TOYOTA GAZOO Racing (TGR) won the 2022 FIA World Rally Championship factory title with a remarkable victory recorded by Sébastien Ogier in the Rally de España or Rally Spain.
The factory title success follows the drivers' titles won by Kalle Rovanper and Jonne Halttunen at the previous rally in New Zealand. This year's title is the second year in a row the team has managed to wipe out the three available titles.
A remarkable achievement considering the major revolution in technical regulations introduced at the start of the season when the GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid replaced the already known tough Yaris WRC.
In total, this is the sixth time Toyota has topped the WRC manufacturer's standings, the third time since returning to world rallies in 2017.
The rally win in Spain was the seventh of the season and the first for eight-time champion Ogier in the half-time campaign.
The 55th win of his career was also the first win for co-driver Benjamin Veillas.
In his first asphalt rally since January's Rallye Monte-Carlo, Ogier was among the pacesetters from the start.
The former rally world champion won three stages on Friday to take the lead despite facing dirtier roads than his rivals in mixed weather conditions.
He took three more stage wins in a splendid display on Saturday as he pulled out of the group, and went on to win the last two stages of the rally on Sunday – including the Power Stage – by a margin of 16.4 seconds.
Rovanpera was also in the battle for the lead on Friday when it clocked the fastest time in four stages, and eventually finished third overall.
His hopes for second place faded after being one of several competitors to suffer tire damage from a sewer cover in the second stage of Sunday.
Elfyn Evans was part of the top five who fought a tight battle early in the rally but couldn't find the perfect ride quality to match the pace of the rally ahead.
A flat tire on Friday afternoon and another in the same place as Rovanpera in SS17, contributed to a sixth overall finish – an important result to help the team achieve its ultimate goal.
One place further behind in seventh is Takamoto Katsuta who recovered from a difficult start to show strong and consistent pace in the TGR WRT Next Generation entry.
Next, the WRC will be held in Toyota's home country, Japan, to bring home the 2022 WRC world title.
Toyota's WRC Constructors' Champion
- 1993 – Toyota Celica GT-Four ST185
- 1994 – Toyota Celica GT-Four ST185
- 1999 – Toyota Corolla WRC
- 2018 – Toyota Yaris WRC
- 2021 – Toyota Yaris WRC
- 2022 – Toyota GR YARIS Rally1 HYBRID
