TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team will encounter new terrain when Rally Islas Canarias plays host to a round of the FIA World Rally Championship for the first time on April 24-27.
The island of Gran Canaria, located in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of northwest Africa, provides the venue for round four of the 2025 season and what can be considered the first pure asphalt event of the year. It will also be the first Spanish round of the WRC held since 2022.
TGR-WRT makes the trip leading the manufacturers’ championship by 26 points following victories in each of the opening three rounds, and with Elfyn Evans atop the drivers’ standings by 36 points following his back-to-back wins in Sweden and Kenya.
Sébastien Ogier returns to action for the first time since his Rallye Monte-Carlo victory in January to form a full line-up of five GR YARIS Rally1 cars, with the trio of Ogier, Evans and Kalle Rovanperä nominated to compete for manufacturers’ points.
Also in action will be Takamoto Katsuta and Sami Pajari, the latter driving under the TGR-WRT2 banner and the only one among the quintet of drivers to have competed previously in Rally Islas Canarias, which steps up to the WRC after many years as a round of the FIA European Rally Championship.
The event is known for twisting roads that are constantly climbing or descending the mountainous terrain, and often lined by barriers on one side and rock on the other. An abrasive surface, constructed partly from volcanic lava, should provide high and consistent grip levels but can also make tyre wear a consideration, while the island location has the potential to bring changeable weather conditions.
The rally is based in the island’s capital city Las Palmas in the north-east, with the service park located adjacent to the Gran Canaria Stadium, while the stages are held all around the island. After shakedown and a ceremonial start on Thursday, the rally begins for real on Friday when a trio of stages across the centre of the island are run twice either side of mid-day service. A similar format is followed for most of Saturday, when the action is centred in the north and concludes with a super special that runs partly inside a basketball arena. The rally concludes on Sunday with five stages to the south near Maspalomas, which hosts the podium ceremony.
A total of nine GR Yaris Rally2 cars are entered for drivers including Spanish champion Alejandro Cachón, who makes the step up to WRC2 entered by Toyota Spain and run by Teo Martín Motorsport. Also embarking on WRC2 campaigns are last year’s ERC runner-up Mathieu Franceschi with AMD Motorsport, as well as Fabio Schwarz, son of former Toyota WRC driver Armin Schwarz.
Others competing in WRC2 are the TGR WRC Challenge Program duo of Yuki Yamamoto and Hikaru Kogure plus Diego Domínguez (Teo Martín Motorsport) and Spanish driver Carlos Moreno (Raceseven). Series leader Oliver Solberg (Printsport) and Georg Linnamäe (RedGrey) are also entered but not registered to score points on this event.
Quotes:
Juha Kankkunen (Deputy Team Principal)
“The whole team is looking forward to a new challenge at Rally Islas Canarias. Even though it hasn’t been in the WRC before, it’s actually a rally that I was able to drive six times myself in the past – the last time was 10 years ago – and it will be nice to go back there. The roads are very good to drive and I’m sure that the drivers will enjoy it. Most of our drivers don’t have any experience there, but in general we have a very strong line-up with Sébastien also there this time, and the team has been preparing well. It has been a good start to the season so far and of course we hope to carry that on.”