Luca Maria Succi  🇮🇹

Akio Toyoda (TGR-WRT Chairman) after the WRC finale in Sardinia: "I'd like to send three messages to Elfyn and Scott, who have finally become world champions: congratulations, thank you, and sorry. Since joining the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing family in 2020, Elfyn has finished just one place short of the championship five times, including three consecutive seasons from 2023 onward. After so many seasons of coming painfully close, he has finally achieved the title he has worked so hard for. Congratulations, Elfyn. You really deserve it! Of course, I can’t really say that out loud. Publicly, I have to say that I want all our drivers to win. But if I’m being honest, this year I was cheering for Elfyn. Sorry, Sami and Oliver, but I simply couldn’t let Elfyn and Scott end up second again. Elfyn, congratulations. Truly, truly congratulations! The “thank you” is for everything Elfyn and Scott have done for the team over the years. Those five second-place championship finishes are proof of how consistently they have delivered points. Thanks to the points they contributed season after season, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing has been able to keep winning manufacturers’ titles. Their contribution goes far beyond points. At the final round of the 2021 season, with the drivers’ championship on the line, Elfyn and Scott went off the road. Afterwards, they shared information with the team about sections where grip was particularly low. Thanks to that information, Seb was able to secure the championship. They are the kind of drivers who always think not only about themselves, but about the team as well. Thank you both, truly! (And I think everyone can now understand why I was cheering for Elfyn.) The “sorry” is because I couldn’t be there with them during the fight for the championship. Whenever I was there, Elfyn has almost always delivered a strong result: four victories and three second-place finishes. That's why I wanted to be there for the rally where he could become champion. Sorry to the other drivers, but I was planning to go to Saudi Arabia. Unfortunately, my schedule didn't allow me to attend Sardinia, so I'm relieved that he was able to clinch the title there. Oliver and Elliott also fought incredibly hard right to the very end. Let's keep pushing together next year! This rally marks the end of the GR YARIS Rally1's journey. It is a car that has continued to win championships throughout the five seasons since 2022. This year, it became a car that any one of our five drivers could win with. I would like to sincerely thank everyone in the team for pursuing an ever-better, driver-first car. I am sure the team is already hard at work preparing the next generation of cars. There will be many new challenges ahead. Things may not go perfectly from the start, and that’s okay. Let’s enjoy taking on a new challenge of making ever-better cars together once again! To Jari-Matti, Juha, everyone in the team, our partners, and all our fans: thank you very much for your support throughout this season."