Toyota Gazoo Racing has announced its 2021 World Rally Championship line-up, and whilst the drivers will remain the same, team principal Tommi Mäkinen will move to a new role, with Jari-Matti Latvala taking up his role.
Four-time WRC champion Mäkinen has led Toyota’s rally team since 2017, scoring title success in only his second season, with two runner-up finishes in 2019 and 2020, but from next year he will take up a new position of Motorsport Advisor.
Latvala, the most experienced driver in WRC history with more than 200 starts and 18 victories, will become team principal as selected by Akio Toyoda, President of Toyota Motor Corporation, to bring a “driver’s perspective to a management team”.
Latvala has been a key figure in Toyota’s return to the WRC since 2017, taking the teams first victory since 1999, but this year raced with his own outfit, Latvala Motorsport, at just one event; Rally Sweden.
Toyoda welcomed Latvala’s return to Toyota: “It’s been a year since we gave Jari-Matti a send-off from the team as a driver. And now, I’m very glad that I’m delivering this message again. When thinking about our new team from 2021, Jari-Matti’s face first came to my mind. That’s because there were many situations in which I empathised with him since we met.
“He always thinks of the fans and of his team-mates. Being one of the top drivers, I often saw him running up to fans as soon as he got out of the car at the service park. He cared about everybody in the team like mechanics and engineers and always talked to them. I believe this kind of attitude and character empowered the team a lot and helped lead to the manufacturers’ title.
“When I first met him, he was wearing Volkswagen overalls, but he talked to me about his old Celicas and Corollas with a huge passion. The following year, he changed his overalls to Toyota’s. He loved our Yaris WRC, took very good care of it, and made it stronger. As a car guy who loves cars, I still remember how happy I was to see his love for cars and love for Toyota.
“”We hate to lose.’ This is also what we have in common. When he had to retire at Rally Australia in 2017, he must have been more disappointed than anyone else, however, he came to the team members and apologised for his mistake. He has a strong sense of responsibility. I know the ‘we hate to lose’ mindset makes the team and cars stronger.
“His ability as a manager is unproven, but the attributes that we have in common between us were the deciding factors for entrusting the team to him. I believe these will bring the strength to the team.
“I trust him to lead the new Toyota GAZOO Racing World Rally Team and I’m looking forward to climbing up onto the roof of the Yaris WRC with him.”
Latvala added: “I am really honoured to be taking on this position with the team, and by the trust that Akio Toyoda has shown in me. I’m really excited to continue the work he started together with Tommi, having been a part of this team from the beginning as a driver.
“Now, as Team Principal, I have to see the bigger picture: I have to motivate everybody in the team to work together to achieve the best results. It’s a new challenge and I’m up for it.
“Tommi has done a fantastic job with the team, building it up from zero and bringing the success that he has. Of course, there is always room for improvement and I want to use what I have learned over the years as a driver and work together with the team directors to make this team as successful as possible.
“The 2021 season is just around the corner but the entire package is already there within the team, with a proven car and the same strong driver line-up, and everybody knows what needs to be done to prepare for Rallye Monte-Carlo in January.”
The team’s line-up will remain unchanged with ’20 WRC champion Sébastien Ogier, Elfyn Evans and Kalle Rovanperä.
