TOKYO, Oct 21, 2024 - (JCN Newswire via SeaPRwire.com) - TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team further closed the gap in the FIA World Rally Championship with a strong final day performance even as it missed out on overall victory.Car 33 (Elfyn Evans, Scott Martin)Takamoto Katsuta was the star of the final day as he completed an excellent return to action, claiming the maximum 12 points on offer by topping both the Super Sunday classification and the rally-ending Power Stage.Following a short break in his season as he sat out the previous round in Chile, Katsuta showed good confidence and pace from the start of the all-asphalt CER, while also driving smartly when the often-slippery conditions required a more cautious approach. Pushing harder on Sunday, he was quickest on the first pass through the Passauer Land test and again when he returned for the Power Stage.Finishing fourth overall, Katsuta and co-driver Aaron Johnston were quickest across Sunday by 3.8 seconds ahead of team-mates Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin, who scored a second successive podium in second place and were third in the Power Stage.Together, the efforts of Evans and Katsuta meant TGR-WRT scored two points more than its main rival Hyundai this weekend, closing the gap to 15 points ahead of next month’s final round at Rally Japan – where a maximum score across the event would be enough to claim another title.Evans had been part of a close battle for the victory which was led by TGR’s Sébastien Ogier coming into the final day. While a wide moment meant he conceded the lead to Ott Tänak (Hyundai) in the first stage of the day, Ogier responded to reduce the gap to 1.5s with two stages to go. Continuing to push hard, he then unfortunately slid wide on a muddy corner in SS17 and hit a tree, forcing him and navigator Vincent Landais out on the spot.Sami Pajari and co-driver Enni Mälkönen suffered a similar fate in the first stage of the morning, bringing a slightly early end to another impressive outing in a GR YARIS Rally1 HYBRID – his first on asphalt and third in total. Pajari was on for another top-six finish overall as he continued his learning process at the highest level, gaining more valuable experience.As planned, Pajari will return to driving the GR Yaris Rally2 car at Rally Japan where he has a chance to claim the WRC2 championship title if he can finish in the top two in the category.The GR Yaris Rally2 car took second place on the WRC2 podium at CER in the hands of Czech driver Filip Mareš and the Toyota Dolak team.Quotes:Jari-Matti Latvala (Team Principal)“I’m happy with the really strong results of Elfyn and Takamoto on this rally and especially today, they have really helped the team to keep the championship alive. Seb was naturally very disappointed after his accident which was very unfortunate because he was again very fast here. After that, it was looking like we might lose some points, but in the end thanks to Taka and Elfyn we gained two on our competition, so we are still in the game for Rally Japan: it’s in our hands if we aim for a one-two overall and full points on Sunday. We’re really happy for Taka especially: with time to reset he came back and did exactly what we needed him to do. He was careful when he needed to be, increased the confidence and then his performance on Sunday was coming naturally. With Sami, his performance was growing all the time on asphalt. It was just a small mistake this morning and he paid a big penalty but that’s part of the learning process and the next goal for him is to fight for the WRC2 title in Japan.”Elfyn Evans (Driver car 33)“It’s not been a bad weekend for us. Together with Scott we come away as the crew that scored the most points and we have to be somewhat satisfied about that and it’s good for the team. Maybe we were not always setting the stage times alight, but we had some strong moments and it was quite a consistent weekend. We were missing a little bit here and there but we’re here at the end in second place and we can be reasonably happy with that. In terms of manufacturers’ points we took a little hit today unfortunately but it wasn’t bad on that side so at least we’re still in the game and it’s