WRC 2020 TEAM & DRIVER
DRIVER
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Sébastien Ogier
Driver
Born— December 17, 1983 Nationality— FranceSébastien Ogier is a French rally driver. He began his rally career in 2005, when he was selected to take part in the FFSA Rallye Jeunes, a talent-spotting event organized by the French Federation of Automobile Sport. In 2007, he won the Peugeot 206 Cup, then went on to secure the Junior World Rally Championship in 2008. Impressed by his performances, Citroën provided Ogier with the opportunity to compete in the final rally of the 2008 season, Wales Rally GB. Despite this being his first appearance in a World Rally Car, Ogier recorded the fastest time in SS1 and held the rally lead until SS5. In 2009, he became a member of the Citroën Junior Team, where he won his first WRC event at the 2010 Rally de Portugal. The following year, Ogier clinched five rally victories on his way to third place in the driver’s championship. In 2013, he joined Volkswagen Motorsport and won four consecutive driver’s championships between 2013 and 2016. He moved to M-Sport Ford in 2017, where he added a further two championships; this meant he had won an incredible six WRC driver’s championships in a row. Following his return to Citroën in 2019, Ogier has a total of 47 WRC victories to his name.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
- 2013-18
- Six consecutive WRC titles
- 2010
- First WRC wins (Portugal and Japan)
- 2008
- Junior WRC Champion
- 2007
- French 206 Cup Champion
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS -
Julien Ingrassia
Co-Driver
Born— November 26, 1979 Nationality— FranceJulien Ingrassia is a French rally co-driver. He works together with Sébastien Ogier. Ingrassia made his rally debut at the Critérium des Cévennes in France in 2002. In 2004, he started rallying more seriously, acquiring experience at numerous domestic French events. He worked with Ogier for the first time in 2006, and the pair competed and took their first wins in the 2007 Peugeot 206 Cup. Since then, Ingrassia has continued to work as Ogier’s co-driver and, together, the pair have secured numerous rally victories and won several championship titles. Ingrassia has worked with a variety of manufacturers over the course of his career, including Citroën, Volkswagen, M-Sport Ford, and Citroën again, and between 2013 and 2018 he won the WRC co-driver’s championship for six years in a row. Ingrassia has also taken part as a driver in two domestic French rallies.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
- 2013-18
- Six consecutive WRC titles
- 2010
- First WRC wins (Portugal)
- 2008
- Junior WRC Champion
- 2007
- French 206 Cup Champion
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS -
Elfyn Evans
Driver
Born— December 28, 1988 Nationality— UK (Wales)Elfyn Evans is a British rally driver. Son of the former British Rally Championship champion Gwyndaf Evans, Elfyn Evans made his rally debut in 2006 in a Nissan Micra. He appeared in a WRC rally for the first time at the Wales Rally GB in 2007. In 2010, Evans won the British Junior Rally Championship, and secured four victories out of six rallies in the 2012 WRC Academy (now the Junior WRC) as he claimed the series title. He joined M-Sport Ford in 2013, and made a one-off appearance at Rally Italia Sardegna, where he finished sixth overall. The same year, Evans also participated in WRC2 in the Ford Fiesta R5, winning Wales Rally GB, his home event. In 2016, Evans secured three rally victories on his way to second in the WRC2 driver’s championship. He has participated in the WRC since 2017, a year in which he won the Wales Rally GB and also finished second overall in two further rallies. A series of dependable performances saw Evans finish fifth in the driver’s championship. In 2019, he held the lead until the final stage at the Tour de Corse, proving his talent as an all-rounder and demonstrating he has the ability to win even on tarmac.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
- 2017
- First WRC win (Britain)
- 2016
- British Rally Champion
- 2012
- WRC Academy Champion
- 2010
- British Junior Rally Champion
- 2008
- British and Irish Fiesta Trophy Champion
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS -
Scott Martin
Co-Driver
