The TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team has finished first and second on a gruelling Rally Turkey with drivers Ott Tanak and Jari-Matti Latvala. It is the first such result for the team since its return to the FIA World Rally Championship at the start of 2017, and moves the squad to the top of the manufacturers’ standings. It is the third win in a row for Tanak and the Toyota Yaris WRC: the first time any driver or team has achieved such a streak since the latest era of World Rally Cars was introduced last season.
On the WRC calendar for the first time since 2010, Rally Turkey provided a considerable test to all the teams and crews, with entirely new stages over rough and rocky gravel roads that were extremely demanding for the cars and tyres. In a rally of attrition, where only five World Rally Cars completed the event without having to retire from at least one of the three legs, the approach of the Toyota team and its drivers to focus on reliability and avoiding mistakes paid dividends.
Tanak and Latvala occupied fifth and fourth positions at the end of Friday and through measured driving took over at the top of the leaderboard at the beginning of Saturday afternoon as their rivals hit problems. From there, the two drivers continued to avoid problems over the remaining stages, with Tanak winning by 22.3 seconds over Latvala with almost one minute and a half further back to the third-placed crew.
Esapekka Lappi was unable to take part in Sunday’s stages after his car was too heavily damaged when he went off the road on Saturday morning. This however did not prevent Toyota claiming a maximum points haul of 43 points towards the manufacturers’ championship, which it now leads by five points with three rounds remaining. Tanak, who also took three bonus points for third place on the rally-ending Power Stage, has climbed to second in the drivers’ standings, just 13 away from the lead. Latvala, fourth on the Power Stage, moves up to fifth behind Lappi.
Akio Toyoda (Team President)
“Following Finland and Germany, we, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRT, have achieved excellent results for the third consecutive rally. I really appreciate the fans who are supporting us from all over the world. Rally Turkey was very tough, beyond our imaginations, for all the components of the car including the chassis, engine and tyres, because of its severe roads with big rocks and high temperatures. To have run through such roads and reached the finish with these great results, I appreciate the drivers, the co-drivers and all the team members. Thank you all and congratulations! During the rally, the Yaris WRCs did not run perfectly all the time. There were minor issues for every car and each crew had to drive carefully. Driving carefully back to the service park, improving the car together with engineers and mechanics during service, and going back to the stages… this is how we reached the podium. When he finished Saturday in second overall, Latvala said that on Sunday he would drive for the team and his team-mate. I am really glad to see the result of such teamwork. And I am proud of not only the winning crew, Tanak and Jarveoja, but also all my team-mates who gave their full efforts to make this happen. In this team, Toyota Motor Corporation works to make cars which drivers can drive more easily. Together with our amazing team-mates we will continue making “ever-better” cars in order to share more joy in the future. Thank all the fans in advance for your continuous support of the team.”
Tommi Makinen (Team Principal)
“This has been another absolutely brilliant weekend for us. Thank you to Ott and to Jari-Matti: they concentrated really hard and didn’t make any mistakes. It was a new rally for everybody, with some very technical stages, and we saw that it was easy to make mistakes. It was a big challenge as well for the cars but we managed it well and this is the result. The team has done a fantastic job with the cooling package and everything else, and now our car seems to be very reliable. It is great to now be leading the manufacturers’ championship and we will keep working hard until the end of the season.”
Jari-Matti Latvala (Driver car 7)
“This is a great result for the team. The main thing today was to get the one-two finish and we did it. Everything went according to plan. I tried to be clever and not do anything stupid and I had a consistent run. We are trying hard to win the manufacturers’ championship so these points were very valuable, and the remainder of the season now looks very exciting. For me, it is very nice to be on the podium again. Things have started to look better since Finland. Now let’s keep it going this way.”
Ott Tanak (Driver car 8)
“This rally was so difficult. From the beginning, we knew that it will not be the fastest driver that will win this rally but that it would be the smartest. We were the most consistent and we managed to do the whole rally without any issues or having to stop on any of the stages. Obviously it has been a great team effort and they have been able to build a very strong car. The championship is now wide open so let’s keep pushing.”
FINAL CLASSIFICATION, RALLY TURKEY
1. Ott Tanak / Martin Jarveoja (Toyota Yaris WRC) – 3h59m24.5s
2. Jari-Matti Latvala / Miikka Anttila (Toyota Yaris WRC) – +22.3s
3. Hayden Paddon / Seb Marshall (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) – +1m46.3s
4. Teemu Suninen / Mikko Markkula (Ford Fiesta WRC) – +4m10.9s
5. Andreas Mikkelsen / Anders Jaeger (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) – +7m11.7s
6. Henning Solberg / Ilka Minor (Skoda Fabia R5) – +13m40.6s
7. Jan Kopecky / Pavel Dresler (Skoda Fabia R5) – +18m25.2s
8. Simone Tempestini / Sergiu Itu (Citroen C3 R5) – +19m37.1s
9. Chris Ingram / Ross Whittock (Skoda Fabia R5) – +20m21.3s
10. Sebastien Ogier / Julien Ingrassia (Ford Fiesta WRC) – +20m51.2s
Retired – Esapekka Lappi / Janne Ferm (Toyota Yaris WRC)
What’s next?
Round 11 of the 2018 season is Rally GB on October 4-7. In dry conditions these stages can be driven at fairly high speeds, but in the Welsh autumn the pace is usually tempered by mud, which can make the surfaces treacherously slippery. Fog and even ice can add to the challenge, particularly early in the morning or late in the evening.
About Toyota Motor Corporation
Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) is the global mobility company that introduced the Prius hybrid-electric car in 1997 and the first mass-produced fuel cell sedan, Mirai, in 2014. Headquartered in Toyota City, Japan, Toyota has been making cars since 1937. Today, Toyota proudly employs 370,000 employees in communities around the world. Together, they build around 10 million vehicles per year in 29 countries, from mainstream cars and premium vehicles to mini-vehicles and commercial trucks, and sell them in more than 170 countries under the brands Toyota, Lexus, Daihatsu and Hino. For more information, please visit www.toyota-global.com.
