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TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team have expressed high optimism as the 2019 FIA World Rally Championship season was launched on Sunday in front of thousands of motorsport fans at the Autosport International show in Birmingham, England. The team were in attendance with their manufacturers’ championship-winning Yaris WRC car and their full squad of drivers and co-drivers.
Joining the team for this year is the British crew of Kris Meeke and his new co-driver Seb Marshall, and the Autosport International show―a popular annual curtain-raiser to the motorsport season―represents their first official appearance on home ground with the team.
The pair join Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja and Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila, who last year helped Toyota to claim the manufacturers’ title in just the second season of its return to the WRC.
Key to that success were developments made to improve the Yaris WRC throughout the season based upon the lessons gained from previous rallies. These developments have been carried through to the beginning of the 2019 season, which gets underway with Rallye Monte-Carlo on January 24-27.
Team Principal, Tommi Mäkinen, said, “It’s brilliant to return to the show for the launch of the 2019 season as the reigning manufacturers’ champions. We know that a lot of fans in the UK in particular have been very excited about Kris and Seb joining our team, so this is quite a fitting place for us to start the year. What we were able to achieve last season was incredible, thanks to the hard work of the whole team to constantly improve the Yaris WRC. We start this year with the same successful package, but we keep on working to make a better car. Now we want to defend our manufacturers’ title while also winning the drivers’ championship. It will not be easy because we will face even stronger competition, but everybody is confident of a good season.”
