The Japanese manufacturer heads into the Rally Finland with five Rally1 cars. Toyota’s rally team is based in Jyväskylä, and with an excellent result from the previous round in Latvia, the expectations are naturally high.
“It’s very exciting to enter our team’s home event at Rally Finland with five Rally1 cars. It’s a big effort, so thanks to all the people in the team who are helping to make it happen. All of our drivers are really hungry to do well,” team boss Jari-Matti Latvala tells.
Elfyn Evans, Kalle Rovanperä, and Sebastien Ogier will be driving for team points for Toyota. Takamoto Katsuta and Sami Pajari, who is making his debut at the highest level of the WRC, can focus solely on their own performances.
“Kalle will want to get that home win, Elfyn always loves the event, Taka has also been doing well there, and even though Seb hasn’t started Rally Finland for a while, I know he would really like to win it again,” Latvala says.
“It’s also going to be very interesting to have Sami in our Rally1 car for the first time and to see how he adapts to the step up from Rally2.”
After victories in the rallies of Poland and Latvia, Toyota has managed to narrow the gap to its arch-rival Hyundai to just one point in the manufacturers’ championship.
“After Poland and Latvia, where we managed to close the gap in the championship, the confidence is high but there is always a bit more pressure at our home event and we have to remember to be humble, because if you don’t respect the Finnish roads you can pay the penalty very quickly,” Latvala summarises.
Latvala also expresses his gratitude to Toyota’s head, Akio Toyoda, who once again gave the man from Tuuri the opportunity to drive in Central Finland. This marks Latvala’s 19th time competing in the legendary rally, although this time in a lower category car.
“I also want to say a big thank you to our chairman, Morizo-san, for letting me drive the GR Yaris Rally2. This is an event I always want to drive, and at the same time together with Juho (co-driver Hänninen) it gives us a good opportunity to experience the Rally2 in competition and then share that with our customers.”
Rally Finland starts on Thursday evening with the Harju city special stage. The competition features a total of 20 special stages, covering approximately 305 kilometres.
