Toyota Motorsport GmbH (TMG) will officially return to the FIA World Rally Championship after an 18 year break in 2017, this time with the Yaris WRC.
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TMG president Yoshiaki Kinoshita said in a statement: “It is a great honour to be asked to bring the Toyota name back to the WRC alongside our continued participation in the World Endurance Championship (WEC).
“To run two works motorsport programmes simultaneously is of course a challenge but we believe we have the expertise and determination to succeed.
“There is much to do as we make the journey back to the WRC but to have received the support of Toyota Motor Corporation and our President Akio Toyoda is already very encouraging.”
Addressing the news conference in Tokyo yesterday, Toyoda said over the next two years TMG will continue its test programme with the Yaris WRC to prepare for a full return to the series in which it has won four drivers’ and three manufacturers’ titles in the 1990s.
The Yaris has already completed a preliminary test programme on tarmac and gravel stages throughout Europe. The car features a 1.6-litre turbo-charged, direct
injection engine, which produces over 300hp, while advanced simulation, testing and production techniques have shaped the Yaris chassis.
Toyoda also revealed that several drivers have already tested the car and Frenchman Eric Camilli, 27, has been selected as a first member of a junior driver development scheme designed with the goal of developing Toyota rally stars of the future.
Camilli will carry out the development programme alongside last year’s Tour de Corse winner Stephane Sarrazin, also a driver in Toyota’s WEC team, and Sebastian Lindholm.
The Yaris’ test programme will include several WRC venues around Europe on a variety of surfaces. Experience gained will assist Toyota as it prepares a car for 2017, when updated technical regulations are expected to be introduced.
The Yaris rally car could also feature in limited rounds of the WRC this year and in 2016 as a non-championship entry.
The Yaris WRC follows an illustrious line of Toyota cars to carry the brand into the WRC when it makes its competitive debut in 2017. Toyota last competed in the WRC in 1999.
That 1999 season marked the end of over 25 years of continuous rally activity at TMG, which began life as Andersson Motorsport GmbH, named after company founder Ove Andersson, and competed in WRC as Toyota Team Europe.
During that time, 43 wins were achieved with iconic cars like the Celica Twincam Turbo and GT4 variants and the Corolla WRC featuring legendary drivers such as Carlos Sainz, Juha Kankkunen and Didier Auriol.
