The debut of the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Iberian Cup at the Rallye Azores went as well as it could. All the teams that started the race managed to finish it with no mechanical reliability issues. The demanding weather conditions, with rain and mud throughout the day, posed a unique set of challenges for the participating teams.

The Azores Rallye, with 118.84 timed kilometres, has proved the performance and competitiveness of the Toyota GR Yaris RZ, the only 4WD model in a promotional cup which actually made difference as it was evidenced in the times achieved by some of the drivers at the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Iberian Cup.

After the cancellation of the first stage -Coroa da Mata- due to lack of visibility, Graminhais - one of the mythical special stages of the Azores Rallye with 24 kilometres- was held. Here the Spaniard Dani Berdomás and his co-driver Brais Mirón won with an overwhelming 7 tenths lead to the second ranked, the renowned Portuguese driver Miguel Campos. The time achieved by the Spanish team highlighted the competitiveness of the Toyota GR Yaris RZ Cup, as their result was very close to the drivers registered in the main category of the event -Rally2-.

This beautiful fight ended when the Spanish pair, in the first passage through the Tronqueira stage, had to abandon the race due to a roadside accident. From that moment on, Miguel Campos and Nuno Rodrigues da Silva leaded the rally until the end to enter directly into history, becoming the first winners of the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Iberian Cup, the new promotional cup organized by Toyota Spain, Toyota Caetano Portugal and Motor & Sport Institute (MSi).

Ricardo Costa and Rui Vilaça made a good rally, scoring the fastest time in the second pass through the Coroa da Mata stage. This is very relevant as under the sporting regulations of the event, the fastest driver in each of the stages is awarded an additional point for the general classification of the championship. Fran Cima and his co-driver Juan García finished third, being very confident throughout the rally.

Without pushing its limits, due to the challenging conditions of the race, the nice team made up by Víctor and Márcio Calisto ended in fourth place, adding an important number of points for the general classification of the Cup. The Estonian Kevin Reiman, who is only 17 years old, and his co-driver Inés Veiga retired in the last stage of the day.

The next event of the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Iberian Cup will be the Rally Terra da Auga will be held on 6 and 7 May, also on gravel.