27 5 月, 2022

TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Targets Gravel Double in Sardinia

TOKYO, May 27, 2022 - (JCN Newswire via SEAPRWire.com) - The TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team aims to continue the winning run of the GR YARIS Rally1 at Rally Italia Sardegna on June 2-5: The second part of a double-header on rough and rocky gravel roads in southern Europe.2022 GR YARIS Rally1The trip to the Mediterranean island of Sardinia comes hot on the heels of last week's Rally de Portugal, where the team claimed a one-two finish in the first gravel event of the hybrid Rally1 era. After three consecutive wins on three different surfaces, Kalle Rovanpera leads the championship by 46 points, with Elfyn Evans up to fifth in the standings after taking second place in Portugal. Esapekka Lappi returns to action in Sardinia where he finished on the podium with the team in 2018. Takamoto Katsuta will once more line up for TGR WRT Next Generation, having climbed to third in the points when he narrowly missed out on a podium in Portugal.Sardinia's stages are characterised by fast but narrow tracks which are lined with bushes, trees and rocks, leaving little margin for error. The sandy surface gets swept away by each passing car to expose a rocky and abrasive base, which can combine with some of the highest temperatures of the season to provide a tough test for cars and tyres.The service park returns to the seafront in Alghero on the island's northwest after one year in Olbia in the east, which will still hold the start of the rally on Thursday evening complete with a new mixed-surface super special stage. Friday and Saturday are made up of familiar roads from recent years, with one pair of stages run to be run twice in the morning before another two tests are repeated in the afternoon. Saturday's leg will be tackled without a midday service, which has been replaced by a tyre fitting zone. For Sunday's conclusion there's a comeback after a year's absence for the Cala Flumini and Sassari - Argentiera stages on the coast north of Alghero, with the latter once again hosting the rally-ending Power Stage.Quotes:Jari-Matti Latvala (Team Principal)"Portugal was a fantastic first event on gravel for the GR YARIS Rally1 and the team can go to Sardinia knowing it has built a fast and reliable car. But we know it won't be easy to achieve a similar result. In Sardinia we can expect higher temperatures and the road surface is harder with lots of loose rocks. The road-sweeping effect is usually greater and will probably penalise us more than it did in Portugal. But Kalle is obviously in incredible form at the moment and I'm sure that Elfyn will also feel a boost to his confidence after his drive last weekend. Finally, Esapekka returns to our line-up and has gone well in Sardinia in the past, so with a good road position I'm sure he will be fast too."Elfyn Evans (Driver car 33)"It was good to get a strong result on the board in Portugal and although I wasn't fully satisfied with the weekend, it gives us something to build on in Sardinia. As a team we showed that we have a great starting point with the car on gravel and I think we can still improve some things for the next event. It helps to have two rallies in succession that are relatively similar in character, although the roads in Sardinia tend to have a harder base than the typical stages in Portugal. The weather is likely to be even hotter, so it is going to be a challenging weekend for the cars and the drivers."Kalle Rovanpera (Driver car 69)"Sardinia will be another tough rally. The stages there have been tricky for me in the past but last year I had a better feeling even though we had some issues during the weekend. Hopefully this year we can enjoy the stages and be fast. If the conditions are hot and dry like normal, I think it could be more difficult for us to fight for the win from first on the road than in Portugal, but the target will be the same: to do the best job we can. We go there knowing that we have a good base with the car on gravel and although we need to focus on making it even better, we are already in a good place."Esapekka Lappi (Driver car 4)"It was great to see the performance of the GR YARIS Rally1 on gravel in Portugal and this has certainly made me more excited for next week. Of course I've not had as much time in the car on gravel as the others but the feeling has been good so far and it looks like the team has done a really good job. I've always liked going to Sardinia; the location and the weather is really nice and I had some good rallies there when I was last with the team. So I'm really looking forward to it. Our starting position will be good for the Friday and I hope we can fight for the top four or even a podium."Please visit www.wrc.com for the latest.Follow TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRT:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TOYOTAGAZOORacingWRCTwitter: https://www.twitter.com/TGR_WRC (@TGR_WRC)Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tgr_wrc/ (@TGR_WRC)YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCtALHup92q5xIFb7n9UXVg Copyright 2022 JCN Newswire. All rights reserved. (via SEAPRWire)

