1000 Miglia is a sealed surface round featuring primarily high-grip asphalt roads with some slower, narrower, technical sections with occasional broken asphalt. But conditions were good for second-generation Challenge Program driver Yamamoto to further refine his sealed-surface driving skills behind the wheel of a Toyota GR Yaris Rally2; for Goto, 1000 Miglia was his first ever rally on asphalt and for Matsushita, his second.

Yamamoto set a good pace early on against a field stacked with highly experienced asphalt drivers, impressing with his ability to reduce his pace deficit to the championship’s best drivers as the rally progressed. His speed was also aided by positive set-up changes midway through the second day of action, allowing him to fully utilise the GR Yaris Rally2’s capability on asphalt.

For Goto and Matsushita, there were plenty of firsts: they had to master making pacenotes on a new surface and develop a new driving style to suit 1000 Migila’s high-grip tar. Both drivers experienced small spins while learning to find the limit on unfamiliar terrain but improved rapidly when facing this new challenge; Matsushita clipped a wheel on a kerb and sustained minor damage but successfully reached the finish. Despite their vast experience deficit to those around them both Goto and Matsushita finished ahead of the majority of drivers in their class.

Quotes:
Yuki Yamamoto:
“We had a good pre-event test, but I struggled to replicate that rhythm at the beginning of the rally. Conditions were much more slippery so initially I didn’t have the same feeling from my test. But when conditions improved, and after continuing to work on the car setup with the team, I was able to rediscover that feeling and improve my pace, so I’m pleased with how my speed improved towards the end. This rally was very useful: unlike Croatia, which is extremely difficult with surface pollution constantly affecting grip, this event provided more constant conditions. That help me improve my base technique further, allowing me to fine tune my asphalt driving technique to be smother, help the process of finding grip and improving my ability to manage tyre temperatures during a stage. It was all great experience for my next event, my home round in Japan!”

Shotaro Goto:
“This was a great experience and went much better than I expected. I still felt unsure of myself on this new surface after testing and even on shakedown, but once the rally got underway everything started to click. When I had the confidence to push the car harder, I felt more comfortable. It required a much different approach to driving on gravel as you cannot have either understeer or oversteer; you must be accurate and clean in your driving as there is no opportunity to manage or correct slides as you can on gravel. Initially this change of surface felt like a big shock but after this event, I now feel like I have a solid base for competing on asphalt rallies in the future.”

Takumi Matsushita:
“Italy has great scenery, great food and great fans – there were so many spectators out on the stages and even in the road sections! There was heavy rain on day one which made the first stages very tricky with damp and muddy sections and I struggled to find a rhythm, but after a good night’s sleep I came back feeling faster for the second day. I’d done one very short asphalt rally back home in Japan in the past; this was a totally different experience!”

Juho Hänninen (TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRC Challenge Program chief instructor):
“It has been a good rally for Yuki; he has achieved what we set out for him before the rally, gaining plenty of confidence while being able to drive in a relaxed manner. Together we learned a lot, especially on adapting the car setup of the kinds of roads featured om this rally. He coped very well with difficult situations too: he had hard-compound tires for the long night stage but the start was delayed, so he lost temperature and hard to start on cold tyres. But Yuki managed this situation really well and I’m proud of his patient approach dealing with it.”

Mikko Hirvonen (TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRC Challenge Program chief instructor):
“This was the first time Shotaro and Takumi have driven competitively in an asphalt event of this magnitude. There were many new things to learn but they coped well and we were very happy with how they performed. They drove a smart rally and absorbed knowledge quickly, though impressively they also worked out several aspects of asphalt driving on their own, finding their own way to understand this new challenge. This was a different challenge to the gravel rallies they had driven on earlier in the season: asphalt driving requires a different approach to racing lines and the way you brake into corners, for example, but they adapted to these changes quickly.”