THRILLING TOYOTA GAZOO RACING ONE-TWO ON SWEDISH SNOW

Elfyn Evans and Takamoto Katsuta delivered a thrilling finish and another maximum score for TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team as they achieved a one-two result on a spectacular Rally Sweden.

The FIA World Rally Championship’s only pure winter event on snow and ice was one of the most exciting for many years. After a high-paced battle through Saturday, Evans and co-driver Scott Martin would enter Sunday’s final leg leading Katsuta by just three seconds and with only a further 3.3s back to third-placed Thierry Neuville.

Katsuta and his co-driver Aaron Johnston drove a superb rally in contention for a first WRC victory, and were quickest out of the traps on the final morning to win the first pass of the 29.35-kilometre Västervik and take the lead from Evans and Martin by 4.5s. Evans responded emphatically on the second pass of the stage, going 6.7s faster than anyone to reclaim the lead.

Defending an advantage of 3.7s into the rally-ending Power Stage, Evans secured victory in style as he edged Katsuta to the best time by just 0.2s and to top the Super Sunday classification by 0.8s. His overall winning margin of 3.8s is the smallest in Rally Sweden history.

The victory is a 10th WRC triumph for Evans and his second in Sweden. Taking a maximum score of 35 points, Evans moves into a 28-point lead in the drivers’ championship over Rallye Monte-Carlo winner Sébastien Ogier, who did not include Sweden.

Following its 95th WRC win, Toyota has moved into second place in the all-time list of most successful manufacturers in the series. With two one-two finishes and maximum points from the first two rounds, TGR-WRT leads the manufacturers’ standings by 48 points.

Kalle Rovanperä is up to third place in the drivers’ championship after he and Jonne Halttunen finished fifth overall in Sweden, plus fourth in the Power Stage and fifth on Super Sunday. Sami Pajari and Marko Salminen took seventh overall in their TGR-WRT2 entry.

The next is the legendary Safari Rally Kenya – the only African round of the WRC – hosts round three on March 20-23.

Please read the details on the team’s official web site: