TOYOTA GAZOO Racing goes in pursuit of Greek gold

TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team will resume its challenge for the 2024 FIA World Rally Championship titles at the legendary Acropolis Rally in Greece on September 5-8.

After a high-speed hat-trick of wins in Poland, Latvia and Finland, the GR YARIS Rally1 HYBRID returns to rougher and rockier roads in the south of Europe for round 10 of 13 this season. With its strong run of form, TGR-WRT was on course to lead the manufacturers’ title race into the four-week summer break before a particularly unfortunate series of events on the final day in Finland means it now has its sights set on closing a 20-point gap.

Sébastien Ogier delivered victory in Finland to climb up to second in the drivers’ championship, 27 points from the lead, having taken three wins and three second-places from the six rallies he has started so far this year. He has a strong previous record on the Acropolis, claiming the win back in 2011.

Despite misfortune in Finland interrupting his strong scoring run, Elfyn Evans is only nine points further back from the lead in fourth place and will look to fight back on a rally he finished in second overall last year. Takamoto Katsuta completes the three-car line-up and has finished in the top six on his two previous starts in Greece.

Famed for rocky mountain roads and harsh conditions that provide a tough test for cars, tyres and crews, the Acropolis Rally returned to the WRC calendar in 2021. As in previous years, the service park is located in Lamia, around 200 kilometres north-west of the capital city Athens. In a change to the route for this year, the rally will begin from Lamia on Friday morning for two loops of three stages in the surrounding mountains, separated by mid-day service. Saturday is then a marathon day, taking crews away from Lamia for 16 hours and as far south as Loutraki on the Gulf of Corinth. Five gravel stages – only one of which is a repeat pass – are followed by a super special stage on the route back to Lamia. Three stages conclude the event on Sunday, with a second pass of Eleftherohori serving as the rally-ending Power Stage.

After impressing on his Rally1 debut with TGR-WRT in Finland, Sami Pajari returns to his WRC2 campaign, where he is currently second in the championship with his Printsport-run GR Yaris Rally2 car. He’s joined in the category in Greece by fellow GR Yaris Rally2 drivers Jan Solans (Teo Martín Motorsport) and Georg Linnamäe (RedGrey), who are fifth and seventh respectively in the standings.

Quotes:
Jari-Matti Latvala (Team Principal)
“Everybody in our team is very motivated for the Acropolis Rally. The last day of Rally Finland gave us some bitter moments to swallow because of the points that were lost, even though we won the rally. But it also showed just how rapidly things can change in this championship. Now, we just need to maintain our fighting spirit, try to continue our strong form and keep the fight going. Greece was good for us last year, when we showed a big step with the GR YARIS Rally1 HYBRID on rough gravel roads. Reliability is important too for this kind of tough event and that has also been a strong point for us. This is a rally where many things can happen and if you can stay out of trouble, you have a good opportunity for a strong result.”

Elfyn Evans (Driver car 33)
“The Acropolis is an event where the conditions can be tough but the pace is always high despite that. It’s a long week with some long days, so there’s an element of endurance with the possibility for it to be very hot too. Last year, we sustained some damage on the Saturday but we somehow made it through to finish on the podium. As usual, we’ll be giving our all and targeting the best result possible. The last rally clearly didn’t go to plan for us after a decent start, but at least our road position in Greece will probably be the best we’ve had on gravel all year, so we need to try and make the most of that.”

Sébastien Ogier (Driver car 17)
“The Acropolis Rally is one of the legendary events in the history of our sport and I enjoy going to Greece, so it had always been my plan together with the team that I would compete there again this year. It’s a rally that I managed to win once quite early in my career, and then it was not in the calendar for many years, so it would be nice to take another victory there. Last year, we were leading until we were quite unlucky in some very rough conditions: it can be the kind of rally where you need some luck on your side to avoid trouble. Like always, the aim will be to try and fight for the top places and for as many points as we can.”

Takamoto Katsuta (Driver car 18)
“Greece is one of the trickiest rallies given how rough and slippery the stages can be. As a driver, you need to be committed as usual of course, but at the same time you have to manage the car and the tyres. It’s a different kind of challenge to the last three rallies, so it needs a change of mindset, but I had a good test last week and I have a good feeling for the rally. Last year, the rally was going OK for us until we picked up some punctures. This kind of thing can happen on a rally like this and I will try to focus on avoiding issues and mistakes, and if I follow this strategy we can hopefully have a good result at the end.”