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WRC 2024 Rd.8 Day 4 | 2024 | PRESS RELEASE | WRC

Quotes:
Akio Toyoda (Chairman TGR-WRT)

“Kalle, Jonne, congratulations on winning two consecutive events! Seb and Vincent came second and achieved a one-two finish. With the many points they earned, we were able to reduce the gap to Hyundai, the leading manufacturer, to just one point.

Since 2021, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team has managed to return to our home event, Rally Finland, as the championship leader. This year, however, we didn’t make it. I feel very sorry for our Finnish fans. I hope that many local fans will see us regain the lead in the next rally in Finland. There is not much time left to prepare, but I am sure the team will make it.

And I also hope that the team will come to our other home event, Rally Japan, as the leading team! Together with all the Japanese fans, I, Morizo, will also be waiting for the team here in Japan!”

Jari-Matti Latvala (team principal)
“This was a fantastic event for us. After Rally Poland we scored another one-two finish and took some really important and vital championship points, closing the gap in the manufacturers’ standings. Kalle did a great job to lead from the first stage, I think he was even more dominant than expected. It was also great to see how well Seb drove to take second place, even though he hasn’t raced at these fast rallies for a while. Elfyn started really well on Friday considering his position on the road, even though I know he was hoping for more points. The performance of the car this weekend was great, our drivers were fast and it gives us a lot of confidence going into our home event, Rally Finland.”

Kalle Rovanperä (driver car 69)
“It was a great weekend for us and for the team. Latvia is a special place for me and my career and almost a home rally in a way, so it’s really cool to win the first WRC rally here. A big thank you to the team: I think we were very strong here, maybe more than we expected. Together with Seb who finished second, we took some important points for the team. Also thanks to Jonne: I think we did a good job all weekend. We will now enjoy this result and then look forward to Rally Finland, which will be a new challenge.”

Elfyn Evans (Driver car 33)
“Today was about scoring as many extra points as possible. In general it wasn’t that bad all day, but to be just a few tenths of a second short in the Power Stage was annoying. At least it was a weekend where we scored some points, which is better than nothing. We always want to do better, but it was a difficult weekend with the road cleaning and we were always a bit in the background from that moment on. Now we’re looking forward to Rally Finland, which is always a nice event.”

Sébastien Ogier (driver car 17)
“I’m very happy: a one-two was the goal we wanted to achieve for the team this weekend. We’ve taken a very positive step for the Constructors’ Championship. Unfortunately, those two tenths didn’t go our way today, a bit like in Sardinia, but I did everything I could and I don’t regret it. Kalle was untouchable this weekend, so very well done. For my part, I had a lot of fun in the car and I’m happy with my performance, because it’s been almost three years since I’ve done this kind of high-speed rallies and it seems like I still have good speed.”

Takamoto Katsuta (driver car 18)
“This rally was tough until the end. The stages were really nice to drive and I really enjoyed the feeling in the car. But there were a lot of new and different things to sort out and unfortunately I made a mistake in a chicane yesterday, which cost us a lot of time. I’m still disappointed about that, but I just have to forget about it and move on to the next one. The speed and confidence were there anyway, so it was a good preparation for Rally Finland and I’m looking forward to it.”

PROVISIONAL FINAL CLASSIFICATION, RALLY LATVIA
1 Kalle Rovanperä/Jonne Halttunen (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1 HYBRID) 2h31m47.6s
2 Sébastien Ogier/Vincent Landais (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1 HYBRID) +39.2s
3 Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja (Hyundai i20 N Rally1 HYBRID) +1m04.5s
4 Adrien Fourmaux/Alexandre Coria (Ford Puma Rally1 HYBRID) +1m31.5s
5 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1 HYBRID) +1m42.7s
6 Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnston (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1 HYBRID) +2m07.0s
7 Mārtiņš Sesks/Renārs Francis (Ford Puma Rally1 HYBRID) +2m45.4s
8 Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1 HYBRID) +2m46.4s
9 Grégoire Munster/Louis Louka (Ford Puma Rally1 HYBRID) +5m23.1s
10 Oliver Solberg/Elliott Edmondson (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +8m37.9s
(Results from 18:45 on Sunday, for the latest results visit www.wrc.com)

2024 FIA World Rally Championship drivers standings after round 8:
1 Thierry Neuville 145 points
2 Ott Tänak 137
3 Elfyn Evans 132
4 Sebastien Ogier 117
5 Adrien Fourmaux 101
6 Kalle Rovanperä 86
7 Takamoto Katsuta 65
8 Andreas Mikkelsen 29
9 Dani Sordo 27
10 Esapekka Lappi 23

2024 FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers after Round 8:
1 Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team 351 points
2 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team 350
3 M-Sport Ford World Rally Team 177

What’s next?
Rally Finland (1-4 August) is the fastest rally on the calendar, held on smooth gravel roads with many jumps. It is also a home rally for TGR-WRT, which has its headquarters near the service park in Jyväskylä.

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