Метка: Toyota Racing

Toyota has made it “easier” for us to win 2024 WEC titles

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Porsche driver Matt Campbell believes Toyota has made it “easier” for the German manufacturer to win the World Endurance Championship this year.

Campbell made the comments after the penultimate round of 2024 WEC at Fuji, where Toyota’s best-placed car in the standings retired after a collision with the #5 Porsche 963 LMDh.

Kamui Kobayashi in the #7 Toyota GR010 HYBRID was battling with the #5 Porsche of Campbell for seventh place when they came to blows at Turn 3, sending both cars into retirement.

While the #5 Porsche was never realistically in the title fight and hence had little to lose, the #7 entry Kobayashi shared with Nyck de Vries and Mike Conway was Toyota’s best hope of winning the drivers’ championship and had only a 12-point deficit to overcome to the other factory Penske car.

Kobayashi was subsequently handed a suspended drive-through penalty for causing an avoidable crash.

To make matters worse for the Japanese manufacturer on home turf, its second car driven by Ryo Hirakawa was involved in a separate run-in with the winning #6 Porsche 963 of Kevin Estre in the final hour, picking up a drive-through penalty that left it a distant 10th at the finish.

Combined, the two incidents have left Toyota virtually out of the fight for the drivers’ title, while leaving it with a 10-point deficit in the manufacturers’ race with just the Bahrain finale to run.

Campbell said he did not expect Kobayashi to be so aggressive while battling with him for position, but feels the incident only served to shift the balance away from Toyota in the championship fight.

#5 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Matt Campbell, Michael Christensen, Frederic Makowiecki

#5 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Matt Campbell, Michael Christensen, Frederic Makowiecki

Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images

“Thanks to Toyota [we are in a strong position], they’ve probably made it a little bit easier for us [for us to win the titles],” the Australian told Motorsport.com.

“For me I was surprised by the move and the incident because it also took them out and made it a lot harder for them [to win the title].

“For us, obviously we’ve still got to be able to do a good job in Bahrain, no doubt about that but obviously now it’s a bit more of a bridge there [between us and Toyota].”

Estre and his team-mates Laurens Vanthoor and Laurens Vanthoor now enjoy a 35-point lead in the drivers championship over drivers in the #50 Ferrari 499P LMH, Antonio Fuoco, Nicklas Nielsen and Miguel Molina. Kobayashi, de Vries and Conway have slipped to third in the #7 Toyota, facing a 37-point shortfall to the Porsche trio.

In the manufacturers’ battle, Porsche has gone from trailing Toyota by 11 points to leading the championship by 10, a 21-point swing in its favour over the course of the Fuji weekend.

There will be a total of 39 points on offer (including the bonus point for pole) in the eight-hour Bahrain finale compared to 26 for a regular WEC round.

While the drivers’ championship is effectively in the bag for Porsche, Estre believes securing a double title in 2024 will not be a “walk in the park” for the Stuttgart marque, especially with Bahrain’s abrasive track surface set to play into the hands of rival Toyota.

“We know that we have a comfortable lead,” he told the official WEC YouTube channel. “The manufacturers’ is the most important thing for Porsche for sure, for us [drivers] as well.

“It’s great to have the lead in both championships and have some gap, but Bahrain is a tough track, longer race and difficult on the tyre.

“We have to stay out of trouble, execute well as we did the whole season and we’ll be good.

“It’s definitely not gonna be a walk in the park there, the others are going to make it hard for us, but we are well prepared.”

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Ferrari and Toyota concede WEC drivers’ title to Porsche

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Ferrari and Toyota have conceded the World Endurance Championship drivers’ title to Porsche with one race left to run after Sunday’s Fuji round. 

The two manufacturers chasing the German marque in the Hypercar classification have admitted that their chances of taking the crown at November’s Bahrain finale are over after points leaders Lauren Vanthoor, Andre Lotterer and Kevin Estre took victory in the penultimate round of the series in Japan. 

There are 39 points up for grabs over the Bahrain 8 Hours WEC weekend on 2 November and the Ferrari crew of Miguel Molina, Nicklas Nielsen and Antonio Fuoco have fallen 35 points in arrears of the Porsche drivers, while Toyota’s Kamui Kobayashi and Nyck de Vries are 37 points back.  

