Double podium finish for Toyota Gazoo Racing at Rallye Monte-Carlo
Toyota Gazoo Racing opened its 2024 FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) season with a double podium finish at Rallye Monte-Carlo yesterday (28 January), with Sébastien Ogier second and Elfyn Evans third.
Both drivers were involved in a fight for victory throughout the event, where they faced a challenging mix of conditions on the asphalt roads of the French Alps.
Ogier spectacularly claimed the lead during Saturday afternoon when he recorded the 700th stage win of his WRC career; he went into the final day just 3.3 seconds away from first-placed Thierry Neuville (Hyundai).
Despite his best efforts in pursuit of a record-extending victory in Monte Carlo, Ogier and his co-driver Vincent Landais eventually had to settle for second place, finishing 16.1s behind the winner.
Evans and his co-driver Scott Martin made an excellent start to their season when the rally got underway on Thursday night, claiming an early lead that they held until Saturday morning.
After banking good points under the championship’s new format by ending the penultimate day in third, Evans continued to push hard on Sunday when additional points were on offer for the fastest drivers. He took second in Sunday’s separate classification, plus fourth in the rally-ending Power Stage, to end the weekend with 21 points and third place in the standings. Ogier, who was second in the Power Stage and third-fastest across Sunday, is second on 24 points.
Takamoto Katsuta was among several drivers caught out on an icy corner on Friday morning, losing five minutes after sliding wide, but he showed strong pace as he and co-driver Aaron Johnston recovered to seventh place overall and also took third in the Power Stage.
With second and third in the overall results, in the Sunday classification and in the Power Stage, TGR-WRT leads the manufacturers’ championship by one point.
The GR Yaris Rally2 made its competitive WRC debut at the event with three of the four entered cars completing the full rally distance in the hands of customer teams. Sami Pajari and Enni Mälkönen (Printsport) were the best-placed crew at the finish in 12th overall and fifth in class RC2.
Team quotes
Jari-Matti Latvala (Team Principal): “Overall it has been a good weekend for us to start the season. Of course, we were in the lead of the rally earlier in the weekend and things were looking really good. Things then changed a bit and we hoped that we could bounce back today on the final day and take the victory. I think Seb did what he could but it seems that Neuville had one of those days where as a driver you can push yourself to an extra level. But it was a great fight that was exciting for everybody to follow, and in the end we got strong points as a team for the manufacturers’ championship. Elfyn also showed some great pace and confidence this weekend and I think he was clever too in the end to make sure he took away some good points.”
Elfyn Evans (driver car 33): “We showed that the potential was there to win this weekend but we just missed the feeling on Saturday afternoon for some reason. Today was much better. There was a real mix of conditions again but we had to keep pushing to score some more points under the new system and it turned out OK. It’s been a solid enough weekend. We always want to win, but above all I really wanted to finish this rally with solid points and we’ve done that. Long term, we want to win rallies and we will see what’s possible on the next rally in Sweden.”
Sébastien Ogier (driver car 17): “I think I can be proud of my weekend, I tried everything I could. It’s been a difficult week for me with a big rollercoaster of emotions. On Monday I had to say goodbye to someone very important to me who basically introduced me to motorsport. The start of the event was not easy for many reasons, so I’m happy that we managed to stay in the fight the whole way, and I think it was a super exciting fight for all of the fans to follow. In the end, Thierry was faster this weekend and he deserved the win. I still managed to bring strong points to the team. It’s also my 15th Rallye Monte-Carlo and 13th time on the podium here, so I can be proud of my record on such a challenging rally.”
Takamoto Katsuta (driver car 18): “My rally changed after my mistake on Friday morning when we lost the opportunity to fight for a good result, which was a big disappointment. I’m happy that I could bring the car to the finish in seventh and also score some extra points on Sunday and in the Power Stage. The car was working very well and I enjoyed the driving. When I felt comfortable and the risks were not so high from the conditions, I felt able to push and the times were pretty good, so that’s positive. The next rally in Sweden is one of my favourite rallies so I will try my best to get a good result there.”
PROVISIONAL FINAL CLASSIFICATION, RALLYE MONTE-CARLO
1 Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1 HYBRID) 3h9m30.9s
2 Sébastien Ogier/Vincent Landais (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1 HYBRID) +16.1s
3 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1 HYBRID) +45.2s
4 Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja (Hyundai i20 N Rally1 HYBRID) +1m59.8s
5 Adrien Fourmaux/Alexandre Coria (Ford Puma Rally1 HYBRID) +3m36.9s
6 Andreas Mikkelsen/Torstein Eriksen (Hyundai i20 N Rally1 HYBRID) +5m34.6s
7 Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnston (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1 HYBRID) +8m28.5s
8 Yohan Rossel/Arnaud Dunand (Citroën C3 Rally2) +10m29.8s
9 Pepe López/David Vázquez (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +10m33.8s
10 Nikolay Gryazin/Konstantin Aleksandrov (Citroën C3 Rally2) +10m45.2s
(Results as of 13:30 on Sunday, for the confirmed, official results please visit www.wrc.com)
2024 FIA World Rally Championship for drivers after round 1:
1 Thierry Neuville 30 points
2 Sébastien Ogier 24
3 Elfyn Evans 21
4 Ott Tänak 15
5 Adrien Fourmaux 11
6 Takamoto Katsuta 9
7 Andreas Mikkelsen 6
2024 FIA World Rally Championship for manufacturers after round 1:
1 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team 46 points
2 Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team 45
3 M-Sport Ford World Rally Team 19
What’s next
Rally Sweden (15-18 February) is the only full winter event of the season taking place on snow and ice. Metal studs inserted into the tyres bite into the surface to provide grip and allow for some of the highest speeds of the year.
ENDS
