Cookie Consent by Free Privacy Policy website Ogier claims ninth Monte win in TOYOTA GAZOO Racing one-two
gennaio 23, 2023 - Toyota

Ogier claims ninth Monte win in TOYOTA GAZOO Racing one-two

Comunicato Stampa disponibile solo in lingua originale. 

TOYOTA GAZOO #racing World #rally Team has started the 2023 #fiaworldrallychampionship with a one-two finish on Rallye Monte-Carlo as #sebastienogier claimed a record ninth victory on the legendary #event ahead of team-mate Kalle Rovanperä.

Mostly dry weather made this year’s #rally more a test of outright performance than usual, and Ogier set the pace from the start with five straight stage wins as he opened up a lead of half a minute by Friday lunchtime.

The GR YARIS Rally1 HYBRID was fastest in the first 11 stages of the season, its streak only ended on Saturday afternoon – by which point Ogier was focused on managing his lead. He carried an advantage of 16 seconds over Rovanperä into the final day, when he proceeded to claim his eighth and ninth stage wins of the weekend and finished up with a winning margin of 18.8s.

Ogier’s 56th WRC win is also the first for his co-driver Vincent Landais, in only the second #event since he began working with the up-and-coming French navigator at the end of last season. It is also Toyota’s fifth Monte win with a fifth different model of car: the GR YARIS Rally1 HYBRID winning all but two of the 18 stages across the weekend.

With Ogier once more only contesting selected events this season, second place plus victory in the rally-ending Power Stage represents an ideal start to Rovanperä and co-driver Jonne Halttunen’s defence of their first championship titles. Rovanperä grew in confidence and speed during the #rally, taking six stage wins in total on his way to a first Rallye Monte-Carlo podium.

Elfyn Evans displayed similarly strong pace to his team-mates throughout the weekend and was second to Ogier before losing around 40s with a damaged tyre in SS5 on Friday morning. He and co-driver Scott Martin fought back to finish fourth, 27.8s from the podium despite a brief spin on Sunday morning. He was also third in the Power Stage to claim three additional bonus points.

The strong start to the season for TGR was completed by Takamoto Katsuta in his WRC Challenge Program-supported entry. He produced his strongest Rallye Monte-Carlo performance to-date alongside co-driver Aaron Johnston, frequently joining his team-mates in the top-four on stage times and finishing sixth overall.

Further information in the press release to download

Ti potrebbe interessare anche

luglio 23, 2023
giugno 25, 2023
giugno 14, 2023

Comunicato Stampa disponibile solo in lingua originale. Kalle Rovanperä secured his third consecutive #rally #estonia triumph on S...

Comunicato Stampa disponibile solo in lingua originale. Sébastien Ogier defied team-mate Kalle Rovanperä's charge to head home a d...

Comunicato Stampa disponibile solo in lingua originale. Ford Performance set to expand global motorsports effort by taking on the ...