Latest news with #PowerStage
Arab Times
a day ago
- Automotive
- Arab Times
TOYOTA GAZOO Racing achieves historic Rally Estonia victory
TALLINN, Aug 9: TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team (TGR-WRT) returned to the top of the podium at Rally Estonia, powered by a sensational debut performance from Oliver Solberg. Manning the No. 99 Toyota GR YARIS Rally1 alongside co-driver Elliott Edmondson, Solberg claimed his maiden WRC victory, which also marks Toyota's 100th win in the history of the FIA World Rally Championship. The team's efforts have also helped Toyota retain its position at the top of the manufacturers' standings, holding a 52-point lead as the 2025 season passes the halfway mark. Akio Toyoda, TGR-WRT Chairman, commented: 'Oliver, Elliott, congratulations on your victory! I've heard from the team that Juha has been giving Oliver various pieces of advice, as it was his first time competing with the GR YARIS Rally1. I am very grateful to Juha. The next rally is our home rally. We will put on the best performance for the people of Jyväskylä, who always support us. I'm counting on everyone in the team!' Rally Estonia marked a career-defining debut for 23-year-old Solberg, who was handed the opportunity to drive the No. 99 Toyota GR YARIS Rally1 alongside co-driver Edmondson. After two days of testing in Finland, he quickly found his rhythm on Estonia's high-speed gravel roads. Solberg made an immediate impact, winning his first career stage in the opening forest tests to take the rally lead. Two more stage wins later that day gave him a 12.4-second advantage. Despite a reduced road position advantage, Solberg maintained his momentum, adding four more stage wins to extend his lead to 21.1 seconds. Rainfall added to the challenge in the final leg, but Solberg remained composed, securing two more stage wins to bring his total to nine. A measured Power Stage run, where he posted the third-fastest time, sealed a landmark 25.2-second victory and capped one of the most impressive performances in recent WRC memory. With this result, he becomes the third-youngest driver to win a WRC round and the 16th to do so in a Toyota. 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.
Belfast Telegraph
03-08-2025
- Automotive
- Belfast Telegraph
Josh McErlean full of glee after turning in impressive display at ‘crazy but enjoyable' Rally Finland
McErlean delivered consistent pace and a clean performance across all four legs of the Jyvaskyla-based gravel fixture to add to his tally of FIA World Rally Championship points in seventh. Changeable conditions and rutted sections meant it was not always a case of fifth-gear driving, with this requiring a more measured approach by the 26-year-old on occasions. McErlean was promoted to eighth place on SS15 when Sesks was forced to pull over and stop due to a misted windscreen impairing his visibility, while he was handed another spot on the Power Stage due to Hyundai Motorsport's Adrien Fourmaux retiring his i20 N Rally1 having hit a large rock. Two-time world champion Kalle Rovanpera stole the Rally Finland show, ending an eight-year wait for a local winner and leading a 1-2-3-4-5 clean sweep for Toyota Gazoo Racing. 'It has been generally good and it is nice to end as the top M-Sport driver so, overall, I don't think we could ask for much more than that,' said McErlean, who took former Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond on a blast through Thursday's Ruuhimaki shakedown stage. 'It is not a straightforward rally, to go through these forests at such high speeds, so to make it to the end is really pleasing for me personally. 'You have to take so many risks and you have to be pinpoint perfect with your pace notes because if you get out of line, it is game over, so it is nice to get through. Hopefully, we can continue to build from here. 'Finland has been a crazy rally, but it has been one of the most enjoyable so far this season. Coming to Finland in a Rally1 car was always going to be something special, and to experience these conditions and these stages, especially Ouninpohja today, was nice. Finishing as the top M-Sport car in seventh is a great way to end the experience.' Meanwhile, Kris Meeke consolidated his lead in the Portuguese Rally Championship with two rounds left after scoring maximum points at Rali da Madeira alongside Stuart Loudon. It was some consolation for the Dungannon native, who was confident of challenging for a maiden win at an event that has been less than kind to him on three of his previous four visits. He was in the mix after five stages before a puncture on the 13.78-mile 'Palheiro Ferreiro' test cost Meeke the guts of half a minute and dropped him three places to sixth position. He rebounded on the next stage, moving up to fifth where he finished the Tarmac classic. 'Obviously I tried, but the puncture set us back quite a lot and our speed was not enough to fight at the front,' said Meeke. 'On the last couple of stages, it came good and I started to find a rhythm, but you need knowledge of those roads to go fast.'
