Toyota Gazoo Racing skilled a stellar 12 months throughout the worldwide motorsport formulation and disciplines that it competes in. A brainchild of Toyota Motor Corporation President Akio Toyoda, Toyota Gazoo Racing has advanced from a ‘passion project’ to a world motorsport powerhouse. Competing in an array of motorsport championships – starting from rally to endurance and off-road – Toyota Gazoo Racing has clearly demonstrated the corporate’s sheer versatility and technical functionality.
Toyota Gazoo Racing titles
World Rally Championship (WRC)
Campaigning the #69 Toyota Gr Yaris, Kalle Rovanperä grew to become the youngest-ever WRC champion on the age of twenty-two. Having received six of the 13 rally occasions on the calendar, the Finnish rally sensation clinched the WRC title with a 50-point lead over his nearest rival. The GR Yaris Hybrid proved as soon as once more to be an exceptional rally automobile – giving Toyota Gazoo Racing their second win in a row and sixth WRC championship in historical past. The sister automobiles of Evans, Katsuta and Ogier completed in positions 4 to 6 respectively.
“Congratulations to everybody in the team! I’m really happy that the team achieved all three titles: drivers’, co-drivers’ and manufacturers’ just as last year. And above all, I’m so glad that the GR Yaris has become a triple champion car. My sincere thanks to all of the team members.”
Akio Toyoda (Team Founder)
“A huge congratulations and thank you to the team. I think this year we really showed how talented this team and our people are, to be able to make this new car the strongest and the fastest and the most reliable, so thank you to everybody. It’s especially nice this season as I think we have done our part quite well and brought many points for the team. We can all be really proud of what we have done.”
Kalle Rovanperä (Driver automobile #69)
World Endurance Challenge (WEC)
Spearheaded by the Le Mans 24-hour victory, the WEC groups too had a profitable 12 months. The #7 automobile of Hartley, Hirakawa and Buemi took high honours in the WEC championship log with 149 factors over second-place rivals in the #36 Alpine. The #8 GR010 (Conway, Kobayashi & Lopez) clinched the third championship place after bringing their automobile house in 1st place in the 8 Hours of Bahrain season finisher – making it a 1st and third for Toyota Gazoo Racing on the finish of the season. This marks the 4th consecutive championship for the TGR crew.
Kamui Kobayashi (Team Principal and driver, automobile #7): “We achieved a one-two, Séb, Brendon and Ryo received the drivers’ title, and we received the producers’ championship, so we hit all our targets for this race. I’m actually happy with that. Thanks for all their help, in addition to the help from our colleagues in Japan and our companions who’ve helped us all via the season.
This 12 months we confronted robust competitors and we completed with the very best outcome. It’s a fantastic feeling to finish with a win; Mike and José drove a powerful race and the crew carried out effectively as they’ve carried out all 12 months. On our automobile, we missed the drivers’ title however automobile #8 actually deserved it and I’m pleased for them. All season the crew and drivers have labored actually exhausting, with a fantastic crew spirit, so I hope everybody can take pleasure in this second and rejoice the titles.”
W2RC and Dakar
TOYOTA GAZOO Racing sealed the inaugural World Rally-Raid Championship in mid-October when Nasser Al-Attiyah and co-driver Mathieu Baumel introduced the crew’s Dakar-winning GR DKR Hilux T1+ house in second place general at Andalusia Rally. This was the ultimate spherical of a season that began with the TGR crew taking victory on the Dakar Rally in January 2022, and culminating with the crew successful the motive force’, navigator’, and producer titles in the first-ever W2RC.
The proudly South African-built DKR Hilux T1+ demonstrated spectacular sturdiness and reliability (paramount to rally-raid racing), offering a rock-solid platform for the crew to base their 2022 marketing campaign on and emerge victorious with a 20-point lead over their nearest rivals (169 vs 149). The DKR Hilux T1+ is the last word evolution of what started as a Toyota South Africa initiative to take Hilux to Dakar in 2012, and the brainchild of Midrand-based crew principal, Glyn Hall.
Countless hours of testing, information evaluation and enhancements have culminated in a car that has received the hardest race in the world twice, plus a mess of podium finishes – and is adept at tackling the harshest terrain and fiercest rivals.
“To me, winning the first ever W2RC is a special achievement. After years of competing in the FIA’s World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies, it is fantastic to finally have our own championship. And to be able to be crowned as the winner of the first edition is something that I will cherish for ever.”
Nasser Al-Attiyah, TGRSA
“We’ve certainly faced some challenges this year, but in the end, we prevailed to take the title. I’m extremely proud of what we did this year, starting with our victory at the Dakar Rally in January. Now, months later, we’ve come full circle – the title is in the bag, and we’re already preparing for the next Dakar.”
Mathieu Baumel, TGRSA
Posted by Toyota South Africa on MotorPress
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