Kalle Rovanperä achieved a remarkable victory, leading an impressive 1-2-3-4 finish for Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team at the Rally Islas Canarias on Sunday, April 27. This event marked the fourth round of the 2025 FIA World Rally Championship and showcased the team’s dominance.
Taking place on the stunning island of Gran Canaria, this rally made its debut on the WRC calendar. As the season’s first pure asphalt event, it also introduced the new hard-compound Hankook asphalt tyres, which played a crucial role in the teams’ performance throughout the stages.
The smooth and winding stages demanded both confidence and precision from the drivers, and the GR Yaris Rally1 rose to the challenge, maintaining an unassailable lead throughout all 18 stages. Rovanperä, alongside co-driver Jonne Halttunen, triumphed in 15 stages and dominated the full-length tests in the mountainous regions. After overcoming a challenging start to the season, Rovanperä led from start to finish, marking his return to the top of the podium for the first time since Rally Chile last October.
He clinched the victory by a significant margin of 53.5 seconds, also securing the best time in the rally-ending Power Stage and topping the Super Sunday classification, earning a maximum of 35 points.
With this being his 16th career victory, Rovanperä has now become the most successful driver for Toyota in the WRC, previously tied with Sébastien Ogier and Carlos Sainz at 15 wins each, along with two drivers’ titles under the brand.
Throughout the rally, Ogier was Rovanperä’s closest competitor, as he and co-driver Vincent Landais made a powerful return to competition after their win at January’s Rallye Monte-Carlo. After finally overtaking Rovanperä in the penultimate stage, he secured second place overall, finishing as the second quickest in both the Power Stage and Super Sunday.
Meanwhile, Elfyn Evans and co-driver Scott Martin completed the podium, marking their fourth top-three finish in as many rounds this season. They also finished third in both the Power Stage and Super Sunday, further bolstering Evans’ lead in the drivers’ championship with a 43-point advantage, while Rovanperä moved up into second place.
Takamoto Katsuta and co-driver Aaron Johnston rounded out the top four, achieving the third 1-2-3-4 finish for TGR-WRT, previously accomplished during the Safari Rally Kenya in both 2022 and 2023. With a commendable total of 60 manufacturers’ points across four events, the team’s championship lead has now expanded to 51 points.
For much of the rally, the team was locking out the top five positions, thanks to a stellar performance from rookie Sami Pajari, who was on track to match his best finish in fourth place alongside co-driver Marko Salminen. Unfortunately, he went wide and struck a barrier late on Saturday, which forced him to retire with damage. However, he can take many positives from his pace, proving competitive against his more experienced teammates in several stage runs.
The GR Yaris Rally2 secured a commendable second place in the competitive WRC2 category, driven by Spanish champions Alejandro Cachón and Borja Rozada, who are stepping up this season in a car entered by Toyota Spain and operated by Teo Martín Motorsport.
Team Quotes
Akio Toyoda (Chairman of TGR-WRT): “I believe the remarkable outcome we achieved was made possible by the dedicated efforts of every single member of TGR-WRT. I am incredibly grateful to everyone. It was fantastic that we could finish 1-2-3-4 with Kalle, Seb, Elfyn, and Takamoto on the roads of Gran Canaria, which we were driving for the first time.
“Juha, with his extensive experience in the Canary Islands, informed everyone about the roads there and reassured the team even before the rally commenced. Despite being on unfamiliar roads, our engineers and mechanics successfully prepared the vehicles with setups that instilled confidence in the drivers during shakedown. I heard that after Friday, the drivers expressed their appreciation for the excellent work done. We are a team where members can thank each other while fighting together, and TGR-WRT always strives to be such a team.
Thank you, everyone, for your great work. We have a busy schedule ahead leading up to Rally Finland. Let’s continue to push as one team.”
