Toyota Gazoo Racing ready to raise the pace

Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team take on some of the fastest roads in the FIA World Rally Championship this week as Rally Estonia (17-20 July) hosts the first of two high-speed gravel rounds in quick succession.

After a trio of hot and rough gravel rallies in Portugal, Sardinia and Greece, the forest of northern Europe will offer a significant change of pace. Estonia will be followed two weeks later by Rally Finland, the fastest round on the calendar and a home event for TGR-WRT.

Halfway through the 14-round season, the team have a 65-point lead in the manufacturers’ championship while Elfyn Evans continues to lead a close contest for the driver’s title, despite the disadvantage of being first car on the road to sweep the loose gravel surface on the last three rallies.

He will aim to be back on the podium on terrain he enjoys as a two-time winner in Finland, as will Finland’s own Kalle Rovanperä – the winner of the last three WRC rounds to be staged in Estonia. Takamoto Katsuta too relishes the return to faster roads for the first time since he finished second to Evans in Sweden in February, as does TGR-WRT2 driver Sami Pajari, twice a winner in Estonia in the Junior WRC.

While Estonia is not part of Sébastien Ogier’s partial 2025 rally schedule, TGR-WRT is still fielding a five-car line-up as they hand a debut in their GR Yaris Rally1 to Oliver Solberg. Swedish driver Solberg, son of 2003 World Champion Petter, is currently leading the WRC2 support series where he has taken three wins so far this season driving the GR Yaris Rally2 car. His outing in Estonia – made possible by a change of entered car and change of competitor that have been approved by the FIA – forms part of TGR’s commitment to providing a path for young talent to reach rallying’s top level.

With Solberg’s step up, the GR Yaris Rally2 contingent on the Estonia entry list is led by Roope Korhonen, who’s joined at Rautio Motorsport by fellow Finnish driver Tuukka Kauppinen. Estonia’s Georg Linnamäe won the event outright last year as a round of the FIA European Rally Championship and is joined under the RedGrey awning by Joosep Ralf Nõgene, who makes his WRC2 debut at home. Others competing in the GR Yaris Rally2 include Marco Bulacia (Delta Rally) and Fabio Schwarz (Armin Schwarz Driving Experience).

TGR WRC Challenge Program driver Yuki Yamamoto also continues his season driving a GR Yaris Rally2, while it has been agreed that Hikaru Kogure will step back from his participation. The Program’s third-generation drivers Takumi Matsushita and Shotaro Goto make their fourth starts of the year in the WRC3 category driving Renault Clio Rally3 machinery.

Returning to the WRC calendar after a year away, Rally Estonia is known for wide and flowing roads featuring plenty of jumps and crests. It also features many narrower and more technical sections; here the soft and sandy surface can become heavily rutted by the second pass of each stage.

The event remains based in the country’s second largest city, Tartu – around two hours south-east of the capital, Tallinn. The historic Town Hall Square once more hosts the ceremonial start on Thursday evening before an opening super special stage adjacent to the service park at the Estonian National Museum.

On Friday morning, a pair of stages north of Tartu are run twice before mid-day service. In the afternoon the action moves south for two passes of the Kambja stage plus a street stage in Elva. Saturday’s format is similar, with two stages run twice in the morning and another two repeated in the afternoon, before a return to the Tartu super special in the evening. Three stages form Sunday’s route with Kääriku run a second time to serve as the rally-ending Power Stage.

Team Quotes:

Jari-Matti Latvala (Team Principal): “After three very rough and demanding gravel rallies, our team are really looking forward to these next events, which tend to suit our drivers and our car well. Still, the competition has been close recently and we know that we will need to be at our best if we want to win. These will be the first fast gravel rallies driven with this year’s tyres, so there has been some important work going on in testing since Greece to optimise the whole package for these conditions. We are also excited to give Oliver Solberg this opportunity after some strong results with the GR Yaris Rally2 car so far this season. It’s a great chance for him to experience the performance of the Rally1 car, and for us to see how he adapts to the step up.”

Elfyn Evans (driver car 33): “We’re looking forward to a very different character of rally for the next two events, with some very fast roads. Although Estonia wasn’t on the calendar last year, it’s an event we have pretty good knowledge of and a nice one to be going back to with the high-speed nature of the stages. It’s important to have a good feeling in the car and our test last week was good for working through some ideas, but we also know the conditions we’ll face on the rally can depend a lot on the weather; hopefully there can be a chance of some rain to help us out opening the road on Friday.”

Kalle Rovanperä (driver car 69): “It’s cool to be going back to Rally Estonia this year. It’s where I took my first win in the WRC and we’ve had some good success since then also, so I have good memories of this event. I really enjoy driving on the fast and flowing roads and they suit my style well, so I’m excited. The pace on gravel so far this year hasn’t quite been where I’ve wanted it to be, so we had an important test in Estonia last week to try and get fully up to speed and find the best setup for these faster rallies. The feeling was pretty good and I’m confident that we can do a good rally.”

Takamoto Katsuta (driver car 18): “The fast rallies coming up in Estonia and Finland are some of my favourites on the calendar and I’m looking forward to them. It can be challenging to adjust again to the much faster roads, and we also have to get used to driving with the new tyres on high-speed gravel for the first time, but the car felt good in our test and I feel I’m ready to push. The Estonian stages can be tricky in places especially in the forests, where they are still very fast but also narrow, and this could make Friday the most challenging day. Still, I’m confident we can do a good job and will try to prepare as well as I can.”

Sami Pajari (driver car 5): “These next two rallies are very different to the ones we’ve just had, and maybe the most enjoyable ones on the calendar for me. The stages are high-speed and also quite flowing and in pretty good condition, so it can be more about driving fast than trying to avoid issues. In Estonia the surface is softer than Finland and the roads can get more rutted, so it’s not totally straightforward, but it’s been a nice rally for me in the support categories. Now we’re halfway through the season, it’s natural to try to increase the pace and these next rallies can be good for this, without planning to do anything crazy.”

Oliver Solberg (driver car 99): “It’s a fantastic opportunity and a dream come true for me to be able to do Rally Estonia in the GR Yaris Rally1. To test the car in Finland this week was already an incredible feeling. It’s been a great season so far and I feel ready for this and to learn and gain experience at the top level. Estonia’s one of my favourite rallies; it’s quite technical but also super fast, so it won’t be easy. The goal is to build up step-by-step during the rally and get more and more comfortable in the car, finish the rally to gain as much experience as possible, and have loads of fun.”

ENDS