Метка: Toyota Racing

Toyota ‘back in the fight’ for WRC title after Rally Chile

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Toyota World Rally Championship boss Jari-Matti Latvala says it’s a “big relief” for his team to be back in the manufacturers’ title fight after dominating Rally Chile.

Latvala had all but written off the team’s title hopes after a difficult Acropolis Rally Greece earlier this month left Toyota facing a 35-point deficit with three rounds of the season remaining.

However, Toyota issued the perfect response in Chile as Kalle Rovanperä headed a 1-2 for the brand ahead of team-mate Elfyn Evans.

Sébastian Ogier led home a 1-2-3 for Toyota in the Super Sunday standings, while adding the Power Stage win to claw back significant ground on rivals Hyundai.

The points haul has reduced Hyundai’s lead to 17 points ahead of next month’s Central European Rally and the season finale in Japan, reigniting Toyota’s hopes of claiming a fourth consecutive manufacturers’ crown.

“Having two devastating Sundays before Chile, it had added quite a lot of pressure,” said Latvala.

“But now with this result, getting the maximum points in Chile with the rally [victory], the Super Sunday points and Power Stage, really gets us back in the fight for the manufacturer title.

“It is a big relief for us and for the Japanese side [of the business] that we still have a chance.”

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: Red Bull Content Pool

Victory in Chile marked Rovanperä’s fourth win of his partial campaign, adding to triumphs in Kenya, Poland and Latvia.

But this weekend’s success wasn’t plain sailing for the Finn, who struggled for speed on Friday’s stages before surging to the lead when thick fog and rain hit the stages on Saturday afternoon.

“I was fighting a lot on Friday not being so comfortable in the car, so that was always big challenge,” said Rovanperä.

“We made it through without any big mistakes and after that we tried to climb back.

“We could do that especially when the conditions become difficult and we could do big gaps compared to the others.

“I’m really happy with how everything went and it is really good points for the team, which is important for the teams’ championship.

“For sure it [the manufacturers’ title fight] is on now; we have caught them [Hyundai] quite a lot and everything is again open.”



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Evans rues unfortunate WRC Chile “double whammy”

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Elfyn Evans has explained how he paid the price for an unfortunate “double whammy” of events that resulted in losing the Rally Chile lead to Toyota team-mate Kalle Rovanpera.

Evans had enjoyed one of the strongest Saturday mornings of the season, winning two of the three stages to open up an 11.3s lead over reigning world champion Rovanpera.

But the Welshman, searching for a his first win in a frustrating campaign, witnessed his work unravel as thick fog descended on stage 11.

Evans appeared to suffer the worst of the conditions that severely hampered visibility and reduced him to a crawl at places in the stage.

Evans lost 24.1s in the test and relinquished the lead to Rovanpera. To rub salt into the wounds, Evans had opted to run his soft tyres in the stage and was unable to make use of them due to the poor visibility.

Rovanpera saved his softs for the wetter stage 12, the final test of the loop, and maximised the grip advantage they offered to open up a 15.1s advantage over Evans heading into Sunday’s four stages.

“The fog was really really bad in the middle one [stage],” reflected Evans.

“It was like a bit of a double whammy as we decided to play our softs for this stage and of course I couldn’t make the most of it as I couldn’t see where I was going. Then we suffered a bit in the last one, as Kalle had two softs to use.

Elfyn Evans, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Elfyn Evans, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Photo by: McKlein / Motorsport Images

“Our understanding was that the [last] stage was more dry than the reality, so I was not so happy with the last two stages.

“The fog was so dense that I couldn’t see the edge of the road. I was literally stopped in a few places as I had no idea where the edge of the road was and where we were heading, so that was quite bad.

“We can be pretty pleased with the performance overall. Of course you naturally feel disappointed, having had a good couple of days behind the wheel on the right trajectory. But then to get hit with the conditions we did was not ideal.”

Rovanpera admitted his Saturday was a day of two halves, having initially lost out to Evans in the morning before the tables turned in the afternoon.

