KALLE ROVENPERĀ DRIVES TOYOTA COTOLLA AE861

 

WRC EKO ACROPOLIS RALLY GREECE 2026 | TOYOTA VS. HYUNDAI PET TEST

 

TOYOTA RACING | CAR #7 | 24 HOURS OF LE MANS 2026 | WARM-UP | ONBOARD

 

SUPERCARS SYMMONS PLAINS: TOYOTA PAIR CHAZ MOSTERT AND ANDRE HEIMGARTNER SHARE WINS

Toyota enjoyed an historic Supercars day at Symmons Plains with two wins, with Chaz Mostert and Andre Heimgartner each taking their first victories in a GR Supra

Andre Heimgartner, Brad Jones Racing

Photo by: Edge Photographics

Toyota has enjoyed a historic Supercars day at Symmons Plains with two wins, with Walkinshaw TWG's Chaz Mostert and Brad Jones Racing's Andre Heimgartner each taking their first victories in a GR Supra in the opening two races in Tasmania.

The defending champion and the New Zealander both started from pole position and took convincing victories.

The opening 50-lap race saw Mostert dominate, taking the lead from the Team 18 Chevrolet Camaro of Anton De Pasquale – who at the same time had team-mate David Reynolds barge past, on his way into second.

That is how they finished, with Mostert taking the win by 5.3s ahead of the rejuvenated Reynolds, with the Ford Mustangs of Brodie Kostecki (Dick Johnson Racing) third ahead of Broc Feeney (Triple 8). De Pasquale struggled in the second half of the race and dropped to sixth.

In the second race it was Heimgartner's turn to lead away from pole, with Feeney immediately challenging after a great getaway from the second row. The Supra eased away and after the pit cycle, Heimgartner kept the lead.

A bold two-tyre stop vaulted Matt Payne ahead of Feeney temporarily but it did not take long for the Triple 8 Ford to find a way past, and seize second for good.

That is how it played out, with Heimgartner taking the win by 3.68s to take his first win in two years and first in dry conditions. In doing so, vindicating team owner Brad Jones's decision to swap his Chevrolets for Toyotas during the off-season.

“It’s a big credit to all the guys. A flawless stop got us back out there,” said Heimgartner. “Honestly, it’s been a bit of a hard slog. It’s been years since I won a race. We’re starting to get a handle on the GR Supra and I’m over the moon, couldn’t have executed that race much better.”

Feeney took second place, well clear of Payne, with Triple 8's Will Brown in fourth.

De Pasquale completed a solid day for Team 18, taking fifth in spite of taking to the dirt on the final lap while trying to pass Payne. Sixth was a great return for Grove Racing's Kai Allen, who made up 11 places after making an early pitstop of making his super soft Dunlop tyres retain their grip for 37 laps.

Mostert had a tougher time in the second race than in the first. After qualifying 13th he dropped a couple of spots at the start, then had contact with the PremiAir Racing Chevrolet of Jayden Ojeda. As a result he copped a 15-second penalty, turning a bad race into a complete write-off, and he was classified 20th at the finish.

Racing continues on Sunday, with a single race over 84 laps of the 2.4km circuit.

- Phil Branagan

WRC MANUFACTURERS' CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS | AFTER ROUND 05

 

WRC MANUFACTURERS' CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

 

TAKAMOTO KATSUTA & AARON JOHNSTON ARE THE 2026 SAFARI RALLY KENYA 🇰🇪 2026 CHAMPIONS

 

THIERRY NEUVILLE IN DEEP TROUBLE - RELIEF IN SIGHT?

Thierry Neuville’s World Rally Championship season has not started in particularly bright fashion.

Thierry Neuville. Photo: Helena El Mokni/Hyundai Motorsport GmbH

After two rounds, the 2024 world champion sits only fifth in the standings. The gap to championship leader Elfyn Evans has already stretched to 39 points.

The performance of Hyundai’s Rally1 car was nowhere near Toyota’s level in the opening rounds of the season. That has caused major frustration for Neuville, whose results were modest in Monte Carlo and Sweden.

Neuville is hoping to ease his frustration this weekend in Kenya. In Safari Rally, outright performance is often less important than simply staying out of trouble. If a driver can bring the car to the finish without major damage, the result can be very strong.

“On this rally everybody has the same chance of winning and doing well. So we think we have good chances for a good result,” Neuville said.

“But we also know that in the past we have had some struggles over here. So the target is to avoid those problems. And then we’re going to see where we end up,” the Belgian star added.

