‘Supersub’ Rovanpera’s WRC champions drive surpassed Toyota’s expectations
Kalle Rovanpera surpassed Toyota’s expectations by delivering a world rally champion’s performance to lead Rally Poland after limited event preparation as a last-minute substitute for Sebastien Ogier. Rovanpera was servicing his jet ski on Tuesday when he received the call to stand in for Ogier after the eight-time world champion was ruled out of the […]
The big challenge facing Rovanpera after going from jet ski to WRC Rally Poland
Kalle Rovanpera expects to face a “big challenge” to prepare for Rally Poland after receiving a last-minute call up to replace Sebastien Ogier while he was repairing his jet ski. Toyota has drafted in Rovanpera and co-driver Jonne Halttunen to pilot the team’s third GR Yaris in Poland, which returns to the World Rally Championship […]
Ogier released from hospital following WRC Poland accident
Sebastien Ogier has been released from hospital having escaped serious injury after being involved in a road traffic accident that put him out of this weekend’s World Rally Championship event. Eight-time world champion Ogier and co-driver Vincent Landais were driving a GR Yaris reconnaissance car that collided with another vehicle on Tuesday morning. The driver […]
Pajari to make WRC Rally1 debut in Finland as Toyota rejigs Latvia line-up
Rising World Rally Championship star Sami Pajari will now make his Rally1 debut in Finland instead of Latvia following a change to Toyota’s driver line-up. Toyota announced last month that Pajari and co-driver Enni Malkonen will step up from driving a Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 car in WRC2 to pilot a fourth GR Yaris Rally1 […]
Toyota back on top in FP2 after qualifying disaster
Sebastien Buemi went quickest in the two-hour FP2 night session on Wednesday in the #8 Toyota GR010 HYBRID Le Mans Hypercar with a time half a second up on his nearest rival. He emulated team-mate Brendon Hartley, who topped the times in FP1 in #8 before both cars ended up outside the top eight fastest […]
Lopez’s Toyota return at Le Mans «like I had never left»
Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe technical boss David Floury revealed that the Argentinian was «up to speed immediately» on his return to the cockpit of the Le Mans Hypercar at last weekend’s Le Mans Test Day for the first time since the 2023 World Endurance Championship finale in Bahrain. «By the look of the lap times […]
Toyota hands Rally1 debut to rising WRC star in Latvia
Pajari and co-driver Enni Malkonen will step up from driving Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 car in WRC2 to pilot a fourth GR Yaris Rally1 at the gravel rally that will make its WRC debut from 18-21 July. The news comes just days after the pair claimed their second career WRC2 win after finishing sixth overall […]
Evans «thinking too much» about WRC title race
Evans has cut a frustrated figure throughout this week’s Rally Sardinia, having been unable to find the confidence to extract the ultimate pace from his Toyota GR Yaris on the gravel stages. After finishing sixth in Portugal last month, the Welshman’s struggles for speed have continued into Sardinia to leave Evans adrift of the victory […]
Evans feels “new ideas” are required after WRC Portugal struggles
The Toyota driver felt that “everything he touched went wrong” last weekend as he witnessed his six-point deficit to championship leader Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville balloon to 24 points. Evans’ difficulties began on Friday as he and his Toyota team-mates Sebastien Ogier, Kalle Rovanpera and Takamoto Katsuta struggled to find a balance with their GR Yaris […]