Mikko Hirvonen (TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRC Challenge Program chief instructor):
“This has been an impressive start from Rio and Kanta in their first rally with the Program. They have been doing a lot of training with us, but that’s never the same as a rally and we felt they were ready for this new challenge. It was actually the first rally that Rio has ever done and yet he could finish third in the category, with Kanta only seven tenths of a second behind, so it couldn’t have been much closer between them. We weren’t really expecting anything result-wise beforehand; we just wanted to see how they managed the pressure and everything else that comes with competition. Still, the speed has been good with really consistent driving, so we are really pleased. The biggest area for them to work on now will be the pacenotes, which takes time and experience. Tomiya meanwhile has now taken two wins in a row from three rallies alongside Jarkko, so their relationship is coming together well.”

Rio Ogata
“I’m really satisfied to finish this rally. I didn’t care too much about the result, but I was pleased that in some stages I could feel a good rhythm with my pacenotes. At the same time, on the other stages, I could find many improvements that I can make with my pacenotes and also my driving. This was the first rally in my entire life so there are many things for me to learn, but I am enjoying it a lot.”

Kanta Yanaguida
“This was a very good opportunity for me to take part in my first rally in Finland. We started with some asphalt stages on Friday evening, which I enjoyed a lot with my previous experience. I wasn’t so happy with my driving on gravel, but I learned so many things and found many points where I can improve for the next time. The biggest thing to work on is the pacenotes, for sure. I want to say a big thank you to the team for making this possible.”

Tomiya Maekawa
“This time it was not an easy rally. We lost some time in the first stages on Friday evening, so we were only fourth in the class at that point and knew we had to push and be better on Saturday. We did very nicely on Saturday morning and I just tried to continue like that, and in the end we could take another victory, which we are very happy with. I really enjoyed it but we still have many things to improve and learn looking towards the next rally.”