Toyota Gazoo Racing annexes manufacturers' crown with 1-2 finish in WRC finale

MANILA: The Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team achieved a remarkable "championship treble" at the legendary Monza circuit in Italy, securing the manufacturers’ title of the prestigious World Rally Championship (WTC) with a one-two finish in the last round, with Sebastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassis claiming their ninth drivers’ and co-drivers’ titles in style.

In the final-round duel at Monza, Ogier and Ingrassia faced off against their teammates Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin, and the two crews competed in an epic battle for victory throughout the weekend, trading the lead six times. They were separated by only half a second, goung into the last day of three challenging stages around Monza, and then set identical times in the morning’s opening test. A stall for Evans in the final stage determined the rally victory in Ogier’s favor, who realized a podium finish would be enough to clinch the title.

After triumphs at Monte Carlo, Croatia, Sardinia, and Kenya, Ogier and Ingrassia now have five wins this season. It was their 54^th WRC victory together in the penultimate event of their full-time careers — Ogier will drive part-time for Toyota Gazoo Racing in 2022, while Ingrassia retires following a stellar career as a co-driver.

In a statement, Ogier said, “It’s pretty remarkable what Toyota has achieved, and the team deserves it because they’ve put a lot of effort into it. The emotion is even stronger knowing it’s the end of my journey with Julien. We could never have dreamed of a better way for it to end it. We knew we still had a lot to do this weekend and that it was not over yet. We didn’t have to beat Elfyn, but we couldn’t afford to relax and then drop positions, and to win in the end is just perfect.”

After victories in Portugal and Finland, Evans and Martin secured their fifth Toyota one-two of the season and finished second in the championship for two consecutive years.

After winning their first career races in Estonia and Greece this year, Kalle Rovanpera and his co-driver Jonne Halttunen became instrumental in the manufacturers’ championship success. They were outstanding team players in the last round, focusing on a clean ninth-place finish to secure the manufacturers’ title.

This is Toyota’s fifth manufacturers’ championship, and its second since its comeback in the competition in 2017 with the Yaris WRC. It was the car’s 26^th and final victory in the final event of the World Rally Car era before hybrid-powered Rally1 cars will be introduced in 2022.

TGR WRC Challenge Program driver Takamoto Katsuta and co-driver Aaron Johnston placed seventh overall, overcoming contact in the penultimate test to achieve the second-fastest time in the rally-ending Power Stage after the team’s technicians did an outstanding job repairing his car in just 15 minutes.

“Throughout the season, there was always at least one of our crews on the podium — including Takamoto. Thanks to them, I was able to watch all the events being thrilled expecting that somebody from our team would win,” Toyota Motor Corporation President and Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team Founder Akio Toyoda said. “What I asked for at the first rally in 2017 was to make the Yaris WRC the strongest at the end of the season. The Yaris WRC has run 59 events in these five years, and we learned a lot from the events we won and we lost. The team did make the last Yaris WRC the strongest ever. I’m really happy for that.”

Photos from Toyota

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