Chris Ingram, the newly-crowned 2024 British rally champion, will contest the FORUM8 Rally Japan (21-24 November) in a Castrol MEM Rally Team Toyota GR Yaris Rally2.
The event is the final round of the 2024 FIA World Rally Championship and takes place in the Aichi and Gifu prefecture.
This will be the first time that the 2019 FIA European rally champion has contested Rally Japan – although Chris is no stranger to the WRC.
Since making his WRC debut on the 2013 Wales Rally GB, the 30-year old Monaco-based British driver has contested 22 WRC events – scoring two top 10 results (2018 Rally Türkiye and 2022 Ypres Rally Belgium), several WRC2 and WRC3 podiums and winning the WRC2 Junior class twice.
This year Chris has won four rallies – the North West Stages, Nicky Grist Stages (the first UK rally win for the Toyota GR Yaris Rally2), the Grampian Forest Rally and the Visit Conwy Cambrian Rally outright – and led every rally he’s contested.
Whilst this will be the Suisscourtage-backed driver’s first visit to Japan, his 37-year old London-based American co-driver Alex Kihurani contested Rally Japan in 2022.
Chris Ingram said: “To be given the opportunity to represent Castrol and its iconic colours and compete in Rally Japan in a Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 is absolutely incredible.
“Being trusted with this opportunity shows the progress the whole Castrol MEM Rally Team, Alex [Kihurani] and I have made in less than a year.
“We will remain fully focused on delivering an exceptional performance on what will be our first WRC2 entry with the Castrol Toyota and my first long-haul FIA World Rally Championship start.”
Donald Smith, Castrol Global Sponsorship Manager, said: “We are very pleased to announce that Chris [Ingram] and Alex [Kihurani] will be heading to Japan in the Castrol liveried Toyota GR Yaris Rally2.
“Since we launched the Castrol MEM Rally Team earlier this year we have had great interest from the Japanese rally fans, and we look forward to bringing the team to Japan and engaging with the Japanese rally fan base.”
