Toyota City, Japan, July 22, 2024 - (JCN Newswire) - TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team has claimed a second successive one-two finish after Kalle Rovanperä stormed to victory ahead of Sébastien Ogier at the FIA World Rally Championship’s first Rally Latvia.

Returning to the high-speed gravel roads where he began his rally career as a teenager, Rovanperä and co-driver Jonne Halttunen led the rally from the opening stage in Riga on Thursday night. They won 11 stages along the way – recording their 200th career fastest time on Saturday morning – as they marked their 50th start at the highest level of the WRC with their 14th victory.

Ogier and co-driver Vincent Landais made an impressive return to action after being forced to miss the previous round in Poland – which made this Ogier’s first fast European gravel rally for almost three years. He was already the top debutant on Latvian soil when he ended Friday in third place, before taking second away from the local favourite Mārtiņš Sesks (M-Sport Ford) on Saturday.

With its one-two result, TGR-WRT took maximum manufacturers’ points from the overall standings plus second and third in the separate Super Sunday classification – where Ogier was denied top spot by just 0.2 seconds. With the Power Stage results also factored in, the team closes to within one point of the championship lead.

Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin finished fifth overall on an event where road position was a significant factor on the loose gravel stages. Running second on the road on Friday, Evans still did well relative to his championship rivals and, finishing fourth in the Super Sunday classification, has closed to within 13 points of the series leader.

Takamoto Katsuta and co-driver Aaron Johnston showed good confidence and pace from the start of the rally, holding fourth position at the end of Friday before a small overshoot on Saturday’s SS12 caused damage to the power steering system, leaving them sixth at the finish.

There was also a double podium for the Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 in the WRC2 category, with Mikko Heikkilä finishing in second place for Step-Five Motorsport and Sami Pajari third for Printsport after an exciting battle between the two Finnish drivers. Pajari, who won WRC2 on the two previous rounds in Sardinia and Poland, will make his Rally1 debut with TGR-WRT on the next event in Finland.

For more information, visit https://toyotagazooracing.com/wrc/release/2024/rd08-day4/. 

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