Comment From Akio Toyoda
First of all, I would like to express my deepest sympathy to the people affected by the wild fires happening in eastern Australia. I also want to express my appreciation to all the fire fighters and emergency workers for the difficult and important work they do and truly hope the situation will return to normal as soon as possible.
After achieving the World Rally Championships for Drivers’ and Co-Drivers’ in Spain, our team has continued working hard together with the goal of achieving the Manufacturers’ Championship in Australia. I had wanted to thank all the team members in person for their achievements. Unfortunately, I was unable to do so because of the devastating events in Australia.
Nevertheless, I want to convey my deep appreciation to all my teammates at the Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team for making the Yaris strong this year. I will set a goal for next year: In 2020, we will all celebrate together for achieving all the titles at the final round in Japan. So let’s keep fighting together again next year.
I also want to share my appreciation to our team and the WRC community on site for taking their minds off of the rally to focus on helping all the people affected by the devastating fires. The teams donated food and supplies planned for the rally to the local community in need, they visited the local fire station to motivate emergency workers and the rally community has worked with organizers to contribute what we can to a charity auction to raise money for relief efforts.
I saw all these positive actions on social media. Our team members took the initiative and made the judgement to move quickly and do what they can to help on site. I am really proud of their efforts and proud to be part of a team that truly cares about the community. Thank you so much.
I am looking forward to working together with this amazing team. I am sure I can fight for the win and championships together at Rally Japan next year. We must achieve our target.
I would like to thank all our fans for supporting us this year. We will continue to work hard to be the team you want to support more and more. Thank you for your continued support of Toyota Gazoo Racing.
Akio Toyoda
Team Chairman, Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team