13 5 月, 2022

GR YARIS Rally1 Geared Up for Gravel Debut

TOKYO, May 13, 2022 - (JCN Newswire via SEAPRWire.com) - The TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team is preparing to enter a key phase of the 2022 FIA World Rally Championship season at the Rally de Portugal on May 19-22: The first gravel event for the GR YARIS Rally1.2022 GR YARIS Rally1The team has enjoyed a strong start to the new hybrid Rally1 era of the WRC, with Kalle Rovanpera impressively winning two of the first three rounds on snow and asphalt to lead the drivers' championship by 29 points while TGR heads the manufacturers' standings by 42 points. Portugal, though, represents the first of five consecutive rounds on gravel and a new challenge for the latest generation of cars.Rovanpera faces a new challenge too, tasked with sweeping the road on Friday on gravel for the first time in his career as WRC leader. Team-mates Sebastien Ogier and Elfyn Evans will have more favourable road positions, sitting eighth and ninth respectively in the standings. Evans will target a podium return on an event he won in 2021 while Ogier -- making his second WRC appearance of the season -- has five victories in Portugal, a joint record. Takamoto Katsuta is sixth in the championship after a consistent start to 2022 in his TGR WRT Next Generation entry, and finished fourth overall in Portugal last year.The rally is based around the city of Porto with the service park located in nearby Matosinhos, and the stages attract large numbers of passionate fans. The roads are fast but technical, with a surface that is usually soft and sandy at first but often becomes rocky and rutted for the second pass.As in 2021, Coimbra once again hosts the ceremonial start on Thursday evening, and this time it's combined with a new super special stage on the city streets to kick-start the competitive action. Crews will stay overnight before tackling a trio of tests around Arganil, where there will be a tyre fitting zone before the same stages are then repeated in the afternoon. An additional test at Mortagua follows, and the Lousada super special rounds out the day upon returning north.Saturday is the longest day of the rally, featuring 164.98 competitive kilometres. It starts with two tests in the Cabreira mountains before Amarante, the longest stage of 2022 so far at 37.24 km. Following mid-day service, all three are repeated before another street stage alongside the mouth of the Douro river. Five stages bring the rally to a close on Sunday, centered around two passes of the famous Fafe test - the latter serving as the Power Stage finale.Quotes:Jari-Matti Latvala (Team Principal)"So far, we have been very competitive with the GR YARIS Rally1 on asphalt and snow across the first three rallies of the season. Portugal will be the first of three difficult rallies on gravel in just over five weeks and it will be very interesting to see the level of the different teams and cars. With so much of the season driven on gravel, it's very important to be competitive on this surface, and providing our drivers with a reliable car will also have to be a big focus across these next events. In Portugal, when it's dry there's a lot of loose gravel on top of the surface and this makes it very difficult for the first car on the road. This difficult task will be a new experience for Kalle on Friday, but we know that he'll be able to keep his cool even if he's losing time. On the other hand, we will have good starting positions with Elfyn and Seb and they should both have a strong possibility to fight for the victory."Sebastien Ogier (Driver car 1)"I'm excited to be back competing in Portugal. I've really enjoyed having some time off and now I feel quite fresh coming back. I'm of course happy to see the team has continued winning in the last couple of rallies, and I'm here not only to enjoy it and get some good results for myself but also to help win another manufacturers' title. Portugal is a special place for me: I have a good connection with the country and the fans and have had some good success there over the years. It will be something different for me to not be starting near the front and hopefully that can be a bit of an advantage if it doesn't rain. The biggest challenge will be getting back in the rhythm straightaway after only one test day on gravel last week. But at the same time, these cars are new for everyone on gravel, so let's see what we can do."Elfyn Evans (Driver car 33)"As with a lot of rallies this year, it's difficult to know how we will fare against the competition in our first event on gravel with the Rally1 cars, but the feeling in testing last week was generally quite positive. Portugal is a rally I've enjoyed more and more as the years have gone on, and it was great to win there last year. We could definitely do with a strong result on this occasion too and that will be the aim like always. With a run of gravel events coming up, hopefully we can hit the ground running in Portugal and then carry some momentum forwards. If it's dry then our road position should be favourable, but that's not an automatic ticket to a good result and there's still a lot to focus on and to get right in order to make the most of it, especially as everyone tries to get comfortable in these cars."Kalle Rovanpera (Driver car 69)"The feeling with the new car on gravel has been quite good overall, especially in our pre-event test last week with some improvements made from before. Portugal is a rally that I usually like; the stages are nice and technical and there is a great atmosphere. For us, the road-cleaning will probably be the biggest challenge, especially as it's something quite new for us. Friday could be much more important than on other rallies and we will try to be at a good pace straightaway to remain in contention for the rest of the weekend. The key thing in these next rallies will be to just try to keep calm and focus on doing a good job, without taking too much pressure or making mistakes, and keep taking good points where we can."Follow TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRT:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TOYOTAGAZOORacingWRCTwitter: https://www.twitter.com/TGR_WRC (@TGR_WRC)Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tgr_wrc/ (@TGR_WRC)YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCtALHup92q5xIFb7n9UXVg Copyright 2022 JCN Newswire. All rights reserved. (via SEAPRWire)