“We were definitely not so strong in the morning and then when the weather got more damp and tricky with all the fog we were much stronger,” said Rovanpera, who is aiming for his fourth win of the season.

“I would say stage 11 was the most foggy condition I have ever driven, and even on a 100-metre straight you are going recce speed because you don’t know where the road is, as you can barely see in front of you. It was really difficult conditions, but we managed it.

“There is still a long day to go and like we saw in Finland [where I crashed from the lead] sometimes it is not up to you what happens in rallying.

“But for the team it was important to get a one-two in points on Saturday and we will try to bring as many points as we can on Sunday.”



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Kalle Rovanperä leads as thick fog shuffles the order

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Kalle Rovanpera moved ahead of Toyota team-mate Elfyn Evans to lead Rally Chile as thick fog turned the fight for the World Rally Championship victory on its head.

The reigning world champion started Saturday in third but emerged through treacherous weather and incredibly poor visibility to head overnight leader Evans by 15.1 seconds going into Sunday’s final four stages.

Rovanpera took the provisional 18 points for topping Saturday’s classification as Evans scooped up 15 points.

Hyundai’s Ott Tanak’s tyre gamble didn’t pay off as he dropped to third, 33.6s adrift (13 points) while championship leader Thierry Neuville hauled himself into the fight in fourth [+43.7s, 10 points].

M-Sport’s Adrien Fourmaux ended the day in fifth [+1m23.0s] ahead of Toyota young gun Sami Pajari [+1m49.5s] and the second full-time M-Sport entry driven by Gregoire Munster [+1m50.6s], with Hyundai’s Esapekka Lappi a distant eighth [+5m14.6s].

Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier retired from ninth position after hitting a rock in the morning’s stage eight, while M-Sport’s Martins Sesks completed the six stages after rejoining the rally following a double puncture on Friday.

Chile’s abrasive stages coupled with unpredictable weather made tyre choice incredibly difficult to call for the crews.

Rally leader Evans, Rovanpera, Neuville and Lappi opted for four hards and two softs in the hope rain might arrive while Tanak, Munster, Fourmaux and Sesks plumped for six hards.

Stage 10 (Pelun, 15.65km), the first of the afternoon loop, was devoid of any rain and was much drier than the first pass but there were patches of fog.

Evans triumphed in the first pass of the mountainous stage and repeated the feat in the afternoon. The rally leader was 2.3s faster than Rovanpera to extend his advantage over his team-mate to 13.6s.

Rovanpera was, however, a little concerned over his tyre choice, stating: “It is really hard to tell how fast to go on the downhill as you don’t want to kill the tyres. We have two hard tyres with us again so we hope that works for us.”

Ott Tänak, Martin Järveoja, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1

Ott Tänak, Martin Järveoja, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1

Photo by: Fabien Dufour / Hyundai Motorsport

Tanak was third fastest, 3.3s adrift, 1.5s quicker than Neuville. There was a position change behind as Fourmaux climbed ahead of his team-mate Munster into sixth overall.

The difficulty level went up another notch in stage 11 (Lota, 25.64km) as thick fog blanketed the middle section of the stage reducing visibility to 20 metres in places. This was sandwiched by a dry section at the start and a wet and muddy final part.

The stage proved to be a turning point in the rally as the fog became increasingly thick after each pass.

Munster described the situation as “driving blind” while Evans said “he couldn’t see beyond his bonnet” as he suffered the worst of the conditions.

As a result, Evans was reduced to a crawl in the fog losing 24.1s and the rally lead in the process.

“I don’t know how you are meant to rally in those conditions,” said a frustrated Evans at the stage end as he dropped 5.5s behind new rally leader Rovanpera.

Rovanpera emerged as the star of the stage as he somehow managed to deal with the poor visibility to lose only five seconds to eventual stage winner Neuville.

“It was really bad, I don’t think I’ve ever driven in that kind of condition in a rally car,” said Rovanpera.

Neuville seemingly benefited from running through the stage slightly earlier than his rivals. The Belgian started the stage 53.6s off the lead but ended the test only 35s adrift and 14.2s behind third-placed Tanak.

