The Toyota Team finished first and second on a gruelling Rally Turkey with drivers Ott Tanak and Jari-Matti Latvala. It is the first such result for the team since its return to the FIA World Rally Championship at the start of 2017 and moves the squad to the top of the manufacturers’ standings. It is the third win in a row for Tanak and the Toyota Yaris WRC: the first time any driver or team has achieved such a streak since the latest era of World Rally Cars was introduced last season.
“This has been another absolutely brilliant weekend for us. Thank you to Ott and to Jari-Matti: they concentrated really hard and didn’t make any mistakes. It was a new rally for everybody, with some very technical stages, and we saw that it was easy to make mistakes. It was a big challenge as well for the cars but we managed it well and this is the result. The team has done a fantastic job with the cooling package and everything else, and now our car seems to be very reliable. It is great to now be leading the manufacturers’ championship and we will keep working hard until the end of the season”, Team Principal Tommi Mäkinen said.
We finished first and second on a gruelling @rallyturkey with drivers @otttanak and @jmlatvala. ?
Watch the recap from the last day of the rally from our Facebook page! ?#TOYOTA #YarisWRC #RallyTurkey #Winners #Rallying #WRC #WRClive #OttTanak #JariMattiLatvala @OfficialWRC pic.twitter.com/LFPsvc129z
— TGR_WRC (@TGR_WRC) September 16, 2018
Latvala added it was a great result for the team
“The main thing was to get the one-two finish and we did it. Everything went according to plan. I tried to be clever and not do anything stupid and I had a consistent run. We are trying hard to win the manufacturers’ championship so these points were very valuable, and the remainder of the season now looks very exciting. For me, it is very nice to be on the podium again. Things have started to look better since Finland. Now let’s keep it going this way”, the Finn explained.
Feels good to be back in the TOP5!! ?#WRC Drivers’ Standings ?
1️⃣ Neuville 177 pts
2️⃣ Tänak 164 pts
3️⃣ Ogier 154 pts
4️⃣ Lappi 88 pts
5️⃣ Latvala 75 pts
6️⃣ Mikkelsen 75 pts#TGR_WRC #WRC pic.twitter.com/GBKhiTtyfX— Jari-Matti Latvala (@JariMattiWRC) September 16, 2018
Tanak took a third consecutive victory and is definitely now in the battle for the 2018 WRC title
“This rally was so difficult. From the beginning, we knew that it will not be the fastest driver that will win this rally but that it would be the smartest. We were the most consistent and we managed to do the whole rally without any issues or having to stop on any of the stages. Obviously, it has been a great team effort and they have been able to build a very strong car. The championship is now wide open so let’s keep pushing”, the Estonian commented.
? WE DID IT AGAIN!!! ?
?? WINNERS OF RALLY TURKEY 2018! ??We knew it will be really difficult here, but we didn’t expect anything like that. Still, we managed to do it and it’s a hat-trick, third time in a row to win WRC event! ??#WINNERS #RallyTurkey #WRC #Toyota pic.twitter.com/Zw3GuNaiMG
— Ott Tänak (@OttTanak) September 16, 2018
