The TOYOTA GAZOO Racing (TGR) World Rally Team (WRT) has recently secured top position at the 2023 FIA World Rally Championship’s (WRC) Rally de Portugal to claim its fourth victory out of five rounds this year. Kalle Rovanperä's performance in the No. 69 GR YARIS Rally1 Hybrid Electric Vehicle, along with the victory of him and Jonne Halttunen, the reigning world champions, in the rally-ending Power Stage, has extended the team's FIA WRC lead by 17 points.
With its second consecutive Rally de Portugal victory, TGR-WRT repeats the maximum score they achieved in last year’s rally. It is also the fourth time in a row that the team has won in Portugal.
Rovanperä built these results on his strong opening day performance while running second in the road order on the loose gravel stages. He led by 10.8 seconds at the end of the day, with his stunning speed on day two then allowing him to move over 50s clear.
By the end of the third day, the team continued its winning streak by achieving another victory in the final Power Stage, setting the quickest time by 0.717s and sealing the rally victory by 54.7s.
Akio Toyoda, TGR-WRT Chairman, commented: “Kalle, Jonne, congratulations on your first victory this year! I could see that Kalle was enjoying driving just as much as he did last year. This victory is a wonderful way to celebrate Mother’s Day, and it will allow him to truly relish the experience of drifting at Japan’s Ebisu circuit. When he joins Formula Drift Japan next week, he will showcase another impressive display of his driving skills to his Japanese fans. In the two weeks leading up to the next rally in Sardinia, Kalle will be drifting with the GR Corolla in Fukushima, Japan, and Jari-Matti will be driving the GR Corolla in the 24-hour endurance race at Fuji Speedway. I am delighted that the team continues to enjoy their time racing with Toyota around the world, not just during rally weeks. As we enter the middle stages of the WRC season, we will continue to savor the experience of driving Toyota vehicles and strive for the best possible results."
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.
The sixth round of the 2023 FIA WRC is Rally Italia Sardegna, which will take place from June 1-4 June.
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Nissan Formula E Team is excited to announce a four-year global partnership with Petromin Corporation, a leading mobility solutions provider in the Middle East. The partnership will be primarily focused on the company’s EV charging subsidiary, Electromin, as the business looks ahead to a wider adoption of electric mobility in the region.
The Mercedes-AMG ONE has been the fastest production car on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife since October 2022 and has been unrivalled ever since. The only rival is the ONE itself. Now Mercedes AMG brand ambassador and DTM driver Maro Engel has once again significantly improved the lap time he set. With an officially measured and notarised time of 6:29.090 minutes for the 20.832-kilometre track, the hypercar with Formula 1™ technology beat its own record for production vehicles by over five seconds. This makes the Mercedes AMG ONE the first road car to beat the magic mark of 6:30 minutes. It is also the only series hybrid hypercar to date to have taken on the world's most demanding racetrack and is the undisputed leader in the super-sports-car class. In order to achieve the lofty goals they had set for themselves, meticulous preparation was necessary. In addition, the track conditions had to be ideal in order to beat the 6:30 minute target. On September 23, 2024, at 6:56 p.m., on his third timed lap, Maro Engel achieved the new record. With temperatures of 15 degrees Celsius (air) and 20 degrees Celsius (asphalt), the legendary Nordschleife was dry throughout and offered perfect grip.
Like Lewis Hamilton and George Russell on their Formula 1™ race weekends, Maro Engel also had to make the best possible use of the hybrid drive's electrical energy. This is particularly challenging, especially with a track length of more than 20 kilometres. Therefore, it is immensely important to use the right sections of the track to recuperate during braking phases and thus store energy in the batteries again.
To do this, Maro Engel utilised the AMG ONE's four-stage Energy Flow Control (EFC) system and in some cases deliberately took his foot off the accelerator a little earlier than he normally would. In technical jargon, this is known as “lift and coast”. Preliminary tests in the driving simulator in Affalterbach and on the Nordschleife itself provided the necessary insights, which the team and driver were able to optimally implement for the record lap. In accordance with the specifications of Nürburgring 1927 GmbH & Co KG, the vehicle was tested and documented by TÜV Rheinland to ensure that it was in standard condition. A notary confirmed that the record drive had been carried out correctly.
The new Aston Martin Vantage GT3 heads into this weekend’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (IMSA) finale – the Petit Le Mans 10-hour race at Road Atlanta – deep in the hunt for its first major title.
The new Aston Martin Vantage GT3 has enjoyed a stellar debut season of international competition. The car recorded a historic victory in the centenary edition of the Crowdstrike 24 Hours of Spa in June, a first for the British ultraluxury sportscar brand in the modern GT era. It also achieved Aston Martin’s first ever Autobacs Super GT class victory in Japan in the same month. As well as this, Vantage has clinched class wins in the FIA World Endurance Championship, IMSA, the Nürburgring Langstrecken Series and ADAC GT Masters through the summer.
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