The biggest news coming from motorsport currently is that Toyota will return to the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) in 2017 with a car developed and built by the Toyota Motorsport GmbH (TMG) technical centre in Cologne, Germany. Over the next two years TMG will continue its test program with the Yaris WRC car to prepare for a full return to the series in which Toyota won four drivers’ and three manufacturers’ world championships in the 1990s.
The WRC announcement was made by Toyota Motor Corporation President Akio Toyoda at a news conference in Tokyo, where the Yaris WRC made its public debut, complete with new launch livery. The Yaris WRC has already completed a preliminary test program on tarmac and gravel stages throughout Europe, establishing a promising baseline on which to build over the coming months.
The car features a 1.6-litre turbo-charged, direct-injection engine that produces over 300hp, while advanced simulation, testing and production techniques have shaped the Yaris chassis. With an official WRC program now confirmed, development will be expanded while the dedicated team of specialists assigned to engineer and operate the car will be increased. Several young drivers have already tested the car and Frenchman Eric Camilli, 27, has been selected as the first member of a junior driver development scheme aimed at developing Toyota rally stars of the future.