all open for Rally Japan.”Sébastien Ogier (Driver car 17)“I feel really very sorry for the team for what happened today. In this penultimate stage the first corner going under the trees was much muddier than I anticipated and I just understeered wide and hit the tree on the outside. The route note crews did not have the chance to pass through this stage before us so I didn’t have the information in my notes, but this is no excuse because I’m behind the wheel and the other drivers didn’t make the same mistake. Right now I feel very disappointed, especially for the team because it could have been a strong weekend for us. It's been three rallies in a row where we clearly have the speed but not the result at the end. Thanks to Elfyn and Taka we still have a chance in the championship at Rally Japan and we will try our best again there.”Takamoto Katsuta (Driver car 18)“I want to say a huge thanks to the team for the incredible support they gave me through some difficult moments in the last two months. It’s been a very tough season for myself so I felt a lot of pressure to do a good job here, but we are able to do it with full points on Super Sunday and the Power Stage as well as fourth overall. I was really enjoying the driving and the feeling in the car, and I’m really happy to finish the rally with this result. Of course we have still one rally to go at Rally Japan and I will try to do my best there together with the team. We never give up and we keep pushing.”Sami Pajari (Driver car 5)“In the first stage today I went a bit wide on one corner and we were maybe a bit unlucky to roll so easily, but it was my mistake. It’s a pity and I’m sorry for the team. I just need to learn from this, understand what happened and be better in the future. Up to then, the rally had been really nice for us, every day was really clean, and there was clear development through the weekend. I got quite a nice feeling with the car and did some decent stage times, and most importantly we learned a lot. These three rallies in the Rally1 car have been really amazing, a dream come true for me and I’ve enjoyed it a lot. Now I look forward to doing my best at Rally Japan in WRC2.”PROVISIONAL FINAL CLASSIFICATION, CENTRAL EUROPEAN RALLY1 Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja (Hyundai i20 N Rally1 HYBRID) 2h37m34.6s2 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1 HYBRID) +7.0s3 Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1 HYBRID) +39.8s4 Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnston (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1 HYBRID) +1m21.0s5 Grégoire Munster/Louis Louka (Ford Puma Rally1 HYBRID) +3m41.9s6 Nikolay Gryazin/Konstantin Aleksandrov (Citroën C3 Rally2) +9m17.6s7 Oliver Solberg/Elliott Edmondson (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +9m34.1s8 Filip Mareš/Radovan Bucha (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) +11m41.5s9 Miko Marczyk/Szymon Gospodarczyk (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +12m10.6s10 Kajetan Kajetanowicz/Maciej Szczepaniak (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +12m20.3sRetired Sébastien Ogier/Vincent Landais (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1 HYBRID)Retired Sami Pajari/Enni Mälkönen (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1 HYBRID)(Results as of 17:00 on Sunday, for the latest results please visit www.wrc.com)2024 FIA World Rally Championship for drivers after round 12:1 Thierry Neuville 225 points2 Ott Tänak 2003 Elfyn Evans 1854 Sébastien Ogier 1665 Adrien Fourmaux 1466 Kalle Rovanperä 1147 Takamoto Katsuta 1028 Dani Sordo 449 Sami Pajari 4110 Gregoire Munster 372024 FIA World Rally Championship for manufacturers after round12:1 Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team 526 points2 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team 5113 M-Sport Ford World Rally Team 267What's next?The season will conclude on home roads for TGR at Rally Japan on November 21-24. The event, which returned to the WRC calendar in 2022, is held on demanding asphalt roads in the mountains of the Aichi and Gifu prefectures, around the service park in Toyota City near Nagoya. Copyright 2024 JCN Newswire via SeaPRwire.com.

Key Highlights:GHL and JCB announce its strategic partnership, enabling the acceptance of JCB Cards on GHL’s merchant terminals in Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines.This partnership ensures that GHL will continue to remain an omni-channel provider of payment acceptance services across its footprint, enabling its merchants to accept all payment types including JCB cards, bolstering the accessibility and flexibility.The rollout is set to begin in Malaysia in the third quarter of 2024, followed by Thailand and the Philippines.TOKYO & KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 21, 2024 - (JCN Newswire via SeaPRwire.com) - GHL Systems Berhad (GHL) and JCB International Co., Ltd., the international operations subsidiary of JCB Co., Ltd., Japan’s leading international payment brand (JCB) have officially announced its strategic partnership, enabling the acceptance of JCB Cards for GHL’s merchants in Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines. This regional collaboration represents a significant step forward for both companies, aiming to empower merchants and shoppers across these regions with enhanced payment convenience.With JCB's extensive global presence and card network, this partnership adds another dimension to GHL's payment solutions. GHL merchants will seamlessly accept JCB Cards, offering a smooth payment experience for JCB cardmembers.With GHL's merchant network stretching over a vast footprint of over 480,000 payment touchpoints, spanning various sectors across Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines, this partnership holds the potential to significantly increase JCB Card usage and accessibility. Through this partnership, the entire region can benefit from greater flexibility and the fostering of stronger business relationships between merchants and customers alike.The tourism industry is projected to return to pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2024, with international tourism levels expected to surpass pre-pandemic figures. This resurgence is primarily driven by a stronger recovery in Asia, according to a report by the UN World Tourism Organization.Sean Hesh, Executive Director & Group Chief Executive Officer at GHL said, "This partnership not only reinforces our dedication to innovation and delivering seamless payment solutions but also highlights our commitment to simplifying payments regionally. With GHL poised to expand payment options at the merchant’s point of sale, businesses are empowered to better accommodate the anticipated surge in inbound tourist spending in 2024 and beyond."Hiroko Michishita, Managing Director, JCB International Asia Pacific said, “This is a milestone for JCB’s business expansion in the region since GHL has a strong presence as well as ambition to grow further in acquiring business. Leveraging this partnership, we will be able to better serve our cardmembers from across the globe with enhanced card acceptance points. In addition, our confidence in this partnership is strengthened as GHL utilizes the JCB Payment Gateway* powered by Soft Space.”The rollout is set to begin in Malaysia in the third quarter of 2024, followed by Thailand and the Philippines.About GHL Systems BerhadAs ASEAN’s leading payment solutions provider, GHL’s reach spans across 6 countries; Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore and Australia – stretching over a vast footprint of over 480,000 payment touchpoints across the region. At the forefront of the region’s cutting edge fintech, GHL empowers the payment revolution that is shaping today’s spending trend, offering extensive payment options, both offline and online to fulfil merchants’ and consumers’ needs.GHL is the leading payment acquirer in ASEAN for over 100 global and regional payment schemes and channels, processing over RM2 billion payment transactions per month. Apart from being Malaysia’s largest prepaid credit top up and bill collection network, GHL aspires to catalyse sustainable livelihood of the Micro Small Medium Entrepreneurs (MSMEs) through financial and non-financial value-added services. In 2024, GHL Systems Berhad was acquired by and became a wholly owned subsidiary of NTTData Japan, one of the top ten global IT services providers. (www.ghl.com)About JCBJCB is a major global payment brand and a leading credit card issuer and acquirer in Japan. JCB launched its card business in Japan in 1961 and began expanding worldwide in 1981. Its acceptance network includes about 49 million merchants around the world. JCB Cards are now issued mainly in Asian countries and territories, with more than 158 million cardmembers. As part of its international growth strategy, JCB has formed alliances with hundreds of leading banks and financial institutions globally to increase its merchant coverage and cardmember base. As a comprehensive payment solution provider, JCB commits to providing responsive and high-quality service and products to all customers worldwide. For more information, please visit: www.global.jcb/en/About JCB Payment GatewayThis is a regional payment gateway service which enables businesses to accept payments from JCB cardmembers, both in-store and online. Powered by Soft Space, a leading fintech-as-a-service (FaaS) provider backed by JCB investment, it offers acquirers and payment facilitators a straightforward Application Programming Interface (API) specification and provides their merchants access to 158 million JCB cardmembers.For more information, kindly contact:GHL Group Corporate CommunicationEmail: marcomm@ghl.com Tel: +603 6286 3388JCB Corporate CommunicationEmail: jcb-pr@info.jcb.co.jp Tel: +81-3-5778-8353 Copyright 2024 JCN Newswire via SeaPRwire.com.