“For me it is game over,” said Ferrari sportscar racing technical director Ferdinando Cannizzo after the Italian manufacturer’s championship-challenging crew could only finishing ninth in their 499P Le Mans Hypercar at Fuji.  

“I’m not saying we are giving up — we will try to work miracles,” he added. “We need to have the car at its best, make everything perfect and put three cars on the podium.

“Mathematically it is possible, but the chances are very poor.”

Cannizzo also suggested that Ferrari’s chances of taking the manufacturers’ title were over after the marque fell 27 points behind Porsche at Fuji.

David Floury, Cannizzo’s counterpart at Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe, offered a similar opinion following a non-score for the Toyota GR010 HYBRID LMH Kobayashi and de Vries share with Mike Conway after the first-named crashed with Porsche driver Matt Campbell. 

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Conway is fourth in the classification, tied with Campbell and team-mates Michael Christensen and Frederic Makowieci, after missing the Le Mans 24 Hours in June through injury. 

“Clearly for the drivers’ championship we are more or less out of contention,” Floury said. 

#7 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota GR010 - Hybrid: Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi, Nyck de Vries, #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Kevin Estre, Andre Lotterer, Laurens Vanthoor

#7 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota GR010 — Hybrid: Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi, Nyck de Vries, #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Kevin Estre, Andre Lotterer, Laurens Vanthoor

Photo by: Andreas Beil

But the Frenchman insists that there is all to play for in the manufacturer’s championship in which Toyota are only 10 points adrift of Porsche. 

“It is still open in Bahrain and for sure we will be pushing,” he added. 

Estre asserts that it will be important for him and his team-mates to keep their “feet on the ground” in Bahrain.

“You can never be confident because if we have a bad race and one of the others has a perfect race, they can win,” he told Motorsport.com.

“We can be confident that if we keep doing what we have been doing the whole year we will have a very good shot and we don’t need to risk anything.”

Should the Ferrari win in Bahrain and take pole position, then Estre and his team-mates would only need to finish eighth to seal the title. 

If the Toyota was to win and take the point for pole, then they would only be required to finish 10th, which would give them the title on countback with more second places.



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Kobayashi takes blame for Porsche clash as Toyota exits WEC drivers’ title race

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Kamui Kobayashi has accepted blame for the clash with Porsche’s Matt Campbell at the Fuji 6 Hours that effectively removed Toyota from contention in the World Endurance Championship drivers’ title race.

The Japanese told Motorsport.com after the penultimate round of the 2024 WEC on Sunday that “the penalty came to me, so obviously it was my fault”, in reference to the suspended drive-through awarded after the race to the #7 Toyota GR010 HYBRID Le Mans Hypercar he shared with Mike Conway and Nyck de Vries.

Kobayashi and Campbell were battling over seventh place late in hour five at Fuji when they came together at the left-hand Turn 3 that leads into the fast 100R corner.

Campbell had pulled alongside the Toyota into the braking zone for Turn 1 at the beginning of lap 163, got the cutback on Kobayashi through Turn 2 and appeared to have sealed the move by the time they arrived at Turn 3.

Kobayashi hit Campbell as he tried to regain the position, with the cars making contact for a second time as they spun across the asphalt run-off. Both cars immediately returned to the pits where they were retired.

Toyota offered a similar interpretation of the late incident, with its technical director David Floury commenting: “It was our fault: we have nothing to complain about. Clearly we were too far behind and we made contact with the #5 Porsche — we were a bit too aggressive.”

Meanwhile, Campbell described Kobayashi as “obviously the one who was at fault”. He added: “I was completely clear: that wasn’t a passing opportunity from that far back and he just hit me in the rear.”

#5 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Matt Campbell, Michael Christensen, Frederic Makowiecki

#5 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Matt Campbell, Michael Christensen, Frederic Makowiecki

Photo by: Andreas Beil

The Australian rued the luck of Porsche Penske Motorsport’s #5 car crew at Fuji. Team-mate Frederic Makowiecki was hit up the rear by the the customer AF Corse Ferrari 499P LMH when Robert Kubica locked up at the start of the second lap of the race.

Campbell suggested that he and Makowiecki, who shared the car with Michael Christensen, were “innocent bystanders both times”.

