This weekend Toyota Spain has made its debut as official brand in the Spanish Rally Superchampionship. The Rallye Terras Altas de Lorca has launched an exciting season, in which Alejandro Cachón and Borja Rozada have raised to an excellent second place to the new Toyota GR Yaris Rally2, the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Spain and Teo Martin Motorsport team.

The Murcian event began on Friday, March 8th with the qualifying stage, which allows the driver to choose the starting position for Saturday. The potential of the GR Yaris Rally2 on gravel was already shown there, as Alejandro Cachón and Borja Rozada set the best time, ahead of all their closest opponents, in a rally with no fewer than 25 cars registered in the Rally2 category.

After the official start in the center of the city of Lorca, the rally began on Saturday 9th, under a cloudy sky that anticipated possible rain. From the start, the Toyota Spain driver showed his intention to fight for the victory, staying one second behind Pepe Lopez (Hyundai), who set the best time, and ahead of Jose Antonio Suarez (Skoda) by 2.6 seconds. Thus, to the first assistance of the day the three drivers arrived only 6.3 seconds apart.

Alejandro Chacón and Borja Rozada demonstrated their quick adaptability to the new Toyota GR Yaris Rally2. They scored their first scratch of the season in TC-3, clearly showing that fighting for the victory was a reality. However, in the fourth timed special stage the chance vanished, as the predicted rain made a powerful appearance just when Alejandro Cachón was on the stage. Cachón was to lose 17 seconds in that section to the eventual leader, José Antonio Suárez, who was able to drive the entire special stage on a practically dry road.

Even so, and despite losing 19.2 seconds to the leader and being in third position after the first four special stages, the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Spain duo would seek throughout the afternoon to close the gap to climb one more step on the podium. In the TC Plus, which gives extra points for the general classification to the three best times, Alejandro scored two points, being already very close to second place (3.6 seconds), which he would cut in TC-7 by scoring a new scratch.

In the last section of the day, the positions remained stable and Alejandro Cachón and Borja Rozada took the first podium of the season for the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Spain.

The next round of the S-CER will be held in Cordoba on the occasion of the International Rallye Sierra Morena (from April 5th to 7th), on tarmac. In this same event, the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Spain team will share space with the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Iberian Cup, the successful single-brand cup with the GR Yaris RZ Cup.

Alejandro Cachón (DRIVER): "I was very confident because we had prepared very well for this rally during the tests we did. I think we had a great rally and the result is very positive. From the first kilometers I felt that we could be in the top of the classification, as it was. The Toyota GR Yaris has performed very well and I think that, thanks to the developments that are coming, we will improve in the next tests. From now on, we have to focus on the Rallye Sierra Morena".

Borja Rozada (CO-DRIVER): "It has been a good rally, in which we had a very good pace from the beginning, as we could see when winning the qualifying stage and the competitive times we achieved. We have to thank the whole team for the work they have done and I think Alejandro, after his time in WRC2, has shown a great maturity. We also have to thank the support we have received from Europe, since they sent Lewis Allen, development engineer of the Toyota GR Yaris Rally2, to join us during this test".

Classification Rallye Tierras Altas de Lorca

1.- José Antonio Suárez/Alberto Iglesias Pin (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2): 52m59.3s

2.- Alejandro Chacón/Borja Rozada (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2): +23.0s

3.- Diego Ruiloba/Ángel Vela (Citroën C3 Rally2): +49.0s

Classification Supercampeonato España de Rallyes

1.- José Antonio Suárez: 38 puntos

2.- Alejandro Cachón: 32 puntos

3.- Diego Ruiloba: 27 puntos

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