The WRC stars are set to face quite an adventure in Kenya once again. Due to the heavy rain in recent weeks, the special stages are in extremely demanding condition.

“Conditions on recce were quite extreme and very changeable as well. And that’s what we’re going to expect also for the weekend. So it will be a big compromise between speed, reliability and just having a good feeling,” Neuville said.

Forecasts suggest that more rain could arrive on the stages during the weekend, increasing the level of difficulty even further.

“When the rain arrives, the stages are basically flooded immediately. Especially this year, most sections are already very rutted due to the rain in the past weeks. Then the ruts are immediately full of water and you basically can’t drive in the ruts. If you go out of the line, you go into the mud and it doesn’t make it much better. You basically lose control of the car and you just try to get through,” Neuville explained.

Safari Rally begins on Thursday afternoon with the first two special stages.

- Toni Heinonen

THE 2027 TOYOTA WRC CAR IS JERE AND IT'S INSANE!

 

TOYOTA RETURNS TO FORMULA 1 IN 2026

 

Toyota is making a notable return to Formula 1 in 2026 by becoming the title sponsor of the Haas F1 Team, expanding on a technical partnership that began in late 2024 and strengthening its presence in the sport after withdrawing its own works team in 2009. From next season the team will compete as the TGR Haas F1 Team, with the Japanese brand’s name featured prominently on the car and team gear as MoneyGram’s sponsorship ends. This title deal builds on shared engineering work, driver development and resources between Toyota and Haas while the team continues to run Ferrari power units, and marks a major step in Toyota’s return to the top tier of motorsport.

- Car Advisor

 #carsadvisor #toyota #TOYOTAGAZOORacing #HaasF1 #F1 #formula1

DID HYUNDAI BOSS ADMIT OTT TÄNAK'S DEPARTURE FROM THE TEAM? - "HE IS A CHALLENGE AT THE MOMENT"

There has been much speculation in recent months about the future of Hyundai’s Estonian WRC driver, Ott Tänak.

Andrew Wheatley. Photo: Romain Thuillier / Hyundai Motorsport

There has been speculation that the 2019 world champion is once again eyeing a move towards Toyota, as Kalle Rovanperä is set to end his rally career, at least for now, after this season. With Rovanperä’s decision, a lead driver’s seat will become available at Toyota, although Oliver Solberg is also likely to be in contention for the same spot.

After his championship win, Tänak moved to Hyundai, a team he has represented with the exception of one season when the Estonian joined M-Sport for the 2023 campaign. Toyota has, however, once again demonstrated its superiority this year, and Hyundai has not been able to match the Japanese manufacturer’s pace in its development work. Hyundai’s motorsport boss, Andrew Wheatley, admits that negotiations with Tänak regarding next season are still ongoing.

“I think we’re still in negotiation at the moment. I think we’re getting very close to the end of the year, and we need to understand exactly what the situation is. But from my perspective, it’s not fixed, and there’s still work to do. We have to understand how we can sort that out quickly,” Wheatley told.

According to Wheatley, Thierry Neuville and Adrien Fourmaux are certain to continue with Hyundai. The team would gladly keep Tänak in its ranks as well, but the decision rests with the Estonian.

“He’s the one that’s the challenge. I think the other two guys are clearly committed to the program, but clearly there’s still work to do. And I think from our perspective, it’s not so much about what the what we can do as a team. It’s more about what Ott has in the rest of his life going on,” Wheatley summed up.

“These guys are travelling all the time . When you’re travelling from test to rally, test to rally, test to rally, and you turn around and realise your family is getting bigger. It’s not easy to do that. And these people are driven to win. We would love to have him in the team. He is absolutely the we think the best person to go and fight with Thierry and Adrian. But it’s absolutely his decision.”

It is surely Hyundai’s poor results that have led Tänak to consider his future. At this weekend’s Rally Japan, Hyundai is once again a clear underdog. The focus has already shifted firmly towards next year.

“This weekend is about the development process. We drove a lot on the shakedown stage this morning to better understand how the car behaves in different conditions. We need a great deal of data to optimise our car’s performance,” Wheatley explains.

“This car is only six months old, and we began its development in the middle of the season. That is never easy. We know that the Toyota drivers fighting for the championship will be tough to beat here. We have to make sure we keep improving step by step.”