Juha Kankkunen (Deputy Team Principal): “This type of outcome is rare, so we are very happy. Thanks to the team, everything went very smoothly, starting with our testing and setup. Our car performed flawlessly for our drivers on these challenging roads. It was impressive to see Kalle’s speed: he delivered a perfect ten out of ten drive. He drove very relaxed and clean, dominating the weekend. His performance didn’t surprise me; once he finds fifth gear, he is incredibly fast. However, the entire team performed well. Seb has completed two rallies this year, finishing both first and second, Elfyn continues to excel, and Taka also drove well here. There are still many rallies ahead, and we know they will be tighter with our competitors, but I am confident in our team’s work.”
Elfyn Evans (Driver of Car 33): “It has been a fantastic weekend with an extraordinary performance from the GR Yaris Rally1. A huge thank you to the team, who did an excellent job understanding the challenges of this rally, preparing the car, and adapting to the new tyres. Kudos to Kalle for his unmatched pace this weekend, and also to Seb. I’m not entirely satisfied, of course, to be a bit behind them and not fighting for the win with equal equipment, but it’s still good points, and we have to be relatively pleased with that.”
Kalle Rovanperä (Driver of Car 69): “It’s been a great weekend for us and the entire team. To achieve a 1-2-3-4 result like this again is fantastic. We have just been enjoying the driving experience. The car has been exceptionally fast, so a big thanks to the entire team for preparing it so well. Jonne has also done a fantastic job; we drove well, making this one of my best wins to date. It’s not often at this level that you can be consistently fast throughout the weekend. Our objective today was to secure maximum points, and we truly needed that. There’s still a significant gap to Elfyn, but at least we are now a step closer, and we will keep working.”
Sébastien Ogier (Driver of Car 17): “It’s an incredible achievement for the team to lock out the top four positions. This doesn’t happen every day, and we should be very proud of this result. Personally, second place is not my favorite, but it is still a good result. I think we drove a solid rally and truly enjoyed it; the car was enjoyable to drive, and I extend my gratitude to the team for providing us with the best tools this weekend. Kalle and Jonne were simply untouchable, but it’s still a very positive weekend for us, securing maximum points for the team.”
Takamoto Katsuta (Driver of Car 18): “I’m very proud to be part of such an incredible result for the team. A huge thank you to everyone for preparing the car so well. It was such a pleasure to drive all weekend, which is why we could finish 1-2-3-4 on a rally that was new to us. On my side, it could have been better if we finished even higher, but it’s been a great rally for us with no major incidents, and I will now focus on the next one to keep improving.”
PROVISIONAL FINAL CLASSIFICATION, RALLY ISLAS CANARIAS
1 Kalle Rovanperä/Jonne Halttunen (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1) 2h54m39.8s
2 Sébastien Ogier/Vincent Landais (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1) +53.5s
3 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1) +1m17.1s
4 Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnston (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1) +2m02.9s
5 Adrien Fourmaux/Alexandre Coria (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +2m31.0s
6 Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +3m11.4s
7 Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +3m40.7s
8 Yohan Rossel/Arnaud Dunand (Citroën C3 Rally2) +7m10.7s
9 Alejandro Cachón/Borja Rozada (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) +7m40.2s
10 Nikolay Gryazin/Konstantin Aleksandrov (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +7m58.4s
Retired Sami Pajari/Marko Salminen (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1)
(Results as of 18:00 CEST on Sunday; for the latest results, please visit www.wrc.com)
2025 FIA World Rally Championship Standings for Drivers after Round 4:
1 Elfyn Evans 109 points
2 Kalle Rovanperä 66
3 Thierry Neuville 59
4 Sébastien Ogier 58
5 Ott Tänak 57
6 Adrien Fourmaux 44
7 Takamoto Katsuta 39
8 Sami Pajari 19
9 Grégoire Munster 16
10 Mārtiņš Sesks 8
2025 FIA World Rally Championship Standings for Manufacturers after Round 4:
1 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team 208 points
2 Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team 157
3 M-Sport Ford World Rally Team 58
4 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRT2 25
Next on the Calendar: Exciting Rally de Portugal
The much-anticipated Rally de Portugal, scheduled for May 15-18, will be held in Matosinhos near Porto in the northern region of the country. This rally features classic stages on sandy and rocky gravel roads, promising thrilling competition.
ENDS
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