Car in front is always a Toyota.... Japanese team tops WRC
Finland's driver Kalle Rovanpera and co-driver Jonne Halttunen of Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT drive during the stage (SS 11 Knaus Tabbert Bayerischer Wald 1) of the WRC Central European Rally 2023 in Riedelsbach, Neureichenau, Germany on October 28, 2023. The International Automobile Federation (FIA) has formed a two-person working committee to evaluate the technical, sporting and promotions aspects of the World Rally Championship (WRC) and report its findings within two weeks.
What you need to know:
- The 2019 world champion Ott Tänak bid his association with Ford goodbye with a sixth in the M-Sport Ford Puma. The Estonian returns to Hyundai Motorsport’s line-up next season.
- WRC2 champion Andreas Mikkelsen added another class victory to his tally as well as finishing seventh overall in a Škoda Fabia RS Rally2.
Toyota Gazoo Racing redeemed its image as the most dominant manufacturer in the world today by winning the Forum8 WRC Rally at home in Japan last Sunday.
So confident is Toyota that they have retained their world number one driver Kalle Rovanpera and still allowed him to select events he will compete in next season without challenging for a third world title.
Rovanpera, 23, says he has been very much involved in rallying since a very young age and would like to recharge his batteries, well aware of a long, rewarding career ahead of him, most likely joining French pilots Sebastien Loeb, winner of nine titles, and Sebastien Ogier, also a nine-time champ, who have dominated the world championship for the last 20 years.
The Finn has not known any other childhood life away from motorsports and would like to live a normal life, partially engaging in other motorsports disciplines like drifting before he returns in full blast to take the sport to the next level.
The young driver finished third in Japan behind Ogier and winner, Welshman Elfyn Evans, for a Toyota 1-2-3 finishing order following the misfortunes of early pacesetter Thierry Neuville of Belgium in a Hyundai i20 Hybrid Rally1.
The conclusion of Japan is closely followed by the 2024 season-opening rally in Monte Carlo (January 25-28) and Sweden (February 15-18) before the WRC Safari Rally (March 28-31).
Racing against time
The Safari was moved to the Easter holiday for the first time in 27 years, a factor which guarantees more spectator attendance but a challenge for the organisers who are racing against time to deliver an incident-free competition devoid of mistakes which have been recorded in some WRC rounds this season.
These include Japan where the Zero Car was caught up by early pacesetter Neuville, earning the event a red card.
Evans’ victory, the first for Toyota at home, assured him a second position in the drivers’ standings and his eighth career win in an easy run ahead of teammate Ogier.
Evans mastered rain-soaked asphalt road conditions last Friday to open a near-two-minute advantage with Super Special Stage winner Thierry Neuville out of the picture.
He from then on controlled the rally by adapting his risk level to suit the ever-changing conditions.
Rovanperä’s third spot capped off a perfect season for Toyota, which has heralded titles for him and co-driver Jonne Halttunen, as well as a third successive manufacturers’ championship victory at home.
Ogier, who has undertaken a part-time programme in 2023, damaged his GR Yaris car’s chassis when he slid into a barrier on Saturday.
The required repairs meant he exceeded his allocated service time, collecting a one-minute time penalty which ultimately prevented him from threatening Evans’ advantage.
He finished 28.8 seconds ahead of Rovanperä while Esapekka Lappi, driving a Hyundai i20 Rally1, held off Toyota hotshot Takamoto Katsuta to claim fourth by 20.0 seconds.
Home hero Katsuta won nine of the rally’s 21 stages but ended just over three minutes adrift of Evans due to an incident on Friday morning. Without that misdemeanour, the 30-year-old could well have celebrated his maiden victory, a delight which would have spread across Japan.
The 2019 world champion Ott Tänak bid his association with Ford goodbye with a sixth in the M-Sport Ford Puma. The Estonian returns to Hyundai Motorsport’s line-up next season.
WRC2 champion Andreas Mikkelsen added another class victory to his tally as well as finishing seventh overall in a Škoda Fabia RS Rally2.
Behind him were fellow Rally2 battlers Nikolay Gryazin and Kajetan Kajetanowicz.
Kajetanowicz’s result of second in the WRC2 Challenger was enough for him to beat Gryazin to that title, and he became the first driver to win the series since it was introduced at the beginning of the year.
Meanwhile, local competition continues on December 3 in Nairobi when the Kenya Rally Team hosts the season-ending KNRC round followed by the East Africa Classic on December 8 to 18 in Kenya and Tanzania, no doubt the wettest and roughest in recent times.
