From Pace Notes to Power Moves: Jonne Halttunen Joins Toyota Gazoo Racing USA Rally Program

 

Report: Neil McDaid

Photo: Red Bull Racing 

Toyota has confirmed WRC Champion Co-driver Jonne Halttunen as Project Manager for its expansion into the American Rally Association Championship. Toyota Gazoo Racing will also collaborate with Rallysupport Services, a company ironically led by Lance Smith, the same Lance Smith of Vermont Sports Car who brought Subaru to be the most successful brand in North American Rally.

Halttunen arrives with a résumé that commands instant respect. As co-driver to Kalle Rovanperä, he has been a central figure in Toyota Gazoo Racing’s modern WRC dominance. Together they claimed WRC World Championships in 2022 and 2023, multiple rally victories across gravel, tarmac, and snow, and redefined the modern driver–co-driver partnership with precision, calm authority, and tactical intelligence beyond their years. Halttunen’s reputation inside the service park is that of a strategist as much as a navigator—someone who understands not just pace notes, but the bigger competitive picture.

Less widely discussed, but equally relevant for the ARA project, is Halttunen’s own rally driving background. Before cementing his career on the right-hand seat, he competed as a driver in Finland’s national rally scene, giving him first-hand understanding of car behavior, setup compromises, and the physical demands of stage competition—an invaluable asset when translating WRC-level thinking to American events with their unique roads, formats, and logistics.

With WRC, getting serious about getting USA on their calendar, the obvious question is: could this project lead to something even bigger for Jonne? While a one-off ARA appearance by Halttunen alongside Rovanperä might seem far-fetched, Rovanperä has said "rallying will always be close to his heart," even though he hasn't indicated a 2026 stage rally commitment. Given this season's focus on establishing Toyota's presence in the USA, such an entry would generate significant exposure for both Toyota and ARA. Of course, this is all speculation, but regardless, Halttunen's move alone demonstrates that American stage rally is no longer on the fringes; it's firmly back on the world map. 

Toyota Gazoo Racing Ignites the 2026 ARA Championship

 

The sleeping giant has awakened, Toyota Gazoo Racing (TGR) has officially entered the 2026 American Rally Association (ARA) National Championship, ending years of speculation and setting the stage for a titanic manufacturer war with Subaru..

Leading the charge is American phenom Seth Quintero. Transitioning from his dominant tenure in Dakar and T3 lightweight prototypes, Quintero brings a "maximum attack" philosophy to the cockpit. Beside him sits veteran Finnish co-driver Topi Luhtinen, whose clinical European experience and "ice-in-the-veins" delivery are designed to temper Quintero’s raw desert-bred speed with the discipline required for technical forest stages.

The weapon of choice is a specially homologated Toyota GR Yaris Rally2. Optimized for the high-speed gravel sweeps of the Pacific Northwest and the punishing bedrock of the Ozarks, the car features a 1.6-liter turbocharged engine paired with a sophisticated five-speed sequential gearbox. While its footprint is smaller than the competition, its nimble chassis and TGR’s world-class dampers make it a surgical instrument on tight, technical stages.

The path to the podium, however, is blocked by the gold standard of American rallying: Travis Pastrana and the Vermont SportsCar Subaru powerhouse. Quintero faces a steep learning curve; while he possesses world-class car control, he must now battle Pastrana’s decades of "reading" the changing grip levels of North American forests. The Subaru WRX remains a refined beast, and Pastrana’s psychological edge in the ARA is immense. For TGR, the 2026 season isn't just a debut; it is a high-stakes baptism by fire against an icon who knows every crest and jump on the calendar. The battle for North American supremacy will open on round 2 of the ARA Championship, 100AW in March. 

Report: Neil McDaid 

Pastrana and Gelsomino take third consecutive victory at Olympus Rally

Shelton, Washington, April 25th, Travis Pastrana has maintained his 100% start to the 2021 American Rally Association presented by DirtFish National season by winning round three, the DirtFish Olympus Rally. 

The Subaru Motorsports USA driver, co-driven by Rhianon Gelsomino, won both the Sno*Drift and 100 Acre Wood Rallies before sealing the perfect hat-trick in Washington, triumphing over Ken Block and Alex Gelsomino by 1m07.4s. 

 It was Block’s first rally back in a Subaru since 2009 and his second consecutive second place to Pastrana, having been the 100AW Rally runner-up in a Škoda Fabia R5+. Hyundai Motorsport junior driver Josh McErlean, 21, finished third and top of the RC2 class, winning the notorious Wildcat stage – the first ever overall stage win of his rallying career – to also net his first ever outright podium. Brandon Semenuk had been a major factor in the battle too, pushing his team-mate Pastrana hard to head into the opening day’s final test – the aforementioned Wildcat – just 3.6s behind the five-time US rally champion. 

 But the Candaian was caught out in the treacherous conditions, clipped a bridge and retired his WRX STI from the rally. The damage proved too great for him to play any further part on Sunday. Reigning ARA National Champion Barry McKenna was supposed to contest his second event in his new Ford Fiesta WRC but withdrew on the eve of the rally for personal reasons. 

 These non-scores, coupled to Pastrana’s third victory for as many rounds, give the Subaru driver a commanding lead in the series standings. He won six of the Olympus Rally’s 11 stages with Semenuk scoring three and McErlean and Block both grabbing one apiece. After a run of four straight retirements, Ryan Booth brought his McKenna Motorsports Ford Fiesta Rally2 home in fourth place, albeit over three-and-a-half minutes down on class rival McErlean. 

 Booth was content with his performance though on his first time out in the latest-generation Fiesta, but did profit from the misfortune of his team-mate Callum Devine who, like McErlean, was sampling US rallying for the first time. 

 Devine had been running within 20s of his Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy stablemate on the opening day but was battling with a mechanical issue aboard his Ford. The problem eventually proved to be insurmountable and Devine called it a day after the first of Sunday’s stages, retiring from what was fourth position. 

 Jeff Seehorn was another retiree, exiting the event from seventh place on Saturday’s final test when an outer tie rod broke on his Subaru and pitched him straight off the road and into a tree. All the calamities allowed John Coyne to grab fifth spot in his Ford Fiesta R5, two minutes ahead of two-wheel-drive winner Seamus Burke in his Ford Escort Mk2. Seventh place went to Matthew Brassfield, who was penalized a minute in his Subaru Impreza but still finished over a minute clear of Derik Nelson’s Subaru BRZ. 

Nelson had been leading the 2WD class throughout Saturday but ran into trouble on Sunday. He performed valiantly on the final stage of the rally though to vault up from 11th to eighth, surging past Travis Nease, Ace Robey and André D’Orazio and profiting from George Plsek’s non-apperance in the final stage to claim the position. 

 Nease slid outside of the top 10 but Robey finished just a single second behind Nelson and D’Orazio was only another 3.2s in arrears. 

 The ARA National series now takes a seven-week break with the next round, the Southern Ohio Forest Rally, running on June 11-12.

Source info: ARA 

Picture: Rhianon Gelsomino