While the young nugget Sami Pajari saw his WRC debut be delayed, the Toyota team confirmed this Monday its choice to field Sébastien Ogier at the start of the Latvia rally, scheduled for July 18 to 21.
Sébastien Ogier sees his partial program filling up. While he was only scheduled to participate in half of the thirteen rounds of the 2024 world championship with Toyota, the eight-time world champion will add one more to his calendar. Winner in Croatia then in Portugal but also second in Monte-Carlo and in Sardinia, due to a puncture in the very last special, the Gapençais will travel to Latvia from July 18 to 21.
Indeed, the Toyota team confirmed this Monday a change of plans concerning its crews for the eighth of the thirteen rounds of the season. Initially, the young Finnish nugget Sami Pajari was to line up on the Latvian tarmac for her first experience behind the wheel of a Rally1 but this was postponed to the Rally of Finland at the beginning of August. “ The decision to race Pajari in Finland was taken in consultation with the driver, while taking into account the best possible conditions for his debut », Specifies the Toyota team in a press release.
Ogier: “The team wanted me to participate in other events”
The latter adds that the fourth in the WRC2 championship will benefit from test days “in the vicinity of the team base, in central Finland, on roads similar to those of the Rally Finland”. Direct consequence of this change of program, Sébastien Ogier will be at the wheel of one of the four Toyota Yaris GR Rally1 entered by the Japanese manufactureralongside Elfyn Evans and Takamoto Katsuta, entered for the entire championship, and reigning world champion Kalle Rovanperä, whose fourth appearance this year will be.
“The team wanted me to take part in other events, which I accepted with pleasure,” said Sébastien Ogier in a press release. I want to give back to the team and thank them for giving me the opportunity to continue driving with them as I have done for the last three years. I’m enjoying the season so far and the good performances we’ve had. » Fourth in the championship, 30 points behind Thierry Neuville, the Gapençais could take advantage of the rallies in Poland and then Latvia to regain the ambition of playing for the title by the end of the season.
