Toyota expecting ‘tricky’ start but hoping for Rally Sweden win
8th February 2025Toyota Gazoo Racing Team Principal, Jari-Matti Latvala is expecting the start of Rally Sweden to be a ‘tricky’ challenge but hopes the team can fight for the win.
Feature image credit: Toyota Gazoo Racing
Toyota heads into the only snow-based event of the 2025 calendar with Rally Sweden next weekend and the team enter it as the world championship leaders, after securing maximum points in Rallye Monte Carlo.
Despite his unprecedented 10th win in Monte, Sebastien Ogier will not contest the round in Sweden as part of his part-time schedule, so Elfyn Evans, runner-up in Monte Carlo, will open up the road in Sweden.
Latvala believes, despite the ‘perfect start’ to their season, that Evans will have a tricky start at the upcoming rally. This comes with the fresh snow falling upon the ice, on the ground, which will hinder the performance of the front-running cars.
“Rally Sweden is almost like a home rally for our team, with the kind of winter conditions that we experience in Finland” commented Latvala. “These are some of the most enjoyable conditions for driving a rally car.
“Rallye Monte-Carlo was almost a perfect start to the season for us and we really hope to fight for the victory in Sweden as well.
“The conditions on a rally like this can be tricky as well, because if there’s fresh snow falling on top of the ice base it can impact the performance of the drivers running at the front, as Elfyn will be on Friday.”
Rovanpera deems Arctic Rally ‘good and valuable’ test for WRC Rally Sweden
Following their debut in Rallye Monte Carlo, Hankook will naturally look to bring their Winter tyres of the i*cept and i*pike range to Sweden. The likelihood is that the latter will be in full use next weekend thanks to the added studs for grip.
As such, Toyota will look to gather further data on Hankook’s tyres and this will be in addition to the test the team recently completed with Kalle Rovanpera.
Ahead of Rally Sweden, Toyota were in action for the Arctic Lapland Rally with Rovanpera just missing out on the rally win. The two-time world champion continued to gather data in snowy conditions, a crucial test ahead of the upcoming round.
“Hopefully the conditions can be stable and then it will be a rally that all our drivers can enjoy,” Latvala continued.
“On every different surface we face at the start of this season, there are new tyres to learn about, so our testing before the event has been important to give our drivers an understanding of how to get the best from them during the rally.”
Read more WRC here:
- Rovanpera deems Arctic Rally ‘good and valuable’ test for WRC Rally Sweden
- Verstappen to compete in ERC season for 2025
- Toyota GR WRT chairman comments on Sebastien Ogier 10th Monte Carlo win milestone
- Neuville ready to make ‘most of it’ at Rally Sweden after troubled Monte Carlo
- WRC Rallye Monte-Carlo 2025: Winners and Losers
- Thierry Neuville has corner named after him on Google Maps following Rallye Monte Carlo crashes
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Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
