Heikkilä: WRC outing will boost ERC prospects

The 32-year-old finished fifth among the FIA WRC2 Championship contenders in Sweden on his second start aboard Toyota’s new-for-2024 GR Yaris Rally2.  

Heikkilä will be Toyota-powered when he launches his ERC glory bid in Hungary from 12 - 14 April armed with a wealth of set-up knowledge gathered in Sweden.  

“The car is quite nice with plenty of potential but the thing [in Sweden] was finding the right set-up,” the 2022 Finnish champion explained. “Luckily we found the right direction and that’s good for the future. We showed we are able to do the fastest times and be at the top.”

Of his ERC aims and ambitions, Heikkilä said: “The target is to do the full ERC and let’s see if we can do some more. For sure I would like to do some WRC2 events but it’s all about money. I want to be as high as possible and pushing always harder and harder, improve myself and have a good result. I want to win some events.”  

Rally Sweden was Heikkilä’s second event with new co-driver Kristian Temonen, who has replaced Samu Vaaleri for 2024. Vaaleri partnered Heikkilä to ninth place in the 2023 ERC standings.