Toyota Gazoo Racing Dominate Corsica WRC
Toyota GAZOO Racing celebrate their success at the Rally France in Corsica after winning six of the twelve stages, including both stages of the final day.
Ott Tänak, one of the team’s newer racers, managed to secure an overall podium finish in second place allowing him to be ranked third in the drivers’ championship while ranking Toyota third in the manufacturer standings.
The Toyota GAZOO Racing team principal, Tommi Mäkinen, was pleased with the performance of the Yaris WRC cars and his team.
“The stages here are very challenging and drivers must have maximum confidence in the car,” he said. “We are always learning, and it seems we have learned something else here that will help us in the next asphalt event (in Germany).”
Ott Tänak said his primary focus was maintaining consistent pace from the start of the event through to the finish. “We were never pushing to the maximum, but we were always setting a good rhythm,” the Estonian driver said. “On the penultimate stage, I had a really clean run and I tried to be close to the maximum all the time. For my first time on proper asphalt with Toyota, I am really happy with that.”
Esapekka Lappi praised the set-up that his technical team found for his car. “The second day was perfect, and the speed was good on the final day; unfortunately, I made a small mistake and hit a kerb, damaging a rim” he said. “After that, it was good to win the Power stage; there was actually more grip than I was expecting, so I just pushed harder and harder.”
The WRC will converge in South America for Rally Argentina at the end of April.