Born— November 6, 1982 Nationality— UKScott Martin is a British rally co-driver. He works together with Elfyn Evans. Martin made his rally debut in 2001, and was active largely on the domestic U.K. rally scene. In 2004, he made his first WRC appearance at Wales Rally GB, as co-driver to Matthew Wilson, the son of M-Sport founder Malcolm Wilson. Martin began competing in the WRC more seriously from 2006 onward, gaining experience in Group N cars. In 2008, Martin participated fully in the WRC alongside Wilson in a Ford World Rally Car. Since then, he has worked as co-driver to Khalid Al-Qassimi and Craig Breen, and secured two podium finishes in a Citroën World Rally Car. In 2019, Evans returned to his former team, M-Sport Ford, and formed a new pairing with Evans. The two finished third overall at Rally Mexico and Tour de Corse. Despite sitting out three rounds due to an injury to Evans, Martin finished fifth overall in the co-driver’s championship.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
- 2019
- Fifth in WRC for co-drivers
- 2016
- First WRC podium - Rally Finland overall third
- 2014
- Third in European Rally Championship
- 2007
- Fiesta Sporting Trophy International series champion
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS -
Kalle Rovanperä
Driver
Born— October 1, 2000 Nationality— FinlandKalle Rovanperä is a Finnish rally driver. He is the son of Harri Rovanperä, who won the WRC Rally Sweden in 2001 and was a works driver for Peugeot and Mitsubishi. Even before he acquired his driver’s license, Rovanperä honed his driving skills by driving in practice areas that had been closed due to ice, and he had mastered drifting techniques by the age of eight. Rovanperä started his rally career when he was 12, participating in rally sprints in Latvia. In Latvia, a driver’s license is not required to take part in rallying, and Rovanperä took part in many events, with his co-driver taking the wheel on public roads. He won the Latvian R2 class in 2015, before securing the championship in the Open Class two years in a row. In 2016, Rovanperä expanded his sphere of activities outside Latvia, and made his WRC2 debut at the 2017 Wales Rally GB. He took his maiden WRC2 victory at Rally Australia later the same season. In 2018, he was selected as a works driver for the Škoda Motorsport team, and secured two victories on his way to third overall in the WRC2 driver’s championship. In 2019, he participated in WRC2 Pro, the highest category for R5 rally cars; behind the wheel of a Škoda Fabia R5, Rovanperä won five rallies and clinched the driver’s championship.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
- 2019
- WRC 2 Pro champion, five wins
- 2018
- Third in WRC 2, two wins
- 2017
- First WRC 2 win (Australia)
- 2017
- Latvian Rally Champion
First WRC 2 win (Australia)
- 2016
- Latvian Rally Champion
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS -
Jonne Halttunen
Co-Driver
Born— December 13, 1985 Nationality— FinlandJonne Halttunen is a Finnish rally co-driver. He works together with Kalle Rovanperä. He made his first appearance as a co-driver in 2009, in a domestic Finnish rally. In 2011, he began to participate in more events, appearing in rallies in both Finland and Estonia, before expanding his sphere of activities to include the whole of Europe. Halttunen made his WRC debut at the 2011 Rally Finland, and took part in Rally Finland every year alongside drivers such as Matias Kauppinen and Teemu Asunmaa. In 2017, Halttunen teamed up with Rovanperä for the first time, taking part in WRC2 at Wales Rally GB and Rally Australia in a Ford Fiesta R5. In 2018, he participated in the entire WRC2 series together with Rovanperä, securing two wins in the Škoda Fabia R5 and placing third overall in the co-driver’s championship. In 2019, Halttunen recorded 10 podium finishes, including five victories, as he won the co-driver’s championship.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
- 2019
- WRC 2 Pro champion, five wins
- 2018
- Third in WRC 2, two wins
- 2017
- Finnish Rally Championship SM1 class champion
First WRC 2 win (Australia)
- 2017
- Finnish Rally Championship SM1 class champion
- 2016
- Finnish Rally Championship SM2 class champion
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
TEAM
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- Team Chairman Akio Toyoda
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- Team Principal Tommi Mäkinen
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- Sporting Director Kaj Lindström
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- Technical Director Tom Fowler