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The Japanese rally heart beats in Finland. Jyväskylä is home to Toyota Gazoo Racing’s rally headquarters. One reason for this is the person of the team boss of his own team in the WRC (World Rally Championship): Tommi Mäkinen comes from this Jyväskylä region, was himself a four-time world champion in the 1990s and now also holds this title in a managerial role at Toyota Gazoo Racing achieved. This year for the third time in a row.
The top driver on board the Toyota GR Rally 1 is also Finnish: Kalle Rovanperä is only 23 years old, but is already a two-time WRC champion and, according to many experts, has the potential to become the best driver of all time. You could say: he is the rally counterpart of Formula 1 star Max Verstappen.
Drift instead of defending the title
Then suddenly this: In mid-November, Toyota Gazoo Racing announced that the newly crowned double champion Rovanperä will not participate in a full season next year, but only in selected races. «The main reason is that I have been involved in rallying for fifteen years, which is quite a long time. The past seasons have of course been great, but also mentally and physically demanding,” Rovanperä said in a statement. Instead, he wants to participate in drifts and other events.
Now resourceful mathematicians are wondering: he is 23 years old and has been rallying for 15 years? Isn’t there a typo somewhere? No, Rovanperä has actually been behind the wheel since he was eight. In most countries, a driver’s license is not required to drive on closed circuits. And father Kalle Rovanperä was also a former World Cup driver.
Either way, with so few starts in 2024, it’s likely impossible to defend the title; instead, Welsh teammate Elfyn Evans (34) will become team leader. A top racing team is giving its flagship team large chunks of a season off – what a statement in times when ‘mental health’ is being talked about.
Second W2RC World Championship, second title for Toyota Gazoo Racing
The second important pillar of rallying, besides the WRC, is the W2RC. The number 2 symbolizes that there are two Rs here, namely “Rally Raid”. Competitions that often take place off-road and where (co)drivers have to orientate themselves accordingly. The World Championship took place in official form for only the second time this year, the most famous event being the Dakar Rally at the beginning of the year.
Toyota Gazoo Racing took the driver and team titles for the second time. Qatari Nasser al-Attiyah (52) became undisputed world champion in the Toyota GR DKR Hilux, although he had to retire in one of only five races, the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge. He also won the Dakar Rally, which now takes place in Saudi Arabia.
The knowledge that rally stars gain in the dunes of the world also benefits Toyota’s production cars, for example the new Hilux in the case of the W2RC World Championship.
Source : Blick
I’m Emma Jack, a news website author at 24 News Reporters. I have been in the industry for over five years and it has been an incredible journey so far. I specialize in sports reporting and am highly knowledgeable about the latest trends and developments in this field.
