenge has always made the quality of the tracks one of its flagships, and the upcoming season will certainly live up to tradition. This 24th edition will be spread over six races, the same ones on which the calendar of the Italian Cross Country Rally Championship 2023 will be based.
Among other things, some of these events will be of international relevance and will allow participants in the one-make series to challenge the best performers in the specialties.
Suzuki Challenge 2023 calendar.
March 10 - 13th Italian Baja di Primavera-Artugna Race (Friuli)
April 15 - 1st Baja Colline Metallifere (Tuscany)
May 17 - 10th Rally Greece Off Road (Greece)
July 6 - 30th Italian Baja (Friuli)
September 16 - 4th Baja Vermentino Terre di Gallura - (Sardinia)
Nov. 11 - 2nd Baja delle Marche (Marche)
Affordable costs and a large prize pool
The Suzuki Challenge allows Hamamatsu's sporting clientele to cultivate their passion for motorsport without an excessive outlay of money. In fact, the entry fee for drivers already registered for one of the previous editions amounts to 600 euros + VAT, which becomes 1,200 + VAT for new entrants. Included in these amounts are a Suzuki sweatshirt/Jacket and a sticker kit for the race car, to which is added for rookies a fireproof suit with Suzuki logos.
Suzuki is putting up a prize pool of as much as 30,000 euros for those who will stand out in the Challenge, with an additional bonus of as much as 10,000 euros for the winner should he or she also become the overall Italian Cross Country Rally Champion.
The final ranking will be drawn up taking into account the five best results obtained, with the possibility for competitors to discard the worst placing.
Automatic translation from the original Italian version
Source ACI Sport
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