I also want to thank Takamoto for getting to the finish after the issue on Friday which meant we couldn’t see his whole potential on this event. When these things came together this weekend, he was unstoppable. Even if he hasn’t been winning recently, Kalle’s performances have still been at a high level there were just some little things missing from the puzzle which he has found here, with confidence in the car and the motivation and hunger to win. But Kalle was driving superbly and in the end it was a dominant victory with a great Power Stage win as well.
On Friday things were looking quite difficult for us because we lost two cars and only had one left in the fight. “We are feeling really happy with this victory here in Portugal. We’ll keep enjoying Toyota cars and continue to strive for the best result.” The WRC season is now getting into the middle stages. I am happy that the team always enjoys with Toyota somewhere in the world, not only during the rally week. Kalle will be drifting with GR Corolla in Fukushima, Japan, and Jari-Matti will be driving also with GR Corolla at the 24-hour endurance race in Fuji Speedway. The team and cars will stay in Portugal and the maintenance work will be done at Toyota Caetano Portugal. There are only two weeks before the next rally in Sardinia. The team will work together to pursue the true cause of the issue for the next event. I am very sorry that the mechanical trouble happened on his car. Takamoto was really fired up to get finally to the podium after finishing fourth in Portugal two years in a row. We will take it as an opportunity to make the car better so that he can drive it at will. I am sorry that he was not able to feel comfortable to push with our car. He will show another side of his best driving to Japanese fans when he joins Formula Drift Japan next week.Įlfyn had to open the road after his win in the last event in Croatia, but he was showing a bold attack until his accident. Today’s victory is a great gift for Mothers’ Day, and now he should be able to truly enjoy drifting at Ebisu circuit in Japan.
I was looking at his driving this season with these thoughts. But on the other hand, I felt there was nothing to worry about because I could see he was always enjoying driving the same as last year. I actually had a bit of concern for Kalle as it seemed not easy for him to get the best result this year. “Kalle, Jonne, congratulations on your first victory this year! Katsuta had to stop on Friday morning with a technical issue but could restart on Saturday and took a stage win of his own in Sunday’s first stage. Takamoto Katsuta and co-driver Aaron Johnston set the fourth-fastest time in the Power Stage to bank additional points for the manufacturers’ championship, which the team continues to lead by 32 points. On Sunday he recorded his ninth stage win of the weekend in the first pass over the famous fan-favourite Fafe test, before making it 10 when he returned there for the Power Stage – setting the quickest time by 0.717s while sealing the rally victory by 54.7s. He led by 10.8 seconds at the end of the day, and stunning speed on Saturday morning then allowed him to move over 50s clear. Rovanperä built his result on a strong performance on Friday’s opening day while running second in the road order on the loose gravel stages.
It is also the fourth time in a row that TGR-WRT has won in Portugal, and the team’s fourth victory from five rounds in 2023.
The victory is the first of the season for reigning world champions Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen, and moves them to the head of the standings by 17 points after they also won the rally-ending Fafe Power Stage – repeating the maximum score they achieved on the same event one year ago. TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team’s Kalle Rovanperä is back on top of the FIA World Rally Championship after a dominant drive to win the Rally de Portugal for the second year in succession.
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