Haas is but to discover the complete potential of its partnership with Toyota – nevertheless it has already helped one among its drivers fulfil a childhood dream, as Esteban Ocon bought to drive the GR Yaris Rally1 automotive throughout the Goodwood Pageant of Velocity.
“I saved telling them since we went to Japan how I like automobiles and the way I at all times needed to check a WRC automotive,” Ocon advised Autosport. “They gave me my first style of gravel driving on a correct observe with a highway automotive GR Yaris in Japan [earlier this year]. And yeah, I believe the request got here from the boss himself, [Akio] Toyoda.
“And actually, I can not thank them sufficient. I did not sleep very a lot the night time earlier than. It was a dream come true, actually, to drive this automotive.”
The workforce initially saved it a secret from Ocon till he noticed his schedule for the Goodwood occasion.
“So, I obtain it and I begin to take a look at it, and I see ‘Esteban, WRC',” he recollects. “So, I known as Ayao [Komatsu, the Haas team principal], saying, ‘Ayao, what's that? Am I driving the WRC?' And he is like, ‘No, no, we simply made a mistake.' After which he begins laughing.
“And I am like, ‘Okay, so what's it then?' He is like, ‘No, no, truly, you sit as a co-driver.' After which he laughs once more. So I went by all of the phases of feelings. However truly, it turned out that Toyota made me an enormous shock. They needed me to drive the WRC.
“That was the expertise that I've at all times needed. After I was younger, I had a dream to – someday, if I am profitable sufficient in Components 1 – purchase a WRC automotive that I can drive on daily basis. After which go to the store with it! I came upon about it later: these automobiles are highway authorized, however it's a must to have a particular allow for the competitors. However after I was 12, that was my dream.”
The expertise “did not disappoint” Ocon – not least as a result of he each drove the WRC automotive and bought a passenger journey alongside Toyota's Takamoto Katsuta.
“It was tremendous spectacular,” he stated. “With some automobiles, perhaps generally you check and you are like, since you drive an F1 automotive, you are a bit blase from all the pieces else.
“However this was unbelievable. How tremendous effectively engineered it's. It jogged my memory of the DTM automobiles. Principally all the pieces is a prototype. Every part is so effectively thought. The handbrake is tremendous straightforward, you needn't use the clutch. The steering feels tremendous easy, very straightforward to make use of. The throttle is tremendous brief in a approach that it's a must to go full throttle immediately. I had a blast.
“Have you learnt what was probably the most spectacular? Leaping on the aspect of Takamoto Katsuta. If I drove it solely, I'd have thought, yeah, the grip is just not that nice and all of that. However after I jumped on the aspect of him, I used to be like, ‘okay, that is one thing else.'”
Esteban Ocon attempting out WRC automobiles with Takamoto Katsuta
Picture by: Toyota Racing
Would Ocon take into account doing rallies sooner or later?
“For enjoyable, after my F1 profession, undoubtedly,” he says. “However it will by no means be in a Rally1 class. I believe I'll most likely give them a name to have a check in some unspecified time in the future, to have enjoyable. In the event that they let me have the chance.
However to belief me to drive these automobiles on the rally stage, I will likely be perpetually grateful to Toyota as a result of it is superior.”
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