TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team travels to Rally Chile for round 11 of the 2024 FIA World Rally Championship on September 26-29, targeting a strong result on South American roads as it continues the championship fight.
Following a demanding Acropolis Rally Greece earlier this month where its performance went unrewarded, the team is highly motivated to bounce back. It has assembled a strong driver line-up to fight for victory in Chile, with Kalle Rovanperä, Elfyn Evans and Sébastien Ogier all present and nominated to compete for manufacturers’ points.
World champions Rovanperä and Ogier have both won three rallies this year, tallies they were unlucky not to add to on their most recent starts in Finland and Greece respectively, and Evans is similarly eager to return to top form following an unfortunate couple of events.
TGR-WRT also welcomes rising star Sami Pajari back for a second outing in the GR YARIS Rally1 HYBRID in Chile following his impressive debut at Rally Finland, where he finished fourth overall and recorded his maiden stage win. As part of the team’s commitment to develop young talent on different roads around the world, the main objective is for Pajari to expand his experience at the highest level on Chile’s varied gravel roads.
Chile returned to the WRC calendar last year, four years after its 2019 debut, with a rally based in Concepción around 500 kilometres to the south of capital city, Santiago. The gravel roads in the forests of the surrounding Biobío region combine technical and faster sections with a mix of smooth and abrasive surfaces.
After shakedown and a ceremonial start in Concepción on Thursday, the rally will begin on Friday with a familiar loop of three stages to the south-east to be repeated following mid-day service. The rest of the rally’s stages take place across the Biobío River to the south, overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Saturday is the longest day with 139.2 competitive kilometres across another two loops of three stages, and includes sections not driven previously – as does Sunday when two stages will be driven twice without mid-day service.
Following wins on gravel on four of the last six events, the GR Yaris Rally2 will take part in a WRC2 round outside of Europe for the first time. Spanish driver Jan Solans, a winner in the category in Portugal in May, makes the trip to Chile together with the Teo Martín Motorsport team.
Quotes:
Jari-Matti Latvala (Team Principal)
“The last two rallies have not gone our way in terms of our championship ambitions, but we will not give up the fight. We will keep pushing and focus on winning the last three rounds of the season and doing everything that we can to keep the pressure on. Our team is really motivated to do a good result in Chile and with Elfyn, Seb and Kalle we have a very strong driver line-up to fight for the win. The stages there are generally fast and flowing, which should suit our drivers and our car. The one thing we discovered last year is that the tyre wear can be quite high when it’s dry so we need to pay attention to that. For Sami, this is a chance to build on Finland where he did extremely well, and to see how he feels with the Rally1 car on different terrain and build up his experience. And if everything goes well, those roads could suit him well and we could see another strong performance.”
Kalle Rovanperä (Driver car 69)
“We’re going to try and do everything we can to help the team fight back in Chile. The roads there are fast and flowing like in Finland but the characteristics of the gravel and the road base is really different, so managing the tyre wear is the biggest thing, I would say. It was not the easiest event for us last year, but we had the speed at least and together with the team we have tried to learn from that so that we can have a clean weekend and be fighting for the podium places. We had really good pace in the last rallies that we did during the summer in Europe and hopefully we can have a good comfortable feeling from the start of the rally.”
Elfyn Evans (Driver car 33)
“I really enjoy driving the roads in Chile and I’m looking forward to the event. There’s a bit of a mix in character from day to day: the first is a bit more technical with crests, quite similar to Finland in a way, and then the second is a bit more wide and open, even a little like Wales. It was quite a strong event for us last year in terms of pace at least. We just underestimated how abrasive it would be in the dry conditions, which cost us a chance to challenge for victory, so we need to keep that in mind depending on how the weather is when we get there. After a difficult couple of events for various reasons, we’re definitely looking for a more positive outcome at the end of the weekend.”
Sébastien Ogier (Driver car 17)
“Our challenge in Greece didn’t end in the way we were hoping and the gaps in both championships moved in the wrong direction, but we won’t give up and we’ll keep giving our best in these last three rounds of the season because things can still turn around. I didn’t go to Chile last year, but my memories from 2019 are of a nice event with stages that are enjoyable to drive, as well as a good atmosphere like we often have when we go to South America. So I’m happy to go back there. There will be a mix of some sections I know and some that will be new for me, but I’m never afraid of that challenge. Recently our pace has been pretty strong and we’ve been scoring higher than our rivals on average, and I hope we can carry that on.”
Sami Pajari (Driver car 5)
“I’m really excited to get back in the Rally1 car in Chile. I hope it can be a really enjoyable event for me. I competed in Chile for the first time last year in WRC2 and the pace was quite good. The roads there are nice and a bit similar to some of the stages in Finland: mostly quite fast and flowing, with of course some specific challenges as well. I’m hoping I can have a similar weekend like in Finland – try to enjoy the driving and get better with every kilometre – and not feel any pressure in terms of the result. The main thing is just to get more experience in this car and all the seat time that I can.”
(Please visit www.wrc.com for the latest.)
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