The non-score has left Kobayashi and de Vries 37 points behind Fuji race winners Kevin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor and Andre Lotterer in the #6 Porsche 963 LMDh, with just 39 up for grabs in the Bahrain 8 Hours on 2 November.

Kobayashi and de Vries had gone into the Fuji event only 12 points behind Estre, Vanthoor and Lotterer and tied in second position with the factory Ferrari crew of Antonio Fucoo, Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen.

Ninth place for the Ferrari trio means they are now 35 points behind the leaders ahead of the Sakhir round.

Conway lies fourth in the Hypercar class championship because he missed the Le Mans 24 Hours in June through injury.



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Toyota needs three full-time WRC drivers in 2025

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Toyota needs to have at least three full-time drivers contesting the 2025 World Rally Championship, according to team principal Jari-Matti Latvala.

His comments followed a difficult weekend at the Acropolis Rally, where Latvala admitted that the team’s drivers’ and manufacturers’ title were “pretty much gone” following a 1-2-3 for rivals Hyundai.

Reflecting on the way the title race has unfolded to Autosport last Sunday in Greece, the Toyota boss said that the team’s decision to field two full-time drivers in Elfyn Evans and Takamoto Katsuta and two part-time drivers in Kalle Rovanpera and Sebastien Ogier has not been enough to challenge for the titles.

Toyota reshuffled its line-up for this season after two-time world champion Rovanpera’s decision to go part-time this year to “recharge his batteries” ahead of a full-time return next year.

When asked for his thoughts on the team’s 2025 line-up, before Wednesday’s shock decision to replace Katsuta at Rally Chile with rising star Sami Pajari, Latvala said: “What I have learned this year is that for 2025 we need to have three drivers who will do the full championship.

“This is clear now that having part-time drivers and if you have only two drivers doing the full [championship], that is not enough to win the title.

“We can have a fourth driver who can do part of the championship, but three drivers need to be doing a full season.”

When asked if he felt there was a lot of work ahead to finalise the team’s 2025 line-up, he added: “There’s things we need to now consider and we need to think about.

Takamoto Katsuta, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Takamoto Katsuta, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Photo by: Toyota Racing

“I can’t speak about the line-up, not yet.”

Rovanpera is contracted and expected to return to a full-time drive with the team next year, which will be a boost for the Japanese brand that has won the last three drivers’ and constructors’ championships.

“Kalle has already mentioned himself that that he is doing a full season and this is what we have been targeting,” said Latvala.

“It is clear that if Kalle drives, then it’s a full season, we just need to check a couple of things. But that is the way we want it to be.”

However, next season poses an interesting proposition for Toyota regarding its driver line-up, with plenty of options at its disposal.

Eight-time world champion Ogier’s future is yet to be determined, although this year he has once again proved to be valuable asset for the team by winning three rallies and scoring three second-place finishes from seven starts.

The Frenchman has committed to seeing out the rest of the season in a bid to keep the heat on Hyundai points leader Thierry Neuville, but is thought unlikely to commit to return to full-time action.

Two-time WRC title runner-up Evans, competing in his fifth season with Toyota, has endured a challenging season attempting to lead the team’s drivers’ title assault. The Welshman has regularly challenged for podiums and copped his fair share of misfortune with arguably the most damaging incident a driveshaft failure in Finland when sitting second to then-leader Rovanpera.

Kalle Rovanperä, Jonne Halttunen, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1

Kalle Rovanperä, Jonne Halttunen, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1

Photo by: Toyota Racing

Despite the news that Katsuta will be benched for Chile, the team made it clear in its announcement that it will continue to give “its full support” to the Japanese and hopes this short break in an intense and competitive season can provide an opportunity to reset and come back stronger”.

Katsuta piloted a full-time fourth entry from 2021 to 2022, before making the step up to the third car last year.

The rise of WRC2 title contender Pajari offers another option following his impressive run to fourth on Rally1 debut in Finland, which has now led to two more outings in Chile and Central Europe. Latvala told Autosport after Finland that the young Finn was among the team’s options for 2025.

“Of course, Toyota is thinking about investing for the future, like we did with Sami in Finland,” Latvala added when asked about the driver market for next year.

“Those things are what Toyota wants to invest in for the future. But of course, overall, we need to have drivers at the same time that we can win the championship.”



