Toyota GAZOO Racing World Rally Team's new GR YARIS Rally1 car has reached its first victory in Rally Sweden. In the second race of the 2022 FIA World Rally Championship, Kalle Rovanpera achieved an important victory by reaching the finish in first place. Esapekka Lappi, one of the Toyota drivers, contributed to the team's podium success by placing third in the rally.
Held in the new rally center Umea, the Rally Sweden took place over the weekend with a close fight between the three drivers. Rovanpera managed to take the lead on Saturday in Rally Sweden, which stood out with high-speed snow-covered stages. Rovanpera, who managed to win 19 of 6 stages, managed to outrun his closest rival by 22 seconds. This was the third win of his WRC career, along with his co-driver Jonne Halttunen. With his Rally Sweden victory, Rovanpera shared the same success with his father, Harri, who won it here again in 2001. With this victory, the young driver also took the lead in the Drivers' Championship by 14 points.
Lappi, who put up a close fight for second place on Saturday, had a good rally for his team, taking third place with a margin of 8.6 seconds. The strong performance of the other driver of the team, Elfyn Evans, came to an end due to the problems experienced after the damage he caused to the front of his vehicle.
With these results, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing placed first in the Constructors' Championship by 24 points.
However, three GR YARIS Rally1 cars competing in the Rally finished in the top four. Takamoto Katsuta's fourth place earned significant points for TGR WRT Next Generation.
Team captain Jari-Matti Latvala stated that Rovanpera showed an incredible performance by winning the rally. I thank him and the team for bringing our first victory with GR YARIS Rally1.” said.
The winner of the race, Kalle Rovanpera, said that it was a very good feeling to win in Sweden. “After being the first car on the road on Friday, we achieved a very good result. I had difficulties in this car in the first rally in Monte Carlo, but here I was much better all weekend. A big thank you to the team for making the car better and making me more comfortable.” he said.
The next stop of the World Rally Championship will be Rally Croatia, which will be held on 21-24 April. The third race of the season will be held on different asphalt roads around the capital Zagreb.
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