Jari-Matti LATVALA

After restarting the event on Saturday following an electrical fault, Jari-Matti Latvala moved up to seventh place overall on the penultimate stage. He and co-driver Miikka Anttila had to make last-minute repairs before the final stage, but made it to the finish in eighth. Jari-Matti Latvala (Driver car 10) “I don’t think I’ve ever fought so hard to get four points! At the end of the second stage of the day, we hit some bedrock with the sump guard. We thought we had no chance to continue but I said we can’t give up at this point. The sump guard was only half-fixed so I couldn’t drive fast in the Power Stage, and we were late into the time control so we lost seventh place by four seconds. But at least we made it to the end. There have been a lot of things happening this weekend, hopefully the next rally will be a bit calmer!” PROVISIONAL FINAL CLASSIFICATION, RALLY MEXICO 1 Sebastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia (Citroën C3 WRC) 3h37m08.0s 2 Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja (Toyota Yaris WRC) +30.2s 3 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Ford Fiesta WRC) +49.9s 4 Thierry Neuville/Nicolas Gilsoul (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +1m27.0s 5 Kris Meeke/Seb Marshall (Toyota Yaris WRC) +6m06.2s 6 Benito Guerra/Jaime Zapata (Skoda Fabia R5) +15m35.5s 7 Marco Bulacia Wilkinson/Fabian Cretu (Skoda Fabia R5) +18m51.5s 8 Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila (Toyota Yaris WRC) +18m55.9s 9 Dani Sordo/Carlos del Barrio (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +22m44.1s 10 Ricardo Trivino/Marc Marti (Skoda Fabia R5) +30m13.8s (Results as of 13:30 on Sunday, for the latest results please visit www.wrc.com) What’s next? The Tour de Corse on March 28-31 is the first true asphalt rally of the season, taking place on twisting and twisting roads on the French island of Corsica. With long, mountainous stages lined by rock faces on one side and steep drops on the other, as well as numerous surface changes, there is plenty to catch drivers out. Press release TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally team

Meeke completed the day’s first stage 12 seconds faster than anybody else to surge into the lead on his first gravel rally in the Yaris WRC. His puncture on the next stage however cost him a minute-and-a-half, and caused suspension damage that forced him to drive cautiously through SS12. This left him fifth overall, but he remains on course to score good points towards both championships. After retiring on Friday evening, Latvala restarted and claimed two stage wins in the morning to help him rise from 12th to eighth during the day, with seventh position well within range going into the final day. Jari-Matti Latvala (Driver car 10) “Overall, I’m happy with today. Compared to yesterday, the performance was much better. We made some small changes to the car and this helped, particularly coming out of the slow corners. Our total stage times have been close to the leaders so I can be satisfied with that. We are now up to eighth place and I think there is a good chance to get seventh tomorrow if we keep going with the same speed that we had today. I would like to get some Power Stage points too – that will be important for the championship.” End of day three (Saturday): 1 Sebastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia (Citroën C3 WRC) 2h57m21.4s 2 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Ford Fiesta WRC) +27.0s 3 Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja (Toyota Yaris WRC) +29.2s 4 Thierry Neuville/Nicolas Gilsoul (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +1m15.7s 5 Kris Meeke/Seb Marshall (Toyota Yaris WRC) +4m37.1s 6 Benito Guerra/Jaime Zapata (Skoda Fabia R5) +12m06.0s 7 Marco Bulacia Wilkinson/Fabian Cretu (Skoda Fabia R5) +15m39.6s 8 Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila (Toyota Yaris WRC) +17m32.4s 9 Ricardo Trivino/Marc Marti (Skoda Fabia R5) +21m59.6s 10 Dani Sordo/Carlos del Barrio (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +21m59.7s (Results as of 21:30 on Saturday, for the latest results please visit www.wrc.com) What’s next? The final day of Rally Mexico begins with two long stages – Alfaro and Mesa Cuata – which total almost 50 kilometres. They are followed by the rally-ending Power Stage: a repeat of the Las Minas test first run on Friday afternoon. Key stage: Las Minas, SS21 – Power Stage (10.72 kilometres) Miikka Anttila (Co-driver car 10): “The beginning of the Power Stage is technical and slow, although it used to be even slower when this stage was longer and started further back. Then we come to a wider and bigger road which is not so technical, and then comes the finish section on the cobblestones going down to the village.” Press release TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRC

The TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team has two cars in the top four positions following the first full day of Rally Mexico’s highly-demanding gravel stages. Kris Meeke is in third overall, just ahead of team-mate Ott Tänak. Jari-Matti Latvala was in a top-four place before having to retire near the end of the day, but will restart tomorrow. Meeke enjoyed a strong first day of competition on gravel in the Yaris WRC, gradually moving up the leaderboard as others hit difficulties in the high altitude and hot temperatures. He ended the day within 6.3 seconds of second place. Running first on the road on a Friday as championship leader for the first time in his WRC career, Tänak was faced with having to sweep the stages clear of loose gravel for those behind. He managed the situation well however, with an impressive stage win on SS7 and another on SS9 helping him to climb to fourth overall and gain an improved road position for tomorrow. Latvala was also moving up the overall standings during the day before an electrical issue prevented him from taking part in the two runs over a super special that ended the day. He will restart tomorrow morning with a points finish still within his sights. Jari-Matti Latvala (Driver car 10) “I started too cautiously in the first stage this morning but then I started to get the rhythm and the car was working really well. It was getting better during the afternoon and we were up to fourth place. Unfortunately, the alternator stopped charging. We managed to do two more stages and the road section but we couldn’t do the last two super specials. It is frustrating for this to happen, but this is how things go in motorsport sometimes. We just need to look forward and keep fighting for the rest of the weekend.” End of day two (Friday): 1 Sebastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia (Citroën C3 WRC) 1h18m33.8s 2 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Ford Fiesta WRC) +14.8s 3 Kris Meeke/Seb Marshall (Toyota Yaris WRC) +21.1s 4 Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja (Toyota Yaris WRC) +37.1s 5 Esapekka Lappi/Janne Ferm (Citroën C3 WRC) +39.1s 6 Thierry Neuville/Nicolas Gilsoul (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +1m00.7s 7 Marco Bulacia Wilkinson/Fabian Cretu (Skoda Fabia R5) +5m16.1s 8 Benito Guerra/Jaime Zapata (Skoda Fabia R5) +5m25.9s 9 Alberto Heller/Jose Diaz (Ford Fiesta R5) +6m31.5s 10 Ricardo Trivino/Marc Marti (Skoda Fabia R5) +9m07.2s 12 Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila (Toyota Yaris WRC) +14m28.2s (Results as of 21:30 on Friday, for the latest results please visit www.wrc.com) What’s next? Saturday features a loop of three stages – Guanujuatito, Otates and El Brinco – each run twice either side of mid-day service. The day ends with two more passes of the Autodromo super special and a further blast around the León street stage. Key stage: El Brinco, SS12 & SS15 (8.13 kilometres) Miikka Anttila (Co-driver car 10): “This year there is a completely new end to this stage, on a road made especially for the rally. As a result,

Following its victory on the snow and ice of Rally Sweden to take the triple lead of the manufacturers’, drivers’ and co-drivers championships, the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team is preparing for a very different challenge on Rally Mexico: the first true gravel event of the season. Ott Tänak heads to Mexico on top of the drivers’ standings for the first time after his Swedish success, while his team-mates Jari-Matti Latvala and Kris Meeke are both past winners of the event. As well as usually being one of the warmest events on the WRC calendar, with ambient temperatures around 30°C, Rally Mexico is also the highest round of the season. The route peaks at 2,737m above sea level, where the thinner air reduces engine power by as much as 20 per cent. The rally begins again this year with the spectacular Thursday evening stage through the colourful streets and tunnels of Guanajuato. Another street stage runs next to the service park in Leon on Friday and Saturday together with laps of the city’s racing circuit. On Sunday the new Mesa Cueta stage features the first half of Friday’s El Chocolate test, while a second visit to Las Minas runs as the rally-ending Power Stage. Jari-Matti Latvala (Driver car 10) “I am looking forward to being in Mexico: particularly the warm sun at the end of the Finnish winter! So far, it hasn’t really been the start to the season for me that I would have wanted. If there is one positive from this, however, it is that I will have quite a nice starting position for the first day in Mexico, as the eighth car on the road. I had a good test in Spain last week, using pretty much the same setup that I used to win in Australia, with just a few small tweaks. Most importantly, I am confident that as a team we are totally prepared this year for the altitude and the high temperatures.” What happened last year? In his first rally on gravel in the Toyota Yaris WRC, Ott Tänak showed good performance in Mexico, lying third overall and within reach of the lead before suffering a turbo issue on Saturday morning. He restarted on Sunday and won the Power Stage ahead of Jari-Matti Latvala, who finished eighth overall under restart rules following an alternator failure on Friday. Esapekka Lappi was also forced to restart in the third Yaris WRC after going off the road. Press release TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally team