Tribune News Network
Doha
TOYOTA GAZOO Racing (TGR) World Rally Team (WRT) has taken home first place at the 2024 FIA World Rally Championship’s (WRC) Rally de Portugal after a thrilling battle across a series of fast, technical gravel stages. Sébastien Ogier’s performance alongside co-driver Vincent Landais, in the No. 17 Toyota GR YARIS Rally1 Hybrid Electric Vehicle, has resulted in a record-breaking sixth victory at the Rally de Portugal.
Ogier now has more WRC victories in Rally de Portugal than any other driver, having matched Finnish legend Markku Alén’s tally of five wins back in 2017. TGR-WRT meanwhile has now won the last five editions of the event with four different drivers.
Akio Toyoda, TGR-WRT Chairman, commented: “Seb, Vincent, congratulations on your two consecutive wins in Portugal! No matter how tough the gravel surface was, Seb was always calm. No matter how close and electrifying the competition was, Seb was always smiling to the fans. When something happened, he calmly informed the engineers about the situation and got back to the stages. Then he comes back to the finish line faster than anyone else. I am grateful to have such a “true professional” driver in our team. Seb, thank you again.”
Toyoda added: This weekend the good thing which made me happy was that the team was calmer than before, whatever kind of problem they were facing. Many things happened during the weekend, but I heard everyone tried to stay calm and find a solution.
It is nice to see the team grow. The team gets stronger as each member gets stronger, and as the team gets stronger, the Toyota GR YARIS Rally1 Hybrid Electric Vehicle will become ever better and stronger.”
Just one second from the lead at the end of Day One, Ogier took over at the front on the morning of Day Two as others hit trouble and used all his experience to get through the longest day of the rally with an advantage of 11.9 seconds.
He increased his margin with a storming foggy stage win on the morning of Day Three, allowing him to ultimately take victory by 7.9s.
TGR-WRT is celebrating a double victory in Portugal after the first WRC2 win for the new Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 Hybrid Electric Vehicle on its gravel debut at this level.
Over the years, Toyota has been participating in many different forms of motorsports, including Formula One, the World Endurance Championship (WEC), and the Nürburgring 24 Hours endurance race.
Toyota’s participation in these events was overseen by separate entities within the company until April 2015, when Toyota established TGR, to consolidate all of its motorsports activities under one in-house brand. Representing Toyota’s belief that ‘the roads build the people, and the people build the cars,’ TGR highlights the role of motorsports as a fundamental pillar of Toyota’s commitment to making ‘ever-better’ cars.
Harnessing years of experience gained under the extreme conditions of various motorsports events, TGR aims to forge new technologies and solutions that bring the freedom, adventure, and joy of driving to everyone.
The sixth round of the 2024 FIA WRC is Rally Italia Sardegna (May 31 - June 2), known for its fast yet narrow gravel stages. High temperatures and abrasive surfaces throughout place significant stress on vehicles and tyres.
