TOYOTA GAZOO Racing reinforces WRC line-up with youth and experience for 2025

Toyota City, Japan, Nov 25, 2024 – (JCN Newswire) – TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team has presented its line-up for the 2025 FIA World Rally Championship season as it further strengthens its squad of drivers with a mix of young talent and title-winning experience.

After winning eight out of 13 rallies in 2024 and claiming a fourth consecutive manufacturers’ championship at the season-ending Rally Japan, TGR-WRT will enter 2025 with the mission to defend its crown and fight for the drivers’ and co-drivers’ titles. It will be able to count on an expanded line-up of cars and drivers, with four or five GR Yaris Rally1 entries set to appear on each event.

Joining the team to start his first full season at the highest level will be Sami Pajari, following an impressive 2024 season in which he won the WRC2 drivers’ championship driving the GR Yaris Rally2 car and performed well in his first three outings in Rally1 machinery in Finland, Chile and Central Europe. The 22-year-old from Finland’s promotion demonstrates TGR-WRT’s commitment to developing young drivers as well as the GR Yaris Rally2’s role in providing a pathway to the top of the sport.

Pajari, who will confirm the identity of his co-driver in due course, is one of four drivers who are set to feature on every rally.

Double world champions Kalle Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen will return to competing full-time with the team in 2025 after taking four wins from seven starts during a partial campaign this year. Elfyn Evans and co-driver Scott Martin, winners of last weekend’s Rally Japan, continue for their sixth successive season with the team, with Takamoto Katsuta and Aaron Johnston also returning for another year. Eight-time world champion Sébastien Ogier and co-driver Vincent Landais will once more contest a partial schedule of selected events after scoring three victories this season.

TGR-WRT is pleased to confirm that Jari-Matti Latvala will continue in the role of Team Principal. In the last four seasons, in addition to overseeing numerous victories and championship titles, Latvala has been a trusted associate for the team’s drivers while also helping to identify and develop new talent such as Pajari.

As part of TOYOTA GAZOO Racing’s driver-first approach, Latvala has also been given the opportunity by Akio Toyoda, TGR-WRT Chairman, to continue pursuing his first love of driving alongside his duties of Team Principal – for example, competing in Rally Finland with a GR Yaris Rally1 in 2023 and GR Yaris Rally2 in 2024. This will continue in 2025 when Latvala will drive one of the most successful Toyota rally cars – the Celica ST185 – in the FIA European Historic Rally Championship. He will do so in the colours of TGR, helping to connect the eras of Toyota participation in WRC and further share its passion for rallying with fans.

In order to best support the team and ensure the continuation of the successful driver-first approach, Juha Kankkunen will take up the role of Deputy Team Principal. A four-time world champion, who won the last of his titles driving the Toyota Celica ST185 in 1993, Kankkunen will bring considerable experience of success to share with the drivers and other team members. He already knows the team well, having attended several events in an ambassadorial role over the past few years.

Quotes:Jari-Matti Latvala (Team Principal):“The 2024 season presented new challenges for our team, but we continued to perform at a high level and kept fighting until the final day to successfully retain our manufacturers’ title. For 2025, we are really happy to continue with the same drivers who have been performing strongly for us over recent seasons, and to have more drivers strengthening our efforts for the full championship. It’s also great to welcome Sami Pajari to our line-up thanks to the investment that we are making to develop young drivers. Sami has made great steps this year and we are confident that he’s ready to move up to the highest level. Personally, I’m very excited to have the opportunity to combine my role as Team Principal with my passion for driving, competing with the legendary Toyota Celica, and I’m really pleased that Juha Kankkunen will take on the role of Deputy Team Principal to support me and the team on WRC events: he knows the team well and brings a lot of experience to the role.”

Juha Kankkunen (Deputy Team Principal):“It is a great pleasure for me to take on this role with the team. During my career I drove with many different teams but I had nine years in total with Toyota: it was the first manufacturer to give me an opportunity in the WRC, and I believe it is probably the best team in the world. There are very good people and the cooperation has always been excellent between Europe and Japan. This team spirit and teamwork is very important and everybody is pushing together. I have a good relationship with Akio Toyoda, having been driving together with him in demonstration events in the last few years, and also with Jari-Matti, who is a great person and very easy to talk with. I’m really happy to work more closely with them and to help the team where I can.”

Elfyn Evans:“I’m very happy to continue with TGR-WRT next year. Since 2020 we’ve had some great seasons together, and although 2024 could have been even more successful, I know that there’s still a lot of potential in the team and I feel I have plenty more to give as well. So I’m looking forward to continuing our partnership. We know that we need to keep working hard together and hopefully we can achieve more good results in the future.”

Kalle Rovanperä:“I’m really excited that I will be driving in the full WRC season again next year. This year has been quite different for me, driving a few different cars and still winning some rallies at the same time. It’s been a nice year, but it’s also given me a lot of motivation to return for the full season, to push together with Jonne for the drivers’ and co-drivers’ titles and do our best with the team to win the manufacturers’ championship too.”

Sébastien Ogier:“It’s really exciting to remain with TOYOTA GAZOO Racing for 2025. We have already had five very fantastic seasons together with a lot of victories and success and I’m really looking forward to continuing this story. Once again my main goal is to give my support to the team in the manufacturers’ championship in a partial programme, and hopefully we can manage to win all three titles. Let’s keep pushing the limits together.”

Takamoto Katsuta:“I’m really happy that I will continue driving with the team in 2025. It has been a challenging season for me this year, and I want to thank the team and everyone who has been supporting me in the difficult moments. I feel I have shown my speed on most of the rallies, so the confidence is growing and I just need to find the right rhythm through every rally: this is my main target next year. If everything goes well, I’m sure I can fight for more podiums.”

Sami Pajari:“This is a dream come true for me and I’m really grateful to TOYOTA GAZOO Racing and the team for giving me this amazing opportunity. There have also been many important people who have been helping me and making this possible. It has been an incredible year for us in the GR Yaris Rally2 and in our first events in the Rally1 car, and although we have now reached the place we were aiming for, I also know that this is where the hard work really starts to learn and to push for good results in the future.”

TGR WRC Challenge ProgramThe TGR WRC Challenge Program started in 2015 aiming to develop professional rally drivers who can compete on the world stage, following in the footsteps of Takamoto Katsuta. The program’s second-generation drivers Hikaru Kogure and Yuki Yamamoto will both continue in 2025. It will be their second season driving the GR Yaris Rally2 car on events, including WRC2 rounds, after gaining valuable experience this year.

A third generation of drivers, Shotaro Goto and Takumi Matsushita, were selected to join the program ahead of 2024. Having now taken part in their first rallies in Europe in Rally4 cars, they will continue their training in 2025 with a step up to four-wheel drive Rally3 machinery.

The process to select a fourth intake of young drivers is underway. Following an initial selection event at Fuji Speedway, seven drivers will take part in the final selection in Finland in December.