Akio Toyoda, President, Toyota Motor Corporation has ended months of eagerness among the media, fans and the whole world announcing in a press conference that the company will return in the World Rally Championship (WRC) in 2017. The company also launched Yaris WRC, the car that will compete in the WRC. Interestingly, the world’s biggest car maker will come back in the rally racing after the gap of 18 years as Toyota is not been seen in the WRC after the end of the 1999 season.
Reportedly, the company spent more than 25 years in the rally racing, winning more than 43 events, along with its four drivers and three manufacturers. Famous drives like Juha Kankkunen, Carlos Sainz and Didier Auriol were a part of the Toyota team in the WRC till 1999. As per the reports, the new Yaris WRC will have a 1.6-litre turbocharged engine that will be developed by Toyota Motorsports in the next two years in Cologne, Germany. The company has already completed the primary tests in Europe with the new Yaris WRC on gravel and asphalt.
In a statement, Toyoda said that the company is to make the car from the scratch and choose the team carefully. Several young and passionate drivers have already tested the new car and Frenchman Eric Camilli has been selected as the first member of the Junior Driver Development Scheme, designed with keeping the goal of developing new and skilful drivers for the future. The 27-year old driver will practice with the former Subaru driver Stéphane Sarrazin, who is now a racer in Toyota’s FIA Endurance Championship Squad, and also the eight-time champion Sebastian Lindholm.
The Toyota Motorsport President, Yoshiaki Kinoshita said in a statement that it had been an honour to be asked to bring the Toyota name back in the WRC. He also said that the company is looking forward to taking steps with nice planning and a junior driver development program. The championship consists of a 13 day