It is clear that Toyota must beat their arch-rival Hyundai in the fast gravel races. The Korean manufacturer has taken a 13-point lead in the manufacturers’ championship. Toyota’s Rally1 car was born on the fast gravel roads of Central Finland, so expectations are high ahead of the Rally Poland.
Toyota was the only team to test their equipment in Poland. M-Sport Ford and Hyundai, on the other hand, conducted their tests in southern Estonia.
“I remember in 2017 when we tested for the Rally Poland in Estonia. At that time, it was very good because it was interesting in Poland since the test roads offered were quite a lot worse than the rally roads,” says Toyota team principal Jari-Matti Latvala to RallyJournal.com.
“In Estonia, we had a really good road that we tested. At that time, we came relatively close to the same settings as in the Rally Finland.”
However, Estonia has hosted WRC rallies in recent seasons, so at least for Toyota, the setup is familiar. The main thing was to acclimatise the drivers to the Polish terrain.
“We have driven the Estonian rally many times and tested there. We have pretty good feedback from that, and the settings have been quite close to Finland. In that regard, I don’t believe there will be an issue with the settings. It was more about getting the drivers accustomed to the soft Polish sand,” Latvala notes.
“The drivers can push the car more into the soft terrain. Remembering that and getting a grip was on our minds. There was nothing else behind it.”
In Poland, the Toyota team will have their regular drivers Elfyn Evans and Takamoto Katsuta, as well as Sebastien Ogier. Kalle Rovanperä is still on his summer break. Although the last rally in Poland was in 2017, Latvala believes the race will be familiar to the leading drivers.
“They are the same stages that were driven back then. (Thierry) Neuville, (Ott) Tänak, and Ogier, as well as Elfyn, have driven there. The stages are familiar to them. From this group, Tänak will be extremely fast. I hope we can respond, especially Ogier and Evans,” Latvala summarises.
“I have a hunch that Neuville might not be at his best opening the road as the first car in such a fast race. He may not be as strong in this type of rally. Tänak is certainly the strongest driver for this race.”
