Toyota GAZOO Racing's Young Drivers to Take on Eighth Round of WRC in Finland

Toyota City, Japan, April 5, 2016―Takamoto Katsuta and Hiroki Arai, two young rally drivers receiving ongoing training under the Toyota GAZOO Racing Challenge Program, will participate in the RC2 class¹ at Neste Rally Finland (the eighth round of the FIA World Rally Championship) to be held July 29-31.

Takamoto Katsuta
Hiroki Arai

Toyota GAZOO Racing uses motorsports as a way to push Toyota to make ever-better cars, while promoting activities that spread the joy of driving. To that end, the Toyota GAZOO Racing Challenge Program was launched in 2015 to help train young Japanese rally drivers to make their mark on the world in the hopes of further spreading the joy of motorsports and racing. Both Katsuta and Arai went through a highly competitive selection process to take part in a Europe-based training program under instructors from Tommi Mäkinen Racing². The 2016 season kicked off with the drivers honing their driving skills on the icy roads of arctic Finland and entering the first, second, and third rounds of the Finnish Rally Championship. During the Arctic Lapland Rally in round one, Arai made headlines with his outstanding performance, taking on highly experienced local drivers to place second in his class and third overall.

At the completion of their winter training, Toyota GAZOO Racing decided that the two drivers were progressing well enough to advance from the R4 vehicle group to the R5 vehicle group and undergo a more rigorous training program for their summer session, which will begin in May. As part of this training, Katsuta and Arai plan to continue competing in the Finnish Rally Championship while also joining the auto24 Rally Estonia (the sixth round of the FIA European Rally Championships) in mid-July and the eighth round of the World Rally Championship at the end of July.

¹RC2 is just one rank below RC1, which is the highest of the six WRC vehicle classes.

²Tommi Mäkinen is the team principal of the Toyota GAZOO Racing WRC team. Mäkinen is a luminary of the sport with extensive experience, having won 24 WRC rallies over the course of his career and four consecutive WRC driver's titles from 1996 to 1999.

Comment from Tommi Mäkinen

I'm happy to report that Katsuta and Arai have progressed markedly compared to when they started the program. They still need more experience as rally drivers, but in coaching them over the last ten months, I'm convinced that they have the potential for further growth. The instructor team is going to be doing everything it can to maximize their abilities and skills.

2016 driver results

Vehicle: Subaru Impreza (R4)

		Takamoto Katsuta	Hiroki Arai
January 28-30	Arctic Lapland Rally (Finnish Rally Championship round 1)	Retired	2nd in class 3rd overall
February 26 and 27	SM Vaakuna Ralli (Finnish Rally Championship round 2)	5th in class	Retired
March 11 and 12	Tahko SM-Ralli (Finnish Rally Championship round 3)	4th in class	10th in class^*

^*Did not start on the first day due to mechanical issues

Upcoming competitions

Vehicle: Ford Fiesta (R5)

June 10	Enset Oy SM-Ralli	(Finnish Rally Championship round 4)
July 15-17	auto24 Rally Estonia	(European Rally Championships round 6)
July 29-31	Neste Rally Finland	(Competing in RC2 class; World Rally Championship round 8)
August 19 and 20	SM-Ralli Turku	(Finnish Rally Championship round 5)
September 23 and 24	Pirelli Ralli	(Finnish Rally Championship round 6)