TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team will target further success on South American soil when Rally Chile hosts round 11 of the 2025 FIA World Rally Championship on September 11-14.
Following a one-two finish on a demanding debut Rally del Paraguay last week, TGR-WRT makes the trip across the Andes mountains to Chile with a lead of 100 points in the manufacturers’ championship and three of its drivers covered by just nine points at the head of an exciting fight for the title.
After finishing second in Paraguay, Elfyn Evans has a lead of seven points over Kalle Rovanperä, the winner in Chile in 2024, with Paraguay victor Sébastien Ogier just two points further behind.
Ogier is set to start his 200th WRC event in Chile, becoming only the second driver in championship history to reach the impressive milestone after Team Principal, Jari-Matti Latvala.
Five GR YARIS Rally1 cars will once again be in action, with Takamoto Katsuta at the wheel of a fourth TGR-WRT entry while Sami Pajari competes under the TGR-WRT2 banner at an event where he made just his second Rally1 appearance one year ago.
In WRC2, championship leader Oliver Solberg has a chance to secure the title in Chile if he can claim a fifth win from seven starts in the class aboard his GR Yaris Rally2 run by Printsport. A total of six GR Yaris Rally2 cars are entered with Solberg joined by Teo Martín Motorsport duo Jan Solans and Diego Domínguez, Kajetan Kajetanowicz with Rallylab Technology, Marco Bulacia with Delta Rally and TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Paraguay’s Alejandro Galanti.
Paraguay and Chile are defined as linked rallies by the regulations, meaning that transmission components such as gearbox and differentials must remain sealed and used across both events. The five GR YARIS Rally1 cars were rebuilt and prepared over three days in Encarnacíon earlier this week before being transported by road for the journey of around 2500 kilometres to Concepción.
Rally Chile is a more familiar challenge for teams and drivers, with this being the WRC’s fourth visit to the country. The gravel roads in the forests of the Biobío region surrounding the Pacific port city of Concepción – located about 500 kilometres to the south of capital city Santiago – combine fast and technical sections with a mix of smooth and abrasive surfaces.
The rally route is identical is that of 2024, totalling 306.76 competitive kilometres. Shakedown and a ceremonial start in Concepción on Thursday are followed on Friday by an opening loop of three stages to the south-east, to be repeated after mid-day service. The rest of the weekend’s action takes place across the Biobío River to the south: Saturday is the longest day of the rally with 139.2 km to be driven across two loops of three stages separated by service, while Sunday features a pair of stages run twice without service.
Quotes:
Juha Kankkunen (Deputy Team Principal)
“The rally in Paraguay was not straightforward but the result at the end was really good for our team. To be leading the manufacturers’ championship by 100 points is very nice, but this is rallying and there are still four events to go, so nothing is won yet. The drivers’ championship is also incredibly close and we want to give all three of our contenders the best chances to win. Rally Chile is much more familiar for everybody, with the route being exactly the same as last year, so we know what we can expect. The drivers enjoy the roads there and it was a good rally for us last year, so hopefully we can repeat that this time.”
Elfyn Evans (Driver car 33)
“After a tough rally we found some good improvements on the final day in Paraguay and the result wasn’t too bad in the end. It means we’re still leading the championship and opening the road on gravel once more in Chile. Let’s see how the weather is there: if it’s dry we could face the usual challenge on Friday, but if it rains it’s not so dissimilar to somewhere like Wales in terms of how muddy and slippery it can get, and then it’s not so bad to be first. Either way, the roads are really enjoyable to drive: Friday’s stages are technical with a lot of crests and quite like Finland, while the others are wider and more open, so I’m looking forward to it.”
Kalle Rovanperä (Driver car 69)
“Even if our result in Paraguay was not as good as it could have been, we still took good points from Sunday and the drivers’ championship remains close. Unlike in Paraguay, we know what’s coming in Chile. The roads are fast and flowing like in Finland but the surface is quite different with a harder base. Last year, I didn’t feel the most comfortable with that on the Friday stages, but we still managed to do a good rally after that when the conditions changed with rain and fog, and we were able to take the win. We’ll do everything we can again this year and try to score good points.”
Sébastien Ogier (Driver car 17)
“It was great to win in Paraguay and stand on the top step of the podium, and we will try to continue the same way in Chile. We haven’t finished off the podium this year, and the plan is to keep it like that as we continue the fight in the championship. Last year was my first time back in Chile since 2019 and we had amazing speed but we didn’t have a clean weekend to bring it all together. So we’ll definitely be trying to put that right this year. The roads there are enjoyable to drive and the atmosphere is nice like always when we’re in South America, so I’m looking forward to it.”
Takamoto Katsuta (Driver car 18)
“Paraguay was a really enjoyable rally, even if the result was not what I wanted, and now I’m really looking forward to going back to Chile. As I wasn’t there last year, there will be some stages that will be new for me, but I’m trying to prepare as well as I can by watching videos from previous years. The surface in Chile is different to what we experienced in Paraguay, so I don’t know how much we can take from one rally to the next, but the stages are very nice and I’m feeling quite confident that we can have a good performance there.”
Sami Pajari (Driver car 5)
“I’m looking forward to Rally Chile. Like Rally Finland, it’s one of the events that I did in the Rally1 car already last year and I enjoyed it a lot. We were quite close to the lead on the first day before the conditions became more tricky and it became more about learning. The roads are nice to drive and quite similar to Finland in places. The feeling and the performance that we’ve had in the car in the last few rallies has been really good, and the plan will be to try to carry that on in Chile.”
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