Toyota confident of replicating its Argentina pace

Toyota’s rivals will have to up their game if they want to find a way around the Yaris WRC in Portugal according to boss Tommi Makinen, who is confident his team can offer more of that South American speed at round six this week.

Estonian star Ott Tanak dominated the last round of the championship and Makinen feels there are enough similarities between the events that the Yaris will remain the current pacesetter.

He said: “I am feeling really confident we can have another strong performance in Portugal, because the conditions there are very similar to Argentina. I won twice in Portugal during my career and I would say that it is a slightly easier rally, or at least it is not quite so tricky, mostly because it is not so rocky. You don’t have to be quite as accurate with the driving as in Argentina.”

Those words will come as a comfort to Jari-matti Latvala, who retired with suspension damage in Argentina. Latvala also asked Toyota’s test driver, Juho Hanninen, to join him at their pre-event test, to confirm his set-up for the Yaris.

“We were working together to fine-tune the car and I’m really pleased with how the car feels now,” said Latvala.

Latvala arrives in Portugal third of Toyota’s three drivers, trailing Esapekka Lappi, competing in his first full WRC season, and the team’s 2018 recruit Tanak.