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Pajari to replace Katsuta in Chile as Toyota hands protege another Rally1 drive

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Toyota has elected to replace Takamoto Katsuta with protege Sami Pajari for the next round of the World Rally Championship in Chile later this month.

This is part of a decision to hand Finnish duo Pajari and co-driver Enni Malkonen a further two WRC Rally1 outings in Chile and at the following Central European Rally after impressing to finish fourth on their top-flight debut in Finland last month.

Pajari will now join Kalle Rovanpera, Sebastien Ogier and Elfyn Evans in Chile from 26-29 September.

As a result, full-time driver Katsuta and co-driver Aaron Johnston are set to rejoin the Toyota squad for the Central European Rally and the season finale in Japan.

The decision arrives after a difficult run of rallies that has included carries in Finland and last week’s Acropolis Rally where he was sitting in second before a mistake on stage three.

When speaking to Motorsport.com at the end of the Acropolis Rally, Toyota team principal Jari-Matti Latvala stated that there was a 50/50 chance Pajari, who finished fourth overall in Greece while winning the WRC2 class, would receive another Rally1 outing this year.

Sami Pajari, Enni Mälkönen, Printsport Toyota GR Yaris Rally2

Sami Pajari, Enni Mälkönen, Printsport Toyota GR Yaris Rally2

Photo by: McKlein / Motorsport Images

“After the great performance that Sami Pajari showed at Rally Finland, we wanted to see more of what he can do in a Rally1 car,» said Latvala.

“The main goal in Finland was to gain experience, but he already demonstrated his high potential. In Greece too, he again showed the high level he’s been driving at with the GR Yaris Rally2 car.

«As we look to invest further in talented young drivers for the future, it’s important to learn more about Sami’s abilities, firstly on some different gravel roads on the other side of the world in Chile, and then on asphalt in Central Europe.

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“He will be driving a fourth car, so there is no pressure upon him to contribute towards the championship. For us it’s more about investing in the future and gaining that experience.

“For Taka, it has been a tough season, but he has the full support of the team and everybody knows that he has the speed.

“With this break, he has a chance to reset and recharge ready for the last two events which will be important – especially Rally Japan of course, where we hope he can be fighting for the podium places again.”

Takamoto Katsuta, Aaron Johnston, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1

Takamoto Katsuta, Aaron Johnston, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1

Photo by: Toyota Racing

Pajari added: “It is amazing to have this chance to drive the GR Yaris Rally1 hybrid on two more events this season.

“It feels really nice to know that TGR-WRT is putting this trust in me. Rally Finland was like a dream come true for me, and after that of course I just wanted to drive a Rally1 car more and more, but I could not have expected that the opportunity would come again so soon.

“I’m really looking forward to Rally Chile, with some nice gravel roads that are mostly flowing and high-speed, so a bit similar to Finland. Central Europe can be even more demanding given how wet and muddy we saw it can be last year.

“For my first time in a Rally1 car on asphalt on such a rally, it could be quite a challenge but it’s one that I’m really happy to face, of course.”

Katsuta has since posted on social media reacting to the news that he will sit out the Chile event. 

«I and Aaron will not drive Rally Chile. We will have a short break from competition after an intense summer that maybe didn’t go as planned, can help me reset and come back stronger for CER and Rally Japan,» read a post from Katsuta.

«Of course it is tough and I am really disappointed with myself, but the team is supporting me to find again the good feeling. Sami and Enni are really great and I wish them all the best for the rally. Good luck for Sami and Enni.» 



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Toyota’s WRC title chances “pretty much gone”

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Toyota’s chances of winning the World Rally Championship manufacturers’ crown are “pretty much gone” after Hyundai scored a 1-2-3 at the Acropolis Rally, reckons team boss Jari-Matti Latvala.

The reigning manufacturers’ champions endured a weekend to forget, leaving Greece 35 points behind Hyundai in the championship standings with only three rounds of the season remaining.

Toyota’s rally unravelled on Friday when all three of its drivers, Sebastien Ogier, Elfyn Evans and Takamoto Katsuta encountered problems.

Evans suffered a puncture and turbo failure on the opening stage which cost the Welshman almost 10 minutes, before retiring on Saturday following a slow speed roll. Katsuta crashed out on stage three while occupying second, having won the previous stage.