- Aki Hietavala

MOST VALUABLE AUTO BRANDS

 

EVOLUTION OF LAND CRUISER

 

FIRST RS YARIS RALLY CAR IN AFRICA | TANZANIA | TEAM HUWEL

 

EVOLUTION OF TOYOTA LAND CRUISER

 

NEW TOYOTA RAV-4 GR

 

FORD RAPTURE VS. TOYOTA LAND CRUISER 🔥

 

MCLAREN MAKE WITHDRAWAL DECISION WITH MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT EXPECTED - REPORT

McLaren are one of the most successful and respected teams in F1 history

Reigning F1 Constructors’ Champions McLaren have decided to withdraw from the all-electric Formula E category, it has been claimed.

It comes just weeks after the manufacturer announced plans to enter the World Endurance Championship, featuring the legendary Le Mans 24 Hours race, from 2027.

McLaren set to exit Formula E after Le Mans return announcement

McLaren have had a presence in Formula E since rebranding the former Mercedes team ahead of the 2022/23 season.

The team, which is supported by Saudi Arabian firm NEOM, has had limited success since McLaren’s involvement, winning just a single race over the last three seasons.

Sam Bird, a Formula E regular and a former Mercedes F1 tester, and Taylor Barnard are currently racing for the team.

Lando Norris vs Oscar Piastri: McLaren head-to-head scores for F1 2025

A report by The Race has claimed that Zak Brown, the McLaren chief executive, informed team principal Ian James that the manufacturer will end their support of the team ahead of the 2026/27 season.

The decision was reportedly communicated at the Jeddah E-Prix in February, an event that took place on a heavily modified version of the circuit which hosted last week’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

McLaren’s decision to withdraw has left James with the task of finding ‘alternative commercial, naming and manufacturer’ partners ahead of the 2026/27 era, which will mark the beginning of Formula E’s so-called ‘Gen4’ era featuring new cars.

The news of McLaren’s expected Formula E exit comes a fortnight after the Woking-based team announced that they will enter the WEC, the top tier of endurance racing, in 2027.

McLaren previously won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1995, with the WEC welcoming a swarm of new manufacturers since the hypercar rules came into force.

McLaren’s F1 rivals Ferrari, Aston Martin and Alpine currently compete in the hypercar class, along with Porsche, Toyota, BMW, Peugeot and F1 2026 entrants Cadillac.

In a statement confirming McLaren’s WEC entry, Brown declared that the team hope to win all three races comprising motorsport’s triple crown – the Monaco Grand Prix, Le Mans and the Indianapolis 500 – in the same year from 2027.

He said: “We’re back to the World Endurance Championship and competing for the 24 Hours of Le Mans overall win.

“In 2027, we will be entering the Hypercar class – we’re very excited.

“Thirty years ago, we won on our debut at Le Mans, in a car that wasn’t even supposed to race, and that sealed for us being the only team in history to have ever won the triple crown: the Monaco Grand Prix, the Indianapolis 500, and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

“Now, with this exciting news, we’re going to try and win all three of these big races in the same year.

“We’re up for it, we’re ready, we’ll see you at the track.”

McLaren are expected to provide more details of their WEC plans at this year’s Le Mans race in June, with outgoing Jaguar Formula E team principal James Barclay expected to lead the endurance team.

- Oliver Harden

TOYOTA WANTS BOOSTED F1 PIPELINE FOR JAPANESE DRIVERS WITH HAAS TIE-UP

Toyota Gazoo Racing 

Toyota Gazoo Racing chairman Akio Toyoda has expressed his desire for there to be an improved pipeline to Formula 1 for Japanese drivers.

He made the comments as TGR announced a technical partnership with F1 team Haas that will revolve around Toyota supplying design and manufacturing services to Haas while the American-owned but British-based outfit will offer technical services – but mostly market expertise and its commercial nouse – in return.

The agreement also includes a new driver development programme that will include Toyota-supported drivers – as well as engineers and mechanics – taking part in Haas F1 tests.

Toyota’s international racing presence has revolved primarily around sportscars since 2012, but this year it decided to send reigning Super Formula champion Ritomo Miyata to Formula 2 and it will join Australia’s Supercars series in 2026.

Its venture into new racing domains comes despite macroeconomic pressures stifling Japanese investment in international sport, and in Japan’s single-seater scene it supplies engines to teams at the top level in Super Formula and is now the exclusive supplier of power units (via TOM’S) to the third-tier Super Formula Lights series and Japanese Formula 4.

There are drivers at every level of the ladder in Japan with Toyota’s backing, and a double programme in SF and the Super GT sportscar series is usually the end destination for those Toyota take to the top. Others have impressed enough to earn berths in its World Endurance Championship line-up, and Miyata is the first recent single-seater export.