M-Sport duo Fourmaux and Munster climbed to fifth and sixth overall as they leapfrogged a cautious Pajari, who chose to back off in the fog and dropped to seventh.

Lappi became further adrift of the Rally1 pack in eighth after mistakenly checking into the stage early, resulting in a two-minute penalty.

The stage was later red flagged as conditions worsened.

The fog eased for stage 12 (Maria las Cruces, 28.31km), but the rain then arrived, benefiting those that had taken soft tyres.

Fourmaux took the stage win by 0.8s from Rovanpera, who managed to maximise his two soft tyres to extend his rally lead.

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

Evans felt he lacked commitment during his run as he saw the deficit to his team-mate expand to 15.1s.

Tanak was left even more frustrated given the team’s weather prediction led him to choose hard tyres that proved to be the wrong compound.

“They say no rain expected this evening — obviously it was completely wrong information,” said Tanak. “Everything is difficult in this life, still you need to be on it.”

Elsewhere, Pajari managed to recover sixth overall from Munster after pipping the Ford driver by five seconds.

Oliver Solberg’s hopes of sealing the WRC2 title suffered a blow when he stopped to change a wheel in the foggy stage 11. That dropped the Swede from the class lead to fourth behind Nikolay Gryazin, Gus Greensmith and Yohan Rossel.

Four stages await the crews on Sunday to conclude Rally Chile.



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WRC Chile: Elfyn Evans leads Rovanperä

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Elfyn Evans claimed two of the three Saturday morning stages to extend his Rally Chile lead as reigning world champion Kalle Rovanperä emerged as his nearest rival.

Evans, who was handed a three-second overnight lead following a change to his notional stage one time, completed a trio of abrasive gravel stages with a 11.3s margin over Toyota team-mate Rovanperä.

Hyundai’s Ott Tänak slipped from second to third some 17.4s in arrears, while championship leader Thierry Neuville hauled his Hyundai from sixth to fourth [+48.8s].

Toyota’s rising star Sami Pajari continued his impressive drive to hold fifth [+1m03.4s] in only his second Rally1 outing, ahead of M-Sport duo Gregoire Munster [+1m24.5s] and Adrien Fourmaux [+1m24.9s]. Hyundai’s Esapekka Lappi rounded out the top eight, while M-Sport’s Martins Sesks rejoined the rally after his Friday retirement.

Managing tyre wear was the main objective through Saturday’s rough stages, which was reflected in the tyre choices by the crews. Four hards and two softs was the favoured package, while Sébastien Ogier gambled by taking four softs and two hards.

It appeared Ogier’s choice was inspired, as crews tackled a damp mountainous run through stage seven (Pelon, 15.66km) as the Frenchman set a blistering time from second on the road.

It stood until rally leader Evans completed his pass, pipping his team-mate by 0.9s to claim a second stage win of the event. Importantly, Evans was 4.1s quicker than Tänak to extend his rally lead over the Hyundai to 7.1s.

Rovanperä appeared much more comfortable on the abrasive gravel as the Finn closed to within 4.4s of second-placed Tänak.

“I would say it is a bit better for me today feeling-wise, let’s see if we can find some speed today,” said Rovanperä.

“It is not going to be easy the whole loop, managing the tyre wear is key and also driving in the line.

“It is quite humid in the car today, I don’t know why I’m sweating so much, maybe I need to go for a run.”

Thierry Neuville, Martijn Wydaeghe, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1

Thierry Neuville, Martijn Wydaeghe, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1

Photo by: McKlein / Motorsport Images

Championship leader Neuville was only two tenths of a second slower than Tänak, which helped the Belgian climb to fifth overall. Munster, who admitted he wasn’t fully awake, slipped to sixth after dropping 27.4s on the tricky slippery roads.

Lappi was also caught out by the slippery conditions resulting in the Finn ripping the front bumper off his i20 N.

“It was tricky to see, it stayed in front of me and turned up — I saw a cut and used that to rip it [the bumper] off,” said Lappi.

