Toyota: Change in WRC team management 🎥
LATVALA TAKES OVER MÄKINEN While the WRC driver squad remains strong, Toyota Gazoo Racing will have a new boss from 2021. Former winning driver Jari-Matti Latvala will take over from Tommi Mäkinen. The highlight video of the last five years of Toyota Gazoo Racing, released in the summer of 2020, shows great action as well as jubilant scenes with Toyota president Akio Toyoda and the [...]
The highlight video of the last five years of Toyota Gazoo Racing, released in the summer of 2020, shows great action as well as jubilant scenes with Toyota president Akio Toyoda and outgoing team boss Tommi Mäkinen.
The Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team will start the 2021 FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) with the proven driver trio. In addition to Sébastien Ogier, who clinched the WRC title in his very first season with the Japanese brand in 2020, runner-up Elfyn Evans and up-and-coming talent Kalle Rovanperä will once again be competing in the Toyota Yaris WRC.
Personal choice of the head of Toyota
With Jari-Matti Latvala as the new team boss, one of the most experienced WRC drivers will be at the helm in the future. He succeeds his compatriot Tommi Mäkinen, who will take over the role of motorsport advisor from January.
Personally selected by Akio Toyoda, president of Toyota Motor Corporation, Latvala brings a driver's perspective to management, just like his predecessor who was decorated with four World Championship titles. He is also joined by project manager Yuichiro Haruna and Kaj Lindström and Tom Fowler as sporting and technical director, respectively.
Akio Toyoda: "It's been a year since we said goodbye to Jari-Matti as a driver in the team. Now I'm delighted about his new role. When I thought about our team from 2021, the first thing that came to mind was his face. That's because there were many situations in which I could sympathize with him. I trust him to successfully lead the new Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team. And I'm looking forward to climbing onto the roof of the Yaris WRC with him as the winner."
Only one world championship title was missing
Jari-Matti Latvala has won a total of 18 WRC rounds in his career. In 2010 (with Ford) and in 2014 and 2015 (with Volkswagen), he was runner-up in the world championship behind "his" future driver Ogier.
The Scandinavian has been an integral part of the team since Toyota's comeback in 2017. The 35-year-old not only played a key role in the development of the Yaris WRC, but also took second place in its race debut at the Rally Monte Carlo.
The first victory followed at the following Rally Sweden. Latvala's final victory at the Rally Australia at the end of 2018 secured Toyota's triumph in the manufacturers' standings.
A new challenge for all
One of the most popular drivers in rallying, Latvala, who was coached for years by a Swiss resident in Finland, was active as a brand ambassador in the 2020 season. In his role as team boss, he will be able to show this enthusiasm in a new form.
Jari-Matti Latvala: "I am honored to take on this position in the team - thank you very much for the trust Akio Toyoda has placed in me. I am very much looking forward to continuing the work he started together with Tommi after I was part of this team as a driver from the very beginning. Tommi built it up and led it to success. Now, as a team leader, I have to look at the bigger picture: I want to motivate everyone on the team to work together to achieve the best results. It's a new challenge, but one I'm ready for."
In an interview in English, Jari-Matti Latvala talks about his new role and the expectations that come with it.