There has been a history of Honda-powered F1 teams sending their proteges to SF as a warm-up for an F1 seat, with Liam Lawson the latest example. He follows the path of Pierre Gasly and Stoffel Vandoorne, and Lawson’s fellow Red Bull junior and F2 race-winner Ayumu Iwasa replaced him in Team Mugen’s SF line-up this year.

Previously Iwasa, like Yuki Tsunoda before him, was one of several Honda-backed Japanese drivers given the opportunity to climb the European single-seater ladder.

It has been harder for Toyota’s talents, particularly the home-grown ones, to break out of the domestic scene and into F1, although it has arranged for Ryo Hirakawa to test with McLaren after he moved from SF into its WEC roster.

“There’s something I sense when talking to professional racing drivers. It’s that everyone wants to drive the world’s fastest cars,” said Toyoda.

“That said, I’m the person who quit F1 [with Toyota’s 2009 withdrawal]. So I think that drivers were never able to frankly talk about it in front of me. It was like there was always this inhibiting atmosphere in our pit.

“In January this year, I said in front of everyone that I had finally gotten back to being an ordinary older guy who loves cars. I think that, somewhere deep in his heart, that ordinary older car-loving guy Akio Toyoda had always regretted having blocked – by pulling out of F1 – Japanese youths’ path toward driving the world’s fastest cars.”

He added: “The SF drivers over there now, both the Toyota and the Honda drivers, all grew up as kids driving karts. I believe there are many children all over the country who, admiring them, also drive karts. I think that, together with [Haas team principal Ayao] Komatsu and his team, we need to increase the number of such children.

“But before that, I would like to see the day when a SF driver grips the steering wheels of the world’s fastest cars.”

- Ida Wood

TOYOTA TAKES ANOTHER BOP HIT FOR HOME WEC RACE AT FUJI

 For the second consecutive World Endurance Championship event, Toyota will have reduced maximum power and increased minimum weight.

Toyota has received a further double hit under the Balance of Performance for this weekend’s Fuji World Endurance Championship round after its near-miss last time out at Austin.

The Japanese manufacturer’s GR010 HYBRID Le Mans Hypercar will run with reduced maximum power and increased minimum weight under the Hypercar BoP released on Tuesday for the penultimate round of the WEC in Japan on Sunday.

It follows a starring performance by Toyota at Austin earlier this month, which would have yielded victory for the #7 entry driven by Kamui Kobayashi, Mike Conway and Nyck de Vries but for a late drive-through penalty awarded to the Japanese driver for failing to slow sufficiently under waved yellow flags.

The GR010 had been given a 9kW (12bhp) reduction in power for the US event at the Circuit of The Americas and has now had power reduced by a further 4kW (5bhp), bringing its maximum down to 493kW (661bhp).

Toyota’s minimum weight has gone up by 5kg for Fuji, the same increase as it received for Austin, meaning it will have to run at 1070kg for its home race in Japan.

That is the heaviest the GR010 has been since it ran at 1089kg at the Qatar season-opener in March when its two cars could finish only fifth and eighth when they had maximum power of 510kW (683bhp).

Toyota’s loss of performance from its hybrid powertrain will be offset under the new Power Gain element of the BoP introduced at the Le Mans 24 Hours in June: above 250km/h (155mph) the GR010 will be allowed 0.8% extra power compared with Austin

Ferrari, which took victory in Austin with the customer AF Corse-run 499P LMH shared by Robert Kubica, Yifei Ye and Robert Shwartzman, will race in Japan with the same BoP as in North America with the exception of a 0.6% loss of power above 250km/h (155mph).

Porsche, which leads the Hypercar drivers’ points with Kevin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor and Andre Lotterer, has received a weight break of 4kg and a power increase of 3kW after its 963 LMDh dropped out of the lead battle in Austin.

Peugeot is another winner under the BoP for Fuji, its 9X8 2024 LMH being handed another 7kg reduction in weight and a 4kW increase in power.

The Cadillac V-Series.R LMDh, which took fourth position in Austin, has been given marginally more power (2kW) and less weight (1kg) for this weekend. Alpine and BMW have also received power increases of 3kW and 2kW respectively.

Lamborghini’s maximum power and minimum weight for Fuji is unchanged from Austin.

Track action for the Fuji 6 Hours, round seven of the 2024 WEC, kicks off with free practice on Friday.

- Gary Watkins