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Kankkunen returns to Monte-Carlo – but with a new role
Juha Kankkunen will line up for work at Rallye Monte-Carlo for the first time in 26 years when he begins his job as Toyota GAZOO Racing's deputy team principal this month.
The four-time world champion last competed in the French Alps in 1999, scoring a podium third place for Subaru. The following season, he wasn't included in Hyundai's round-one line-up and he retired as a full-time driver at the end of that year.
Now, however, the superstar Finn is back in the business and looking forward to his new role.
“I will be with Jari-Matti [Latvala, team principal] in Monte Carlo,” he said. “So we can spend some more time together and I can see more [about the role]. We have been working together already in the last two years, so I know him well – he's a very good person and somebody very easy to talk to.
Kankkunen returns to Monte-Carlo – but with a new role
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“I'm excited to start, it's a real pleasure to be back with Toyota. Of course, I have been doing some demonstration driving at some events and working with Akio [Toyoda, chairman Toyota Gazoo Racing], but it's nice to have the opportunity to work with the team I won the world championship with.”
Talking more about the specifics of running the team, Kankkunen added: “If I don't know something, there are lots of people who have the information. And for things like team orders, I think already everybody is trying to do the best they can for themselves and for the team. Today, the race is all the time flat-out it's less like the days before when you could drive with a bit more strategy on the longer distance.”
