TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRT

**TRW** · 17th June 2019, 06:56

In my opininion most of you guys are quite overly dramatic. IT IS RALLY, it has been same sport for decades whith its technical breakdowns and mental breakdowns.
I can assure you, no one will be benched from Toyota this season. I can't assure you BUT probably OT will stay in Toyota despite those breakdowns.
As you have seen many times this season, things can turn upside-down pretty fast in this sport (Evans Corsica, Neu Chile, Ogier Italy, Tanak Italy).
What I want to say is that there are too much "writing in emotion" around WRC in this new era, not only here but also on social media, it shows some fan-bases in quite a bad light

**Indreq** · 17th June 2019, 11:32

Just out of curiosity i summarized Tänaks results and main issues over last 2 seasons:
2018
Monte - 2nd, no significant problems, Ogier dominated
Sweden - 9th, initially lost time in thick snow, then collided with Meeke
Mexico - 14th, overheating, turbo boost, from 3rd position,
Corse - 2nd, minor handling problems on 1st day, Ogier dominated
Argentina - 1st
Portugal - DNF, broken radiator on 2nd stage after winning 1st
Sardegna - 9th, broken radiator, from 3rd position 16s off the lead
Finland - 1st
Germany - 1st
Turkey - 1st
GB - 19th - broken radiator, from 1st position
Spain - 6th - puncture (rim?), from 1st position
Australia - DNF - early issues in watersplash, gearbox failure caused by possible drivers error, from 1st position

2019
Monte - 3rd, wheel rim, from 3rd position, later won bunch of stages to climb back.
Sweden - 1st
Mexico - 2nd, lost too much time on sweeping on Friday to catch Ogier
Corse - 6th, wheel rim, from 1st position
Argentina - 8th, early lead lost due to broken driveshaft, then retired for day from 2nd due to alternator failure
Chile - 1st
Portual - 1st, brakes and damper issues
Sardegna - 5th, power steering failure, from 1st position

**mknight** · 17th June 2019, 11:43

He wasn't completely innocent in all those though, just first things that come to mind:
- Sardinia 2018, only one to drive full trottle on a jump breaking the car
- GB 2018, soft front suspension setup causing them to scratch sump guard on just about every corner.. until it broke off and broke the radiator. Who decides setup? Driver is prbly a bit involved.
- Corsica 2019, cut where for example Meeke had "don't cut" in notes, Latvala also took same cut and got a puncture and said immediatelly at stage end it was his fault

Sure the car let him down quite a few times, but not every single time listed.

**racerx1979** · 17th June 2019, 11:53

The steering issue they had was a bad one to be honest. One thing a lot of people do not know is that Toyota team has been briefed to keep calm about vehicle issues. They do not want the brand to be hurt so they try to be very politically correct during interviews, but in the background it's a different story. In hot weather rallies they have a ton of issues... I mean everything from overheating dampers, hydraulic issues and fuel problems. With hydraulics they have had handbrake, brake, power steering issues and other issues.

A lot of issues unfortunately are trial and error. M-Sport and Citroen knows what works and what doesn't based on past experience. With Toyota they are young and learning many things now. No excuses, but these things take time and as easy at it seems some components work as a group and it's not as easy as just replacing a single component and all things are good.

JML's steering literally locked in place and he was not able to move it at all. This is similar to what happened to Tanak. They have had issues where the PS system gets too hot and they will break a tooth in the rack and pinion causing the system to lock and eventually fail. At the end of the day they would have had two Toyota's in the podium if it were not for these issues. TGR is a young team by all means and what makes it difficult is that they're a new team. It's not like Citroen taking a few years off and coming back... they still have their faithful suppliers unlike Toyota who is dealing with suppliers for a first time and many of these components are part of the TGR group who do not have WRC experience.

I honestly think if Toyota had it all figured out these last few years would be boring as they would dominate the scene. At this rate the only way Neuville and Ogier will win is due to TGR issues... similar to last year and the year before with JML's issues.

**wrc2017** · 17th June 2019, 11:59

Great post

**Indreq** · 17th June 2019, 12:12

Originally Posted by mknight

He wasn't completely innocent in all those though, just first things that come to mind:
- Sardinia 2018, only one to drive full trottle on a jump breaking the car
- GB 2018, soft front suspension setup causing them to scratch sump guard on just about every corner.. until it broke off and broke the radiator. Who decides setup? Driver is prbly a bit involved.
- Corsica 2019, cut where for example Meeke had "don't cut" in notes, Latvala also took same cut and got a puncture and said immediatelly at stage end it was his fault

Sure the car let him down quite a few times, but not every single time listed.

You are probably right. As you see i kept it compact, but many stress-related failures happen because stress is applied. Now the question is how much stress should car take before failing and did driver have correct expectation or was he too optimistic?

**EstWRC** · 17th June 2019, 12:22

Markko Märtin said loud and clear in Estonian autosport magazine last year that the car should handle those things.

**Tarmop** · 17th June 2019, 12:25

Didn`t we already come to a conclusion (several times, last year) that There were 1-2 drivers who DID LIFT...and didn`t Mäkinen just a month or so back say, that the issue is ineed in the rims, though setup-related? In terms of setup-talk, there is some truth yes.

What EstWRC said, in addition to Märtin some other WRC-related people have said, that a WRCar can`t break in these kind of situations.

**T16** · 17th June 2019, 13:38

Originally Posted by EstWRC

Comment from Akio Toyoda, Team Chairman, Concerning the Outcome of the Rally Italia Sardegna, Rd. 8 of FIA World Rally Championship

"It was a heartbreaking ending to Rally Italia Sardegna. As I felt Ott and Martin's strong ambition to bring me to the podium again, I was lost for words when I saw their car slowing down in the final stage. But I think the disappointment is bigger for the driver and the co-driver than for anyone else.

I'm very sorry that we couldn't let the drivers drive through to the finish. I'm very sorry for all the fans who were watching the fight.

I have never before released any comment without a victory. But I want to convey my feelings via my own words this time. It was really important that I could see the competitions on site in Italy.

Takamoto said sorry to me after he retired from the rally. I don't think he needed to say sorry. I'm looking forward to seeing Takamoto standing on the podium with the Yaris WRC in the future. We need to convert the experience from this rally into strength for the days to come.

Kris said to me that the Yaris gives him a very good feeling to drive. I'm very happy to hear that, when he's driving the car at an exhilarating speed. I'm looking forward to seeing the outcome one day.

Jari-Matti said to me that he will definitely bring me a good result next time. Having seen Jari-Matti's struggling appearance many times, I am sure that good luck will come to him too.

And Ott... I will never forget the regretful expression in his face when he got out of the car. He hugged with the mechanics one by one, facing the sadness with all of the team members. I was touched by this scene. I thought Ott and all the members of Car No. 8 must be the champion by any means from my heart.

What I can do is to make the Yaris the "even better car" and " much more reliable car to continue driving". I will carry out this goal together with Tommi by any means.

To all the fans, I wish for your continuous support for TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRT.

source https://global.toyota/en/newsroom/toyota/28545399.html

Excuse my ignorance, but who is Takamoto?