Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT will be heading to the 2023 FIA World Rally Championship season-opener in Rallye Monte-Carlo with two titles from the last season in the bag after a successful Rally1 debut winning seven out of thirteen rounds.
The team is looking to secure a third successive WRC triple crown and have worked hard over the off-season to improve the winning package, for this season the team has brought some upgrades to the Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 with the obvious change being a new rear fender bodywork with a newly revised air intake for the hybrid system and an upgraded engine with a higher output.
The team will field two world champions for the Rallye Monte-Carlo, with the defending champion Kalle Rovanperä, who became WRC´s youngest-ever champion last season at the age of 22, going for the lead driver role this season. Jumping in for the first round will be the eight-time champion Sébastien Ogier, where he will target a record ninth Rallye Monte-Carlo victory.
Takamoto Katsuta will jump up to the main team this season and share the third car with Ogier but for Monte-Carlo, he is going for the fourth car outside the team to gain more experience, while Elfyn Evans is joining another season after taking two runner-up spots in the championship in 2020 and 2021 for the team.
The former works driver and current team principal Jari-Matti Latvala is expecting this season to become tougher when all three teams now have at least one driver that can challenge for the title: “As a rally fan the start of the season is always a very exciting moment and this year is no different. Every team is able to win so we expect that this season is going to be tougher and more challenging. But we like this challenge and we enjoy having to really fight for victories. Of course, we have to have the three titles as our target once again.”
“We know we have a strong car but we also know that we need to keep working hard and that there are areas where we have to improve compared to last year. Every year you have to look for where you can make your car better and there are a few things which we have changed for this year. We have everything ready; we have a car which has been competitive and reliable and our drivers are all familiar with that car and hungry for results.”
“With Rallye Monte-Carlo we start with the most difficult rally of the season. Going into the first stages in the darkness on Thursday night is a huge challenge for the drivers, and at the end of the weekend you want to finish with a good result to start the season.”
