Toyota seals wrc manufacturers’ championship as ogier claims first place at rally de españa

The Toyota GAZOO Racing (TGR) World Rally Team (WRT) recently completed a FIA World Rally Championship treble as Toyota clinched the 2022 manufacturers’ title with a superb win at Rally de España for Sébastien Ogier in the No. 1 Toyota GR YARIS Rally1 Hybrid Electric Vehicle. The success of the manufacturers’ championship follows the drivers’ and co-drivers’ titles secured by Kalle Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen during the previous rally in New Zealand. 

The victory marks the second year in a row that the team has achieved a clean sweep of the three available WRC titles, as well as the sixth occasion that Toyota has topped the WRC’s manufacturers’ classification. This rally win in Spain was the team’s seventh of the season. 

In his first asphalt rally since January’s Rallye Monte-Carlo, Ogier was among the pacesetters from the start, winning three stages in the No. 1 Toyota GR YARIS Rally1 Hybrid Electric Vehicle during the first day, despite the challenging roads and mixed weather conditions. He took three more stage wins in a commanding performance on day two as he pulled away from the pack, going on to win the last two stages of the rally on the last day - including the final Power Stage - and clinch victory by 16.4 seconds. 

Ogier’s teammate, Rovanperä, was also in the battle for the lead during day one when he was fastest in four stages in the No. 69 Toyota GR YARIS Rally1 Hybrid Electric Vehicle, before eventually finishing in third position overall. 

Akio Toyoda, President of Toyota Motor Corporation and TGR Team Founder, commented: “Congratulations to everybody on the team. I am very happy to see the team achieve all three titles in the drivers, co-drivers and manufacturers championships, just as we did last year. Above all, I am incredibly pleased that the GR Yaris has become a triple champion. Four GR YARIS Rally1 Hybrid Electric Vehicles, ten drivers and co-drivers, all the staff and partners who supported them and the avid fans across the world – this is a championship we clinched thanks to them.”

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 involvement in these events was overseen by separate ‎entities within the company until April 2015, when Toyota established GR ‎to consolidate its motorsports activities under one in-house brand. Representing ‎Toyota’s belief that ‘the roads build the people’ and ‘the people build the cars’ - GR highlights the role of motorsports as a fundamental pillar of Toyota’s commitment to ‎making ‘ever-better’ cars. Harnessing years of experience garnered under the extreme ‎conditions of various motorsports events, GR aims to forge new ‎technologies and solutions that bring the freedom, adventure and joy of driving to everyone.

The season concludes with the thirteenth and final round of the championship, Rally Japan, which is scheduled to be held over four days between 10 and 13 November. Returning to the WRC calendar for the seventh time, the event will be based in Nagoya in the Chūbu Region and is set to be contested over 19 special stages covering a total competitive distance of 283.27 kilometers.