The TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team is celebrating a second straight victory after Ott Tänak followed his Rally Finland triumph by securing victory on Rallye Deutschland. The result is the maiden win on asphalt for the Toyota Yaris WRC. As in Finland, the team achieved a double podium result, with Esapekka Lappi finishing in third place to help Toyota climb to second in the manufacturers’ championship and close to within 13 points of the lead.
Tänak almost led the rally from start to finish, only briefly conceding the lead after SS2. He carried an advantage of 43.7 seconds into the final day, which he managed carefully through the two runs over the 29-kilometre Grafschaft vineyard test. He sealed the win on the Bosenberg Power Stage, where he came within 0.1s of repeating his fastest time in Finland. It was Tänak and co-driver Martin Järveoja’s third win since joining Toyota this year, the pair’s second on Rallye Deutschland in as many years, and one that brings Tänak closer to the two drivers ahead of him in the championship.
Lappi started the day occupying fifth position, and moved up into third with a clean run through the first stage of the day. He was third fastest on the Power Stage as he and co-driver Janne Ferm claimed their second podium in the space of three events and their first on asphalt in the WRC. It also strengthens Lappi’s fine fourth place in the drivers’ standings in his first full season at this level. Jari-Matti Latvala had to retire from the rally on the first stage of the day due to a hydraulic pump failure that caused his car to lose drive. He had begun the day in third overall and only 0.8s away from second place after a strong performance on Saturday when he won two stages.
What’s next?
Rally Turkey (September 13-16) returns to the WRC for the first time since 2010 in a new location around Marmaris on the Mediterranean coast. A combination of smooth fast gravel roads and more demanding rocky mountain passes is expected, along with warm temperatures
Redazione MotoriNoLimits
