TOYOTA GAZOO Racing achieved an amazing one or two in Sardinia

Toyota City, Japan, June 7, 2021-(JCN News Line)-TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team achieved an amazing one or two results in the Sardinia Rally in Italy, Sebastien Ogier In the five events so far this season achieved the third victory Alfin Evans won the runner-up, achieved impressive results, and expanded the team’s advantage in the championship.

After the fast and reliable performance of the Toyota Yaris WRC and its drivers, the team won for the first time in Sardinia. They overcame a disadvantaged position in the road order on Friday. Ogier’s opening performance on Friday was particularly impressive, ending the day in third place and then climbing to the rally lead on Saturday, when Evans also improved his confidence and speed to second. name.

Ogier and co-pilot Julien Ingrassia safely controlled their advantage in the four stages of the final day, winning their fourth Sardinian victory and their first victory since 2015.

Evans, co-driving by Scott Martin, started the final day with a strong stage victory in SS17 to expand his advantage to third place and was also the fastest in SS19 of. In the final stage, after the water splashed into the car, he was slowed down, but the buffer he established earlier meant that his second place was guaranteed.

With two bonus points for the fourth fastest time in the Power Stage, Ogier is now 11 points ahead of Evans, who in turn leads the third place driver by 18 points.

The third-best three bonus points in the Power Stage were Kalle Rovanpera, who was forced to stop due to technical issues when he was in second place on Friday with the co-pilot Jonne Halttunen. With the help of their extra points, Toyota is now 49 points ahead of the manufacturer’s standings.

Three Toyota Yaris WRC teams entered the top four, and TGR WRC Challenge Driver Takamoto Katsta repeated his personal best fourth in Portugal in the previous round to continue his recent progress. On the last day, Katsuta took a steady approach to ensure the results, and his co-pilot Dan Barritt felt unwell due to dehydration due to the high temperatures in Sardinia. After completion, Barritt was examined by the doctor and discharged from the hospital.

quotation marks:

Akio Toyoda (team founder)
“I am proud that the team can finally win in Sardinia for the first time. We can finally enjoy the tradition of jumping into the sea on the podium. One or two completions should make the salty water taste good.” Congratulations! “

“I participated in a rally in Sardinia two years ago. Prepare towels and change clothes, and I am already thinking about how to sneak in safely. However, the leading rally Yaris WRC suddenly slowed down on the track. “The final stage. Even now, I still feel sorry for Otto, who was driving a car at the time. “

“Thanks to Seb, Julien, Elfyn and Scott. They drove very well on the very demanding roads of Sardinia. We were able to discover how delicious the sea water is. I would also like to thank the team members who have been working hard to improve the quality of the car’s reliability. But We still have a lot to do, and I’m really sorry for what happened to Kalle and Jonne. I believe Jari-Matti and all team members will continue to make our cars from tomorrow onwards.”

“Finally, I want to thank our fans for their enthusiastic support. The next game is Kenya, which will be a new discovery for our team. Thank you for your continued support.”

“PS Zhidan,
We can repair cars over and over again, but Gaoben cannot compete without you. I think Gaoben puts your health first and drove very steadily in the end. You made a very good decision together. Remember, health is always the most important thing! “

quotation marks:

Jari-Matti Latvala (Team Leader)
“This is an amazing result for our team. We came to Sardinia, knowing that this will not be an easy rally for us, we may not be able to win, but in the end we are celebrating one-on-two It’s not a perfect weekend, because Kahler unfortunately ran into problems on the first day and we need to learn from it in order to become stronger in the future, but the other three cars performed very well in these difficult stages. In general, we have performance, we have reliability, and we have consistency. This is good news for the champion, but we know that the competition has been getting more and more intense, so if we want to get more of this As a result, we need to continue to work hard.”

Sebastien Ogier (driving car 1)
“This is an incredible weekend for us: we can’t expect to leave Sardinia with such a result. Providing the team with one-to-twos and winning first and second away games is an amazing thing. Achievement. I’m also very happy that we managed to find a better racing feel and reacted after Portugal, maybe not as fast as we wanted. Unfortunately, during the power phase, we were splashed in very aggressive water After a brief fire, but “we still scored two points, which is a good thing for the champion. If we can maintain this rhythm, we can be full of confidence, but of course this has never been easy. “

Alfin Evans (driver number 33)
“The second place is a good result. We will definitely get it after the struggle on Friday morning. This morning we did not fall behind us so much, so it is a good thing to be able to further expand this advantage, and may just be considered What happened after the final stage. We seemed to have some water in. I’m not sure if it will be clear, but luckily it did it. It quickly regained full power afterwards. A little disappointed will not be removed from the Power Stage. Get any extra points in the game, but at the same time I’m very happy to keep second.”

Kalle Rovanpera (driving car 69)
“Our goal today is to get as many points as possible from Power Stage. Our starting position is still a bit tricky because we only have two world rally cars in front of us to clean up. So I had to make my own lines in many places and because of this I wasted some time, but I tried a lot and we left with the third fastest time. In general, this was a very disappointing weekend on our side, but we just need to move “forward.” The positive thing is that after Portugal, the car feels better again, and I hope we can continue to do this. “

For the latest results, please visit www.wrc.com.

What’s the next step?

From June 24th to 27th, the iconic Kenya Wildlife Park Rally returned to the WRC calendar for the first time in nearly 20 years. The African gravel event, known for its difficult conditions, is expected to bring new challenges to current drivers.

Source: Toyota Motor Corporation

Copyright 2021 JCN News Line. all rights reserved.