Toyota has announced an expanded FIA WRC line-up for 2025 season with tour full-timers in the squad and one on partial stint.
Toyota –
TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team has presented its line-up for the 2025 FIA World Rally Championship season as it further strengthens its squad of drivers with a mix of young talent and title-winning experience. After winning eight out of 13 rallies in 2024 and claiming a fourth consecutive manufacturers’ championship at the season-ending Rally Japan, TGR-WRT will enter 2025 with the mission to defend its crown and fight for the drivers’ and co-drivers’ titles.
It will be able to count on an expanded line-up of cars and drivers, with four or five GR Yaris Rally1 entries set to appear on each event. Joining the team to start his first full season at the highest level will be Sami Pajari, following an impressive 2024 season in which he won the WRC2 drivers’ championship driving the GR Yaris Rally2 car and performed well in his first three outings in Rally1 machinery in Finland, Chile and Central Europe.
The 22-year-old from Finland’s promotion demonstrates TGR-WRT’s commitment to developing young drivers as well as the GR Yaris Rally2’s role in providing a pathway to the top of the sport. Pajari, who will confirm the identity of his co-driver in due course, is one of four drivers who are set to feature on every rally. Double world champions Kalle Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen will return to competing full-time with the team in 2025 after taking four wins from seven starts during a partial campaign this year.
Elfyn Evans and co-driver Scott Martin, winners of last weekend’s Rally Japan, continue for their sixth successive season with the team, with Takamoto Katsuta and Aaron Johnston also returning for another year. Eight-time world champion Sébastien Ogier and co-driver Vincent Landais will once more contest a partial schedule of selected events after scoring three victories this season. TGR-WRT is pleased to confirm that Jari-Matti Latvala will continue in the role of Team Principal.
In the last four seasons, in addition to overseeing numerous victories and championship titles, Latvala has been a trusted associate for the team’s drivers while also helping to identify and develop new talent such as Pajari. As part of TOYOTA GAZOO Racing’s driver-first approach, Latvala has also been given the opportunity by Akio Toyoda, TGR-WRT Chairman, to continue pursuing his first love of driving alongside his duties of Team Principal – for example, competing in Rally Finland with a GR Yaris Rally1 in 2023 and GR Yaris Rally2 in 2024.
This will continue in 2025 when Latvala will drive one of the most successful Toyota rally cars – the Celica ST185 – in the FIA European Historic Rally Championship. He will do so in the colours of TGR, helping to connect the eras of Toyota participation in WRC and further share its passion for rallying with fans.
In order to best support the team and ensure the continuation of the successful driver-first approach, Juha Kankkunen will take up the role of Deputy Team Principal. A four-time world champion, who won the last of his titles driving the Toyota Celica ST185 in 1993, Kankkunen will bring considerable experience of success to share with the drivers and other team members. He already knows the team well, having attended several events in an ambassadorial role over the past few years.
F2 –
AIX Racing have confirmed that Cian Shields will see out the rest of the Formula 2 season with the team, replacing Niels Koolen for the Lusail and Yas Marina rounds. Shields steps up to F2 after a single season in Formula 3 where he achieved a best result of 14th at the Barcelona Sprint Race.
Prior to that, the 19-year-old finished as the runner up in the 2023 Euroformula Open Championship thanks to his 10 podiums which included four wins. He is now set to step up to F2 for the final two rounds of the season with AIX, an opportunity he is delighted to be getting.
“I’m super excited to be joining AIX Racing for the final two rounds of the FIA Formula 2 Championship in Qatar and Abu Dhabi,” said Shields. “I’m looking forward to this fantastic opportunity and ready to make an impact with the team, giving it everything in these last races.”
[The story is as per press release]