TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Eyes More Progress on Gravel Return
April 21 2017 - 6:07AM
JCN Newswire (English)
The gravel stages of Rally Argentina will provide the next
challenge for TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team with drivers
Jari-Matti Latvala and Juho Hanninen from April 27 to 30. After the
asphalt test of Corsica, round five of the FIA World Rally
Championship (WRC) means a return to gravel action and a return to
Latin America, where the team will look to build upon the lessons
learnt on March's Rally Mexico and further the development of the
Yaris WRC.
http://www.acnnewswire.com/topimg/Low_ToyotaGAZOOCar10421.jpg
Car 10 (Jari-Matti Latvala, Miikka Anttila)
Rally Argentina features varied gravel stages: some take place on
high-speed soft and sandy roads in the valleys, while others are
run on rocky mountain tracks. This can make car set up and tyre
choice more difficult, as each type of stage poses its own
challenges. The softer stages are prone to becoming heavily rutted
as more cars pass over them, while fog and even ice can sometimes
be found in the mountain sections, with weather conditions often
changeable.
Rally Argentina is based out of Villa Carlos Paz, around a
30-minute drive from the city of Cordoba, where the rally will
begin on the evening of Thursday April 27 with a super special
stage. Friday features two loops of stages, which consist of three
tests in Santa Rosa de Calamuchita valley followed by a super
special at Parque Tematico (a Villa Carlos Paz theme park).
Saturday has six stages in the Punilla valley, forming the longest
day of the rally at 160 kilometres. The rally then goes up into the
Traslasierra region on Sunday for three more stages including two
runs of the famous El Condor-the latter as the event-closing Power
Stage, with extra championship points on offer.
Latvala took victory in Argentina in 2014, while Hanninen is also a
previous winner, in 2010 when the event was not part of the WRC
schedule but instead belonged to the Intercontinental Rally
Challenge.
In order to prepare for Rally Argentina, both drivers took part in
a pre-event test on the Italian island of Sardinia, which is quite
representative of the roads in Argentina, and will also host round
seven of the World Rally Championship in June.
Quotes:
Tommi Makinen (Team Principal)
"As a driver, I always thought that Argentina was a fantastic
rally, with gravel and cool conditions, so it's likely that we can
expect mixed weather once again this time. We learned many useful
things from Mexico in particular, with the gravel and high
altitude, which will be useful for Argentina. We've been improving
the car with every rally, so our goal is to see another improvement
in Argentina. I think we're in a stronger position now than we were
going into Mexico, so we can aim for a good result."
Jari-Matti Latvala (Driver car 10)
"I've always had a very good feeling with Rally Argentina. We've
won it before, and even last year we were leading until we had a
problem and went off on Saturday afternoon. The first two days are
fast and flowing, then the last day is slower and more technical,
with tricky stages featuring lots of corners and the possibility of
very bad weather conditions, especially fog. Although the roads
tend to be soft and sandy there is generally quite good grip, I
have been working on the differential settings in particular: I
didn't feel that they were the best for me in Mexico, so that is
something I really wanted to improve for Argentina, and we have
some good solutions now."
Juho Hanninen (Driver car 11)
"I have many fond memories of Argentina, so I'm really looking
forward to getting back there after many years away as it's one of
my favourite gravel rallies. It's not just the stages that are
fantastic, but also the fans, who are so passionate about rallying:
even on the road sections. Of course, one big unknown is the
weather because everything is possible over there, which makes it
difficult if the stage conditions change after the recce. In any
case, it won't affect our set-up a lot: if it's really muddy you
can make the car a bit softer but we won't make any big changes.
Whatever happens, it's important just to drive naturally without
feeling too much pressure."
http://www.acnnewswire.com/topimg/Low_MiikkaAnttilaJariMattiLatvala.jpg
Miikka Anttila and Jari-Matti Latvala
http://www.acnnewswire.com/topimg/Low_KajLindstromJuhoHanninen.jpg
Kaj Lindstrom and Juho Hanninen
The statistics (Rally Argentina):
http://www.acnnewswire.com/topimg/Low_RallyArgentina421.jpg
2017 FIA World Rally Championship for drivers after round
four:.
1 - Sebastien Ogier - 88
2 - Jari-Matti Latvala - 75
3 - Thierry Neuville - 54
4 - Ott Tanak - 48
5 - Dani Sordo - 47
6 - Craig Breen - 33
7 - Kris Meeke - 27
8 - Hayden Paddon - 25
9 - Elfyn Evans - 20
10 - Andreas Mikkelsen - 12
12 - Juho Hanninen - 9
2017 FIA World Rally Championship for manufacturers after round
four:
1 - M-Sport World Rally Team - 129
2 - Hyundai Motorsport - 105
3 - TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRT - 79
4 - Citroen Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team - 71
About Toyota
Supported by people around the world, Toyota Motor Corporation
(TSE:7203; NYSE:TM), has endeavored since its establishment in 1937
to serve society by creating better products. As of the end of
December 2013, Toyota conducts its business worldwide with 52
overseas manufacturing companies in 27 countries and regions.
Toyota's vehicles are sold in more than 170 countries and regions.
For more information, please visit www.toyota-global.com.
Source: Toyota
Contact:
Public Affairs Division
Global Communications Department
Toyota Motor Corporation
Tel: +81-3-3817-9926
Copyright 2017 JCN Newswire . All rights reserved.
Toyota Motor (NYSE:TM)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024
Toyota Motor (NYSE:TM)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024