TOYOTA GAZOO Racing (TGR) World Rally Team (WRT) has scored a flawless 1-2-3 podium finish on home roads at the FIA World Rally Championship’s (WRC) Rally Japan to complete a season of success in style. Elfyn Evans, followed by Sébastien Ogier and Kalle Rovanperä, all claimed victory in their No. 33, No. 17, and No. 69 Toyota GR YARIS Rally1 Hybrid Electric Vehicles respectively.
The triumph, for Evans and co-driver Scott Martin, is their third of the season and the ninth in 13 rallies this year for TGR. Toyota, meanwhile, had already sealed its manufacturers’ title during round 11 of Rally Chile before Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen secured their second drivers’ and co-drivers’ titles on the penultimate event, the Central European Rally.
Akio Toyoda, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Toyota Motor Corporation and TGR-WRT Chairman, commented: “‘To foster the culture of rallying through continuous improvement in a Japanese way’ and ‘to make the rally an essential autumn tradition in Japan’. Rally Japan this year made all of these things come true. The most impressive thing was that we were able to use Toyota Stadium as one of the special stages allowing us to watch the top drivers driving up close and in front of that many spectators. It was a rally full of exciting and amazing experiences for both fans and drivers. If we continue this kind of rally events, I am sure that motorsport will become a culture in Japan and be more popular. I would like to thank everyone who worked so hard to make Rally Japan 2023 a great success.”
This was the WRC’s second visit to the technical and demanding asphalt roads in the mountains of the Aichi and Gifu prefectures around Toyota City. Heavy rain added significantly to day one’s challenges, and this was where Evans built the foundations of his victory. Two stage wins in the most extreme wet morning weather helped him to open up a lead of almost one minute and 50 seconds over his team-mates. Day two and three brought further changeable and slippery weather conditions, but Evans managed both days expertly to seal the win. Meanwhile, Ogier and Rovanperä focused on maximising the team’s result rather than their own positions in tricky weather conditions to finally emerge in second and third place.
Over the years, Toyota has been participating in many different forms of motorsports, including Formula One, the World Endurance Championship (WEC), and the Nürburgring 24 Hours endurance race. Toyota’s participation in these events was overseen by separate entities within the company until April 2015, when Toyota established TGR, to consolidate all of its motorsports activities under one in-house brand. Representing Toyota’s belief that ‘the roads build the people, and the people build the cars,’ TGR highlights the role of motorsports as a fundamental pillar of Toyota’s commitment to making ‘ever-better’ cars. Harnessing years of experience gained under the extreme conditions of various motorsports events, TGR aims to forge new technologies and solutions that bring the freedom, adventure, and joy of driving to everyone.
● No. 33 Toyota GR YARIS Rally1 Hybrid Electric Vehicle (Elfyn Evans & Scott Martin)
Position: 1st
Time: 3h32m08.8s
● No. 17 Toyota GR YARIS Rally1 Hybrid Electric Vehicle (Sébastien Ogier & Vincent Landais)
Position: 2nd
Time: 3:33:26.5 (+1:17.7)
● No. 69 Toyota GR YARIS Rally1 Hybrid Electric Vehicle (Kalle Rovanperä & Jonne Halttunen)
Position: 3rd
Time: 3:33:55.3 (+1:46.5)
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Formula E and the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) have today revealed the next generation of race car, the new all-electric GEN3 Evo, capable of 0-60mph in 1.82s.
Leveraging a roster of innovative technical upgrades, the GEN3 Evo unveiled at H.S.H Prince Albert II’s Private Car Collection will debut in Season 11 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship where some of the world’s greatest manufacturers and drivers race wheel-to-wheel in iconic locations around the globe.
Developed by specialists from Formula E and the FIA, the latest GEN3 Evo edition marks a significant leap in electric racing technology, with acceleration 0-60mph 30% faster than a current F1 car, and 36% faster than the GEN3 car.
Capable of accelerating nearly a full second faster than its predecessor – the GEN3 – that was the world’s first race car designed for street racing, it sets an even higher standard in performance, sustainability, and efficiency. The GEN3 Evo serves as a formidable ambassador for the future of motorsport, embodying cutting-edge advancements and a commitment to environmental responsibility.
On Saturday, April 27th, Abu Dhabi will host a groundbreaking event, welcoming 10,000 spectators to witness the inaugural ASPIRE Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League (A2RL) at the iconic Yas Marina Circuit. This brand-new autonomous racing competition marks a significant milestone in motorsport history, billed as the largest league of its kind globally.
Eight teams will compete: Code19 Racing (one of the first independent autonomous racing entity from the USA), Constructor University (based in Germany and Switzerland), Fly Eagle (representing Beijing Institute of Technology from China and Khalifa University from the UAE), HUMDA Lab (a member of the Széchenyi István University Group from Hungary), KINETIZ (a collaboration between Singapore Nanyang Technological University and Kintsugi based in the UAE), PoliMOVE (representing Politecnico di Milano from Italy), UNIMORE (also from Italy - University of Modena and Reggio Emilia), and Technical University of Munich - TUM (from Germany), vying for a substantial prize purse of US$ 2.25 million.
Aston Martin’s new Vantage GT3 continues its hunt for glory in the world’s two most prestigious endurance racing series, as the FIA World Endurance Championship [WEC] and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship [IMSA] resume this weekend.
The WEC begins its European leg on Sunday with the 6 Hours of Imola (ITA), and an inaugural visit to one of the continent’s best-known circuits, before heading to Spa-Francorchamps (BEL) on 11 May, and then the 24 Hours of Le Mans on 15-16 June. Meanwhile IMSA heads to the world famous Long Beach street track for its first sprint race (100 minutes) of the season. A second-place finish in the brand-new LMGT3 class for the Heart of Racing (HoR), and third for D’station Racing, made Aston Martin the only one of the nine GT manufacturers present to score a WEC double podium finish at the season-opening 1812km of Qatar in March. It means both teams arrive in Italy in strong form.
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