Stage eight (Lota 25.6km) provided a twist in the title race as Ogier, sitting 38 points behind leader Neuville, retired from the day after hitting a rock 400 metres from the finish.

Ogier hit the rock on the entry to a slow left-hander but the impact seemingly broke something on his GR Yaris, which slowly careered wide into a bank on the exit of the corner.

Ogier and co-driver Vincent Landais quickly leapt out of the car to assess the damage but it appeared their day was over.

The rally leaderboard also underwent a bit of a shake-up as Rovanperä delivered an impressive stage win after navigating through sections of low cloud, 9.7s faster than rally leader Evans, who felt he “didn’t drive to his correct rhythm”.

The effort moved Rovanperä into second overall, only 1.6s behind team-mate Evans, but ahead of Tänak, who lost time to a half spin at a right hander.

“That’s a good [run] — the stage is really nice, the road is really rough on the tyres and you need to take a bit of care,” said Rovanperä.

Neuville continued his charge to end the test 9.4s behind fourth-placed Pajari.

Evans saved his best drive of the rally to date for the morning’s final stage (Maria las Cruces, 28.31km), held in tricky foggy and damp conditions.

The Welshman posted a blistering effort, while managing his tyres, to stop the clocks in the rally’s longest test eight seconds faster than anyone else to take the stage win.

Despite revealing that he was carrying a serious problem, Neuville emerged as his nearest rival as the Hyundai driver moved ahead of Pajari into fourth overall.

Tänak could only complete the stage 9.3s adrift with Rovanperä a further 0.2s back, which helped Evans into an 11.3s lead over the latter.

In WRC2, Oliver Solberg leapt into the class lead (ninth overall) after the Swede overhauled Yohan Rossel on stage nine. If Solberg wins the rally, he will claim the WRC2 title.

The crews will repeat the stages this afternoon to complete Saturday’s leg.



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Toyota refusing to give up WRC title fight in Chile

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Toyota is refusing to give up the World Rally Championship fight in Chile this weekend despite previously admitting that its title hopes are “pretty much gone”.

The Japanese manufacturer has won the previous three WRC constructors’ and drivers’ titles but its hopes of retaining the crowns have come under serious threat from Hyundai.

Despite winning six of the 10 rounds this season — two more wins than rivals Hyundai — Toyota heads to Chile’s gravel roads 35 points adrift of the Korean marque with three rounds of the season (165 points) remaining. 

In the drivers’ championship, eight-time world champion Sebastien Ogier, competing in a partial campaign, leads Toyota’s charge albeit 38 points adrift of Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville after a late roll in Greece earlier this month.

While the tittle battles are seemingly heading in Hyundai’s direction, Toyota team principal Jari-Matti Latvala is refusing to concede that the fight is over ahead of Rally Chile.  

“The last two rallies have not gone our way in terms of our championship ambitions, but we will not give up the fight,” said Latvala. 

“We will keep pushing and focus on winning the last three rounds of the season and doing everything that we can to keep the pressure on. Our team is really motivated to do a good result in Chile and with Elfyn, Seb and Kalle we have a very strong driver line-up to fight for the win. 

“The stages there are generally fast and flowing, which should suit our drivers and our car. The one thing we discovered last year is that the tyre wear can be quite high when it’s dry so we need to pay attention to that.”

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

Meanwhile, rival Hyundai is heading to Chile determined not to loose its grip on the title race. 

After scoring a 1-2-3 at the Acropolis Rally earlier this month, team principal Cyril Abiteboul says his team will approach Rally Chile with ”great caution”.

“While we approach Rally Chile with both optimism and momentum, we are also going into the event with great caution,” said Abiteboul.

“Greece was a fantastic display of what can be achieved with great team-work, but it is imperative we do not lose focus in the final events of the season. 

“The Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid has demonstrated its robustness and reliability at other gravel rallies this season, so we want to end the final event on this surface strongly before our return to asphalt. 

“Every point counts so we need to be at the spearhead of the classification by Saturday evening before we assess how much we need to push on Sunday. 

“We want to protect the advantage we have in all three standings as a priority, but we still want to push for wins and podiums too.”

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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

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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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