Toyota GAZOO Racing World Rally Team Principal Tommi Mäkinen was delighted with his team’s performance on the final round of the 2018 FIA World Rally Championship.
As well as clinching the Manufactures Championship just two years after returning to the series, Jari-Matti Latvala also took his first win of the season and Mäkinen was delighted with the results.
He said: “It’s an absolutely amazing feeling today. This was the toughest final round of a season that I can remember. Ott’s (Tänak) retirement so near the end was a big disappointment, but it was absolutely brilliant that Jari-Matti could win again. Esapekka (Lappi) also helped us score the points we needed. We started this project three-and-a-half years ago and we have developed much faster than we imagined.”
“Last year we were here to learn and to gather data. In the second half of this season we were able to find a lot of improvements with the car. This is the result of the huge effort from everybody in the team, and I am sure this success will just further motivate us all to continue improving in 2019.”
Next season sees Latvala and championship contender in 2018 Tänak continue with Toyota with the pair being joined by Kris Meeke, who returns to the sport after being dismissed by Citroen midway through this year while Lappi moves in the opposite direction to drive the second C3 WRC alongside Sebastien Ogier.
