Toyota bets on its aero for Poland

Toyota Gazoo Racing arrive en Pologne avec les meilleures prétentions même si le constructeur japonais manque d’expérience face à ses adversaires du fait de sa nouvelle présence en WRC. The team carried out a test session in Estonia to prepare for the event by working in particular on the shock absorbers in order to adapt to the profile of the very fast roads.

“Poland will be a rally interesting offering a different challenge. It will be a bit like Finland, but without the jumps and with a smoother road, explains Tommi Mäkinen, Team Principal of the WRC department of Toyota Gazoo Racing. It should be a good test at high speed for the aero of our car, an area in which we are quite good. »

“Poland should be less harsh on the car after having faced some very rough rallies recently, but we can never be sure of anything. I have never driven in Poland, specifies Tommi Mäkinen, and I don't really know what to expect. The drivers know what they have to do and I'll let them do it and just keep them focused. »

Jari-Matti Latvala remains the only Toyota driver to have won this season with his victory at Rally Sweden. He is also the best placed Toyota driver in the Championship since he occupies 4th place, one point behindOtt Tänak (M-Sport). Le Finlandais reste trois 5e places consécutives

“We've had some good testing in the build-up to Poland, with rain at times, and that could be very helpful as we had wet weather on the final stage of Rally Poland last year. This can happen especially when it's hot. We made progress on the shock absorbers and I was particularly impressed with the stability of the car,” notes Jari-Matti Latvala.

Toyota Gazoo Racing occupies 3rd place in the Manufacturers' Championship, 51 points behind Hyundai Motorsport.