From 25 to 26 March, the Rallye de Azores 2022 will be held, an event included in the European Rally Championship and which will witness the premiere of the Toyota GR Yaris RZ, the model with which the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Iberian Cup, the new single-brand cup created by Toyota Spain, Toyota Caetano Portugal and Motor&Sport Institute (MSi) will be contested.

Seven drivers are registered in the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Iberian Cup in this first round: Diogo Gago, Miguel Campos, Fran Cima, Dani Berdomás, Ricardo Costa, Kevin Reiman, and Víctor Calisto.

The race will host a good mix of drivers: some of them with an important experience in the world of rallying, such as Miguel Campos (Portuguese Rally Champion 2002), Dani Berdomás (Peugeot Rally Cup Iberian Champion 2019) or Fran Cima (European Clio R3T - Iberian Champion 2017), while others, such as the Portuguese Kevin Reiman, who is currently only 17 years old, are starting to take their first steps in this speciality.

This race which is run on gravel and is scoring for the European Rally Championship (ERC), will be an unbeatable opportunity for the Toyota GR Yaris RZ Cup, with its GR-FOUR traction system, to show its full potential on this surface. The 4-wheel drive is coupled with a strong and balanced chassis, specific suspensions for gravel and a 1.6 Turbo engine with a power of 262 hp, which has received the best reviews from the drivers who have had the opportunity to test it.

This inaugural test of the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Iberian Cup is one of the most awaited events by the drivers, due to its complexity. Its special stages, of medium speed, are characterized by the typical lushness of the Portuguese archipelago. The changing weather is one of the distinctive features of the rally, with rain and fog being common in the upper part of the island.

For the drivers registered in the cup, unlike those who will score for the ERC, the Azores Rallye will have a single stage, on March 26, with a total of 118.94 km timed divided into 7 stages, the longest of Graminhais, with 24.03 km.

The TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Iberian Cup is one of the great novelties of this 2022 in the world of competition. It comes with the aim of providing drivers with a unique opportunity to continue progressing in their careers thanks to the performance offered by the Toyota GR Yaris RZ, an exceptional model for its characteristics for a promotional cup and that will serve to prepare drivers for higher categories.

One of the attractions of this single-brand cup are the economic prizes that are distributed in each rally: the first driver classified will receive 7,500 €, the second 6,000 € and the third 5,000 €. In addition, the first classified junior (under 24 years old) will receive an additional €1,000. To this must be added another 46,000 €, which will be distributed among the top 3 overall finishers at the end of the season.

In addition, the Toyota GR Yaris RZ will be the third most present model in this European rally event. In turn, Toyota will be the third manufacturer with more cars on the starting line, with a total of 10 units.

The performance of the participants, both in this first race and throughout the season, can be followed live on the Social Networks of the cup: Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.