eNCA
03-08-2025
- Automotive
- eNCA
Rovanpera delights home crowd with Rally of Finland victory
Finland's Kalle Rovanpera boosted his bid for a third world rally championship title with a dominant win in front of his home fans in the Rally of Finland on Sunday. The 24-year-old Toyota driver, world champion in 2022/23, competing in his birthplace swept the points, securing 35, having also won the 'Power Stage' and the 'Super Sunday' to move into second place, just three points off series leader Elfyn Evans. Rovanpera, winning his home rally for the first time, recorded his 17th career win, second this term, beating two other Toyota drivers Japan's Takamoto Katsuta and Sebastien Ogier of France. Ogier lies in third place overall, 13 points adrift of Evans, who finished fourth and replaced Ott Tanak on top of the title standings as the Estonian endured a nightmare race and finished 10th. The Hyundai driver's hopes of victory had disappeared when he was slapped with a five-minute penalty after an incident on Friday. Tanak left the control zone after tyre scanning before receiving permission from a scrutineer and struck the official with his front bumper resulting in minor injuries. His sanction also carries a suspended penalty of 35 championship points. The title race looks set to go down to the wire with just five races remaining, though, defending champion Thierry Neuville's hopes of defending his crown dimmed further as he finished sixth. The drivers move on to the Rally of Paraguay, which runs from August 28-31.
Cambrian News
21-07-2025
- Automotive
- Cambrian News
Elfyn Evans loses WRC lead as Solberg claims shock Rally Estonia win
Once more tasked with running first on the road and sweeping the loose gravel stages on Friday, Elfyn Evans also had a strong final day with co-driver Scott Martin, gaining sixth overall and finishing fourth on Super Sunday and fifth in the Power Stage to leave just one point behind the championship lead. TGR-WRT continues to lead the manufacturers' standings by 52 points.
Belfast Telegraph
21-07-2025
- Automotive
- Belfast Telegraph
I know where my car shines on fast rallies... now it's up to me to commit more and lift bar: Josh McErlean
The M-Sport Ford points-scorer made 10th place his own for much of the Tartu-based meeting before gaining a spot prior to the end-of-rally Power Stage when Takamoto Katsuta retired. A solid weekend's work was capped off by Kilrea man McErlean once again getting the better of the more experienced Gregoire Munster in the second of the three works-supported Pumas. The only blot in his copybook came on Saturday's 10.9-mile 'Kanepi' test when the 26-year-old failed to scrub off enough speed as he approached a junction and went off the road into a ditch. Thankfully, quick-thinking – and a heavy right foot – spared his blushes. 'It was a super-fast rally and really enjoyable to drive, and okay, although we were cleaning the road for most of it on the Saturday and Sunday, we now have our brain dialled into these fast roads, how the car works and how and where we can commit,' said McErlean, who now turns his attention to Rally Finland, which will run from July 31 to August 3. 'I think overall, we can be happy with our pace compared to Gregoire, and we now have a quick turnaround for the next round in Finland where we hope we can step it up again. 'We have the experience now – we have done a fast rally in a Rally1 car – so it is all good preparation. 'We did not make any big mistakes, which is good, and that will only help our confidence going to Finland – a place where, if you are low on confidence, it is not ideal. The feeling is okay. Now, we just have to start committing more and trusting the process.' McErlean hopes his performance in the Baltic state over the course of the gravel test is a sign he has got his maiden Rally1 campaign back on track after consecutive opening-day retirements at Rally Italia Sardegna and Acropolis Rally Greece respectively. 'It was nice to settle down a bit after the last two rallies where a couple of mistakes kept us out of the points. It is definitely nice to make it to the finish here in Estonia,' he added. Oliver Solberg, on his Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 debut, stunned the WRC with a sensational victory. Despite only being notified of the drive a fortnight previously – and having had the benefit of limited pre-event testing – the 23-year-old secured a breakthrough win by 25.2 seconds.
