Toyota Gazoo Racing has revealed they will run a five-car lineup at Rally Finland next month. Find out more below.
A Five-Car Team
Toyota has run four Yaris Rally1 cars many times before, however, they’ve never run five to this point. That is set to change in Finland when the team is making a huge push at their home-away-from-home event. Toyota is likely looking to take a hold on the manufacturer’s championship lead at the event. As Elfyn Evans, Kalle Rovanperä and Sebastien Ogier will score Manufacturer’s points at the event. Whilst Takamoto Katsuta and Sami Pajari will not.
What To Expect From The Team
Toyota is sending a roster of drivers to Rally Finland that features three of the fastest drivers in the championship, dare I say two of the three fastest as well. As Kalle Rovanperä and Sebastien Ogier are blistering quick. Rovanperä will also likely be looking to take the win at his home event that he came so close to taking last year. That was before he made an extremely rare mistake that made his car roll and ended his event early. Elfyn Evans will look to defend the win as he won the event last season. Ogier hasn’t contested Rally Finland since his last full season in 2021 where he finished fifth. However, this time around he’ll start a bit further down the lineup. As he’s expected to start the event fourth on the road. Unless a position change happens in Latvia. As far as Pajari, well it’ll be his first event in a Rally1 beast. Meaning there will be relatively low expectations for the young Finnish driver. Unless of course, he manages to stun every like Sesks in Poland. Anything is possible as Pajari is an extremely talented driver. Plus he has loads of experience on Finnish gravel roads, and he’s the reigning WRC2 winner at the event.