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Yaris set for Poland speed test

The Toyota Gazoo team has been pounding test roads in Estonia to get its Yaris World Rally Car ready for Orlen 74th Rally Poland [29 june - 2 july] and for some of the fastest stages in the season.

After a strong second place last time out in Sardinia, the team faces a brand-new challenge in Poland on soft, sandy and flowing stages that are very different to the last four events.

Poland's high-speed stages can be similar to those at the following round in Finland, and might have a familiar feel for the Finnish-based team that conducted much of the Yaris's development on home ground.

Jari-Matti Latvala, who claimed the team's first victory at Rally Sweden in February, described the pre-event test as "really good".

He said: "We made some steps forward with the dampers and I was particularly impressed by the stability of the car. With a lot of the car's development having taken place on the rapid roads of Finland, I think the Yaris should be well suited to the very fast roads in Poland too."

Latvala's team-mate Juho Hänninen agreed that the car suited the Polish roads. "I actually think that our car is better on the fast rallies compared to the slow rallies so this gives me a lot of confidence, as you do not have to worry so much about the set-up and you can just concentrate on the driving," he said.

Ahead of this third rally with the squad, Esapekka Lappi described the test as "a good step up for me", but played down expectations of a repeat of his stage-winning pace from Italy.

He said: "Although I had a good result in Sardinia I have no particular expectations for Poland. Because it's a really fast rally you need a lot of confidence and I'm not sure if I have that yet. I just want to have a clean run and reach the finish with no problems in order to learn as much as possible."

Zdroj: wrc.com