Eight-time world champion Ogier led the rally until stage five when he suffered a similar turbo failure to Evans, conceding more than two-and-a-half minutes.

Plans to recover the lost ground via Super Sunday points were thwarted when Ogier suffered a puncture and rolled while heading the Sunday classification. Ogier did however finish the event to claim 13 Saturday points, while Evans added 18 points to the pot with eight of those from Sunday’s action.

Elfyn Evans, Scott Martin, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1

Elfyn Evans, Scott Martin, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1

Photo by: Toyota Racing

After witnessing the points deficit to Hyundai increase, Toyota’s Latvala believes the team should put title thoughts aside and focus on winning the remaining events in Chile, central Europe and Japan.

“It’s good that he [Sebastien Ogier] can get the [Saturday] points, but the reality is that we lose the Sunday points, we lose the Power Stage points for both championships, which are basically gone,» Latvala told Motorsport.com.

“Hyundai start to be in a position, that with current [points] system, they will defend it [the lead] now for the last three remaining events, so they won’t take such risk to lose those [titles].

“For us, the Toyota’s WRC title chances “pretty much gone” chances are pretty much gone and we need to change the target to try, from now on, to start winning events.

“We need to forget about both championships for a little bit. We have been in a situation where we have been trying to force it and we can’t force it anymore.

«We can only do it by driving well by winning the events without pressure for the drivers. That is the only way and if something goes wrong with Hyundai, then it can be a massive bonus.

Jari-Matti Latvala, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Jari-Matti Latvala, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

“But at the end of the day, we need to forget the targets and just try to relax the drivers. And if something great happens, then it would be a Cinderella story. But at the moment, we need to forget thinking about the championship points.”

Latvala described the opening day of the rally as ‘Black Friday’ and when reflecting on how the event unfolded, he added: “It started to go wrong from the beginning, and it kept going in the wrong direction, but that’s the way it is when it goes.

“In life you have good times and you have bad times, you can’t have everything perfect every year. We have had three amazing seasons, so for sure, at some point comes the bad moments, and now we are having it.”

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He added: “There’s nothing else we could do, for me Sebastien had to go out in the stage and he had to try to go flat out because we needed Sunday points and we needed Power Stage points. With those points, we would have been able to keep ourselves attached in the championship.

“Unfortunately, it didn’t work out. We had to pay the penalty.”



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Ogier commits to remaining WRC rounds to boost Toyota’s title hopes

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Sebastien Ogier has confirmed plans to contest the remaining rounds of the World Rally Championship to help Toyota challenge for both the drivers’ and manufacturers’ crowns.

The eight-time world champion was set to contest a half-season campaign in his role as part-time driver, but his impressive run of three wins and three second-place finishes have proved crucial for Toyota’s manufacturers’ title push.

Ogier’s success has also left the Frenchman as Toyota’s highest-placed driver in the championship and firmly in the fight for a ninth crown, only 27 points adrift of championship leader  and Hyundai rival Thierry Neuville.

Earlier this week, Rally Chile, which follows this weekend’s round in Greece, released its entry list that featured Ogier and his part-time Toyota team-mate and reigning two-time world champion Kalle Rovanpera.

Watch: EKO Acropolis Rally Greece Shakedown highlights

Toyota team principal Jari-Matti Latvala had already asked Ogier to compete in the remaining rounds earlier this year. Despite initially appearing to downplay the prospect after Rally Finland, Ogier will now add Chile and the Central European Rally to his programme that already included November’s Japan season finale. 

“I think now it’s clear. It’s four rounds remaining and the position we are in the championship we had to give it a try, being also now the leading driver for Toyota,” Ogier told Motorsport.com. 

“Of course, there was a bigger wish from the team for me to be there and on my side two out of this four [rallies] were planned already, and we just had to add Chile and Central Europe. 

“Even if I’m not looking so much for the travel to Chile [because of the distance to Europe], I cannot complain to be in this situation. 

Sébastien Ogier, Vincent Landais, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1

Sébastien Ogier, Vincent Landais, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1

Photo by: Toyota Racing

“It’s still always tempting to have a chance to fight for a championship, even though right now it’s still a long shot. It’s still with the current point system, not so easy to catch this kind of gap, but the best we can do is try to put pressure as late as we can in the season. 

