First victories for the Toyota Yaris Rally2, Jari-Matti Latvala sends his Toyota Celica onto the roof

After a long period of development with different drivers including Kalle Rovanperä, the Toyota Yaris Rally2 made its competitive debut in January at Monte-Carlo. Despite some interesting times from Sami Pajari, the Japanese was left behind by her rivals, Citroën C3, Fabia RS and the Hyundai by Nicolas Ciamin.

Starting to be distributed in different championships, the Yaris put itself a little more forward during the rally from Sweden with his first best times in the category. Above all, the road conditions on the first day allowed Georg Linnamäe to score an astonishing scratch ahead of all the Rally1s. In WRC2, however, Oliver Solberg taught the lesson, the Finns not finding the solution to drive as fast as the Swede.

Elsewhere than in the world championship, the multiplication of cars in different competitions has increased the chances of victory. The first two occurred in countries important to Toyota. It is indeed not insignificant that the very first success came in Japan.

During Rally Mikawawan, the inaugural round of the championship, three Yaris were present for Norihiko Katsuta, Fumio Nutahara and Katsuhiko Taguchi. Leader from start to finish, Katsuta's dad who plays for the Luck Rally Team won with a 21'' lead over Hiroki Arai's Fabia R5. The second victory took place in a region that matters a lot for Rally2 since it happened in Finland where the cars are manufactured.

The SM Tuuri Ralli was the 3^e round of the championship. Run 140 km northwest of Jyväskylä, the event welcomed the 3 Toyotas of Roope Korhonen and the two Japanese Hikaru Kogure and Yuki Yamamoto who are continuing their training. After seizing the reins of the race from SS1, Korhonen managed to maintain his position until the end. The 25-year-old Finn had already won at the start of the season, but he was then driving a Skoda.

It is possible to say that this success is not completely the first for a Toyota in the Finnish championship, because Mikko Heikkilä won the category at the Arctic, but it was Elfyn Evans (Yaris Rally1) who triumphed at general. At the Tuuri, Korhonen was the first to win a trophy in Europe. He was more inspired than the boss of Toyota Gazoo Racing.

Delighted in participating in this event which takes place in his garden, Jari-Matti Latvala lined up his Toyota Celica (ST185). Accompanied by Enni Mälkönen, Sami Pajari's usual teammate, the always fiery Finn occupied a remarkable 6^e place with his GR A from the 90s when he rolled over in the last special…

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