Toyota ends 19 years of drought

In 1999, the doublet of Toyota Carlos Sainz – Didier Auriol had failed to counter Tommi Mäkinen in his quest for a fourth consecutive Drivers' world title, the Mitsubishi resident being crowned at the end of the Rally from Australia. The Franco-Spanish tandem, however, allowed Toyota to be crowned among the Manufacturers.

19 years later, it was the Finn who led Toyota to Manufacturers crown as head of Toyota Gazoo Racing. The four-time world champion and his drivers Jari-Matti Latvala, winner this Sunday in Australia, Ott Tänak and Esapekka Lappi, dominated the Ford Fiestas – M-Sport and Hyundai i20 to end a long drought for one of the emblematic brands of WRC.

“I am very grateful, as team president, to have achieved such a good result in the second year of this challenge after our return to the WRC after 18 years of absence, admits Akio Toyoda, president of Toyota.

I am full of gratitude to Tommi who continued to strengthen the Yaris WRC to win this title, as well as to all the team members who supported Tommi, as well as the drivers and co-drivers who took the Yaris to our goal. »

« Last year we were here to learn and accumulate data, recalls Mäkinen. In the second half of this season we saw a lot of improvements with the car.

This is the result of the tremendous effort put in by everyone on the team and I am confident that this success will inspire them to continue improving in 2019.”

Toyota will once again field three Yaris WRCs in 2019, with the new arrival of Kris Meeke, replacing Esapekka Lappi, a Citroën Racing recruit.

Discover the full report and analysis of the Rally Australia, produced by our special correspondent in Coffs Harbour, in issue 2192 of AUTOhebdo, available tomorrow evening in digital version and this Wednesday on newsstands.