“As long as there is a mathematical chance, anything can happen.”

Toyota boss Latvala says the outcome is both “good for Sebastien personally and for the team”, while admitting securing the manufacturers’ title is the primary goal. Toyota sits 20 points adrift of Hyundai heading into this weekend despite winning six of the nine rallies to date.

“We discussed that if he does Latvia and it goes well why not do the rest of the championship because he’s been a very strong asset for us this year,” said Latvala. 

“We want to keep the championship fight alive.” 

Championship leader Neuville, who announced a one-year extension with Hyundai for 2025 before today’s Acropolis Rally Greece shakedown, expects Ogier to be his strongest rival for the rest of the season.

“It will be someone else to fight for the championship and if you’re going to win then it is even better,” said Neuville.  

“He will always have an excuse because he didn’t do all the other rounds, but he chose very well which ones he didn’t do. 

“He has done very well benefiting from his road position but now it will be a bit different, but he is the man to fight. It is no secret he is the one who will be the strongest until the end of the year in the fight for the championship, and we need to resist.” 

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Ogier, Rovanpera selected to help Toyota WRC title bid in Chile

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World champions Sebastien Ogier and Kalle Rovanpera will feature for Toyota to help the Japanese marque’s World Rally Championship title bid at Rally Chile.

Toyota will therefore field four GR Yaris Rally1 cars for the final gravel round of the season held in the South American nation from 26-29 September.

Ogier and Rovanpera have both been contesting partial campaigns this season although it appears the former is likely to start 10 of the 13 rounds this year. Toyota team principal Jari-Matti Latvala asked Ogier to commit to the remainder of the season last month.

Ogier is currently Toyota’s best hope at securing the drivers’ title, with the eight-time world champion sitting 27 points adrift of Hyundai’s standings leader Thierry Neuville heading into this weekend’s Acropolis Rally Greece.

The Frenchman has scored three wins (Croatia, Portugal, Finland) and three second place finishes (Monte Carlo, Sardinia, Latvia) from his six starts to date.

Rovanpera’s outing in Chile will be his seventh start of a campaign that has included victories in Kenya, Poland and Latvia. The Finn was on course to take a fourth win in Finland last time out before rolling out of a commanding lead on the penultimate stage.

The decision to add Ogier and Rovanpera to a Chile line-up that includes its full-time drivers Elfyn Evans and Takamoto Katsuta should help Toyota as it seeks to close the gap to rivals Hyundai in the manufacturers title battle.

Toyota heads to Greece sitting 20 points adrift of Hyundai, despite winning six of the nine rallies so far.

Kalle Rovanperä, Jonne Halttunen, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1

Kalle Rovanperä, Jonne Halttunen, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1

Photo by: Toyota Racing

Confirmation of the Rally Chile entry list sees Esapekka Lappi rejoin Hyundai to pilot the third i20 N Rally1 car.

Lappi kicked off the season with a victory in Sweden, but has failed to finish inside the top 10 in his last three outings in Kenya, Latvia and Finland.

It has already been confirmed that M-Sport-Ford will expand its line-up for the event to three cars, with Martins Sesks returning to the championship to pilot a non-hybrid version of the Ford Puma.

The Latvian, who finished fifth in Poland and seventh at his home event, will join regulars Adrien Fourmaux and Gregoire Munster.

WRC2 championship leader Oliver Solberg will make the trip alongside one of his title rivals Yohan Rossel as part of Rally Chile’s 45-car entry list.



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Ferrari AF Corse sneaks past Toyota for win

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In a thrilling finish to Sunday’s Lone Star Le Mans six-hour race on the Circuit of The Americas, a customer AF Corse-run 499P driven by Robert Kubica, Yifei Ye, and Robert Shwartzman at Austin took the win after a battle with Toyota. All mere hours after Charles Leclerc’s Italian Grand Prix victory at Monza earlier in the day.

Shwartzman inherited the lead from the No. 7 Toyota GR010 HYBRID LMH with 40 minutes of the race to run when Kamui Kobayashi took a drive-through penalty for a yellow-flag infringement. The Japanese driver, teamed with Mike Conway and Nyck de Vries, came out of the pits nine seconds behind the Ferrari but quickly made up ground. Kobayashi was still closing at the end, but ran out of time, ending up just 1.7 seconds behind at the checkered flag.

