Kalle Rovanperä drove to a stunning victory, simultaneously securing a haul of 27 points. Elfyn Evans secured a one-two finish for Toyota in the overall standings.
There were also reasons to be cheerful for Toyota in the WRC2 category. Sami Pajari drove to his second consecutive class victory.
It is no wonder that team principal Jari-Matti Latvala was all smiles after the race.
“If we start with Sami, it was really controlled work from start to finish. It has been wonderful to watch his performance, Latvala rejoiced to RallyJournal.com.
Toyota introduced a new Rally2 car to the market this year, and its performance has become evident throughout the season.
“Sami’s performances have demonstrated the car’s capabilities. Earlier in the year, there was perhaps a bit of a question mark about whether the three-cylinder car had the performance for fast rallies, but it has now been proven. The car has performance, but so do the drivers”, Latvala praised.
“The performance on the Rally1 side has also been really good”, Latvala continued.
And indeed it has been. Kalle Rovanperä was not initially expected to be able to compete for the win in the Rally Poland, but what happened? The Finn drove superbly throughout the weekend.
Latvala did not expect such a performance. Not even from Kalle.
“I said before the rally that we were aiming for a top-five finish. However, he managed to stretch and push so much that he was competing for the rally win”, Latvala praised his Finnish protégé.
