Toyota WRC team makes big change – Jari-Matti Latvala explains the reasoning

Toyota, competing in the World Rally Championship, has relocated its testing area to a new location.
Kalle Rovanperä
Kalle Rovanperä in action with Toyota's Rally1 car. Photo: Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
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WRC teams are allowed to select a so-called permanent test site where they can test their cars without restrictions. Teams must notify the FIA at the end of the year, specifying the location of their test site for the following season and the roads they intend to use.

Toyota’s factory team, based in Jyväskylä, had its test area in Central Finland, less than an hour’s drive from its headquarters, for several years. However, for this season, Toyota has moved its testing base near the city of Mikkeli.

According to Toyota team principal Jari-Matti Latvala, there’s a logical reason behind this significant change.

“We wanted to try something different. Our test area had been in the same location for a long time, and we’ve done a lot of testing there. The drivers have learned it very well,” Latvala told RallyJournal.com.

“When you know a road too well, you can become blind to how the car is set up. The point is to have a different kind of road, so the driver doesn’t automatically focus on how the car feels based on memory. Instead, they should be driving to get a true feel for the car, not just relying on their memory of the road,” Latvala emphasised.

Toyota hasn’t completely abandoned its old testing site. This year, Toyota driver Sami Pajari is competing officially with Toyota’s second team, which will continue using the familiar test area.

Hyundai’s WRC team has chosen to keep its testing site in the same location near Jämsä in Central Finland. Last week, Hyundai drivers Thierry Neuville, Ott Tänak, and Adrien Fourmaux conducted tests in Central Finland to prepare for Rally Sweden.

WRC teams are allowed to select up to 12 kilometres of roads within their permanent test site. These roads must be located within a circular area with a diameter of 10 kilometres.

Outside of their designated test sites, WRC teams are limited to just 21 test days per year. All tests must be conducted within Europe.

The next round of the World Rally Championship will take place in Sweden next week.

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