TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team will embark on a 2025 FIA World Rally Championship campaign full of new challenges when the classic season opener, Rallye Monte-Carlo, takes place on January 23-26.
The oldest and most famous rally on the calendar provides a familiar start to this year’s extended 14-round schedule, which includes brand-new WRC events in the Canary Islands, Paraguay and Saudi Arabia.
There are also significant changes to the technical playing field for 2025. The top category of Rally1 cars will no longer use plug-in hybrid units following a regulation change. As a result, the minimum weight has been lowered from 1260 to 1180 kilograms and the air restrictor size reduced from 36 to 35 millimetres to help maintain a similar power-to-weight ratio to before. Meanwhile, Hankook becomes the sole tyre supplier for the WRC’s top categories for the first time.
There has also been a tweak to the sporting regulations. Points will once more be allocated based upon the overall positions at the end of the rally, with a win to again be worth 25 points. The Super Sunday classification on the final day now offers up to five bonus points, as does the rally-ending Power Stage.
While just eight weeks have passed since TGR-WRT claimed the manufacturers’ title in a thrilling conclusion to the 2024 season at Rally Japan, the team has been working hard to adapt to these changes and continue improving the GR YARIS Rally1, which continues to run on 100 percent sustainable fossil-free fuel. To reflect the different characteristics required of the engine now that the boost provided by the hybrid unit is no longer available, modifications have been made to the exhaust system and camshafts, while gear ratios have also been reviewed among other measures to optimise the package.
The team also fields a strengthened and expanded driver line-up this season, running as many as five GR YARIS Rally1 cars on many events including Rallye Monte-Carlo.
Double world champions Kalle Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen return to full-time competition alongside Elfyn Evans and his co-driver Scott Martin, the 2024 championship runners-up. Sébastien Ogier will target a record-extending 10th victory on the Monte – which is based in his hometown of Gap in the French Alps – as he begins another partial campaign alongside co-driver Vincent Landais. These three crews are nominated to compete for manufacturers’ points for TGR-WRT on round one, ably supported by Takamoto Katsuta and navigator Aaron Johnston in a fourth entry.
Sami Pajari, the 2024 WRC2 champion, begins his first full season in the top category, for which he has reunited with experienced co-driver Marko Salminen. To best support his development while following a similar path to that previously forged by Katsuta, Pajari’s GR YARIS Rally1 is entered under a second team, TGR-WRT2, which will also add to the competition in the manufacturers’ championship. The car features a half-and-half white and black livery which represents the team’s commitment to offering opportunities for young drivers to reach the highest level in WRC.
Oliver Solberg, who fought Pajari for the WRC2 crown, switches to a GR Yaris Rally2 car run and entered by Printsport for his 2025 title bid and has the chance to gain familiarity with the car on Rallye Monte-Carlo before his seven-round WRC2 campaign begins. Also driving the GR Yaris Rally2 are TGR WRC Challenge Program drivers Hikaru Kogure and Yuki Yamamoto on their Monte-Carlo debuts, gathering new experience ahead of their second seasons in WRC2.
Known for its often-changeable weather conditions which can bring ice and snow to the asphalt roads, Rallye Monte-Carlo will as usual start and finish in Monaco’s Casino Square. Departing on Thursday afternoon, crews will then tackle three opening stages in darkness on the way back to the Gap service park. On Friday, a loop of three stages east and north of Gap is run either side of mid-day service. Saturday follows a similar format with three repeated tests to the west, including the all-new Aucelon – Recoubeau-Jansac stage. Sunday’s final leg begins from Gap, repeating two of Thursday evening’s stages ahead of the Power Stage, which takes in the iconic Col de Turini.
