Mikko Hirvonen (TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRC Challenge Program chief instructor):
“This has been a strong rally for all four of our drivers. Shotaro struggled at Rally Finland to find the level we have seen before from him, so we’re really happy to see that he was able to bounce back here with very good speed and a good result. It’s been an important lesson about how he approaches the rallies, to understand why the pace at Rally Finland was not so good and how he could find it again now. Takumi did a good rally too. He was maybe not so confident at the beginning, but we analysed the data and the onboards with him and with some changes in his setup and in his driving, his speed was good after that. For Kanta it was a fantastic rally and result. He has shown speed before but he’s been unlucky with some issues. He’s been gradually improving his pacenote system and this rally showed that he’s getting more confident also. For Rio to have an engine issue before SS1 and miss all of Friday was unfortunate, and it was really important that the team did a big job overnight to get him back in the rally for the last three stages on Saturday, when he was able to show his speed and do three fastest times. Tomiya was also doing well until Jarkko made a mistake and they rolled. They have now unfortunately seen that side of rallying a couple of times in the last events, but the most important thing is that they are both OK.”

Shotaro Goto
“This has been a very positive rally for me. Two weeks ago at Rally Finland I was driving so slowly, and I couldn’t work out why. But after the rally I analysed and tried to find a solution and for this rally I think I found a good solution: the pace was so much better so I’m really happy. It was all in my driving and the commitment: I changed my driving lines and how brave I am under braking. I didn’t enjoy fast gravel before but I had really good pace especially on the first day, and that’s giving me good confidence for the future. On the second day the conditions were tricky with the rain, and I made a mistake in a junction in the last stage which cost us a place, but I was still driving much better than previously in these conditions, so I’m happy.”

Takumi Matsushita
“This was a really nice rally: I really enjoyed the driving and the nice stages. On the first morning I was struggling a little bit with the feeling in the car, but during the lunchtime service we changed the setup slightly, to something a bit stiffer. This suited me very well, so the afternoon loop was much better with much faster driving. I was able to continue like that on the final day with a really nice feeling and I think the times were not bad. Overall I learned a lot from this weekend, with a lot of improvement during the rally, so that was very nice.”

Rio Ogata
“Unfortunately, we had an engine issue on the first day and couldn’t even start the first stage. However, thanks to the team we could restart on the second day. I was able to prepare well and we could have three fastest times from the three stages, which was good. The second stage of the day had more loose gravel on the surface and was more difficult for me; I think I should have been three or four seconds faster than the time I did. So there is still room for improvement and I will keep pushing.”

Kanta Yanaguida
“It has been a really good rally for me. I’m really happy we could finish in second place: it’s my first podium since joining the WRC Challenge Program. I’m also happy about my speed. It’s a good improvement from our last event in the Finnish Rally Championship, comparing with the other drivers, so it has been a good event for us. Still, I made a few mistakes during some stages so I need to improve on a few points and then I can drive even faster. But I feel more confidence after this rally and will use this to keep pushing for the next events.”

Tomiya Maekawa
“The rally had started quite well for us but unfortunately we rolled out on SS4. We were feeling quite low grip on the first loop of stages, but there was then a higher grip level than we expected on SS4, the first stage of the afternoon loop. Especially in the crest before the corner we rolled, there was very high grip and we accidently went too far to the inside on entry. There was a small bump in the ditch in that place and we couldn’t avoid it and stay on the road. We will analyse what caused it and try to improve and get back to the podium soon.”