That closeness emphasized a pulse-pounding late stage of the race. Toyota appeared to have a win in the bag as the race entered its final stages, having managed to get the undercut on the yellow Ferrari, which had led the majority of the first two thirds of the Lone Star Le Mans. 

Kobayashi took the wheel for the final two hours and pulled way from Shwartzman, building up a lead of 10 seconds only to lose it as penance for ignoring yellow flags at Turn 11.

The No. 83 AF CORSE Ferrari 499P Hypercar

The No. 83 AF CORSE Ferrari 499P Hypercar

Photo by: JEP

Third place at COTA went to the Le Mans-winning factory Ferrari crew of Miguel Molina, Nicklas Nielsen, and Antonio Fuoco. They lacked the pace of the sister works 499P of Antonio Giovinazzi, James Calado and Alessasndro Pier Guidi — but the second 499P posted a rare retirement for the factory team. Driveline issues (that followed a collision with an LMGT3 runner that had damaged a wheel rim) and then a spin while Giovinazzi was lapping one of the Peugeot 9X8 2024 LMHs conspired against the team.

Cadillac took fourth — its best result of the season — with the Ganassi-run V-Series.R shared by Earl Bamber and Alex Lynn.

Alpine followed in fifth in the A424 LMDh shared by Ferdinand Habsburg, Paul-Loup Chatin and Charles Milesi. They fought back from an early penalty after Habsburg locked up on the first lap and was penalized for the contact with Bamber at Turn 12 at the end of the long back straight.

The Signatech-run Alpine benefitted from a late penalty for Kevin Estre in the championship-leading Porsche 963 LMDh for a yellow-flag infringement, which left the Penske-run car co-driven by Laurens Vanthoor and Andre Lotterer sixth at the flag.

The No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R Hypercar of Earl Bamber, and Alex Lynn

The No. 2 Cadillac V-Series.R Hypercar of Earl Bamber, and Alex Lynn

Photo by: JEP

Vanthoor, Lotterer, and Estre fought through the field from 14th on the grid — with Estre surviving a clash with Sebastien Buemi in the second Toyota in the race’s fifth hour. Buemi, on an outlap, made contact with the Porsche as he moved over on the back straight to protect his position. He continued to move to the left, resulting in a second contact. The Toyota sustained a rear puncture and bodywork damage, before being given a 30-second stop-go penalty for causing a collision that left the car 15th and last of the classified finishers in Hypercar.

The best of the WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 LMDhs — the No. 20 car driven by Rene Rast, Robin Frijns and Sheldon van der Linde — was also hit with a late penalty of 100s for an energy in infringement. It lost a top-six position as a result, ending up in 13th at the finish.

The LMGT3 class was dominated by the American-flagged Heart of Racing Aston Martin squad. Its Vantage GT3 crewed by Ian James, Daniel Mancinelli, and Alex Riberas crossed the line with almost half a minute in hand over its nearest competitor to take the victory. Bronze-rated James, who’s also Heart of Racing’s team principal, laid the foundation for the squad’s first WEC victory since joining the series last year. The Briton converted pole position in the race lead and raced away from Sarah Bovy in the Iron Dames Lamborghini Huracan EVO2.

The No. 51 Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499P failed to finish

The No. 51 Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499P failed to finish

Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images

Heart of Racing’s run to victory was made easier when a clash between the Iron Lynx-run Lamborghini (which Bovy shared with Rahel Frey and Michelle Gatting) and the best of the TF Sport Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R (the No. 81 entry driven by Tom van Rompuy, Rui Andrade, and Charlie Eastwood) took both cars from contention.

That allowed the two Manthey-run Porsche 911 GT3-Rs — running 1-2 in the class points coming into the Austin race — to come through to claim second and third positions. All in spite of receiving a Balance of Performance hit and carrying significant success balance.

Alex Malykhin, Joel Sturm, and Klaus Bachler took second with 30 kg of success ballast, while the sister car of Yasser Shahin, Morris Schuring, and Richard Lietz took third with 25 kg after the Shahin received a drive-through for a track limits violation.

Vanthoor, Lotterer, and Estre still lead the championship on 125 points; Molina, Nielsen, Fuoco and de Vries and Kobayashi tied on 113 points.



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