The TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team will target another successful showing on unfamiliar roads when the Toyota Yaris WRC makes its first appearance at a classic event on the European rally calendar: Ypres Rally Belgium (August 13-15).
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| 2021 Yaris WRC |
Round seven of the 2021 FIA World Rally Championship marks a return to asphalt for the first time since March’s Croatia Rally, which was also a brand-new event and where the team began its current streak of five consecutive wins. Sebastien Ogier leads the drivers’ standings by 37 points over his team-mate Elfyn Evans, while Kalle Rovanpera is up to fourth place after claiming his maiden win last time out in Estonia.
Takamoto Katsuta will once more line up in a fourth Yaris WRC as part of the TGR WRC Challenge Program, with Keaton Williams to stand in for regular co-driver Dan Barritt who continues to rest and recover after hurting his neck on a heavy landing in Estonia.
While none of the four Toyota drivers have competed before in Ypres – which is hosting Belgium’s first ever WRC round – the event has a rich history dating back to 1965. In that time, it has developed a reputation for its demanding stages on fast and narrow farmland roads around the West Flanders region. These are often lined by large drainage ditches and include numerous junctions, while dirt is frequently dragged onto the road.
From the service park located in Grote Markt in the historic centre of Ypres, the rally will begin with two loops of four tightly-packed stages through Friday afternoon and into the evening. Another set of four stages will be run twice during Saturday. On Sunday the rally moves nearly 300 kilometres to the east of the country and the iconic Spa-Francorchamps circuit for the final four stages, with the closing Power Stage to use famous sections of the racetrack itself.
For more information, visit https://toyotagazooracing.com/wrc/release/2021/rd08-preview/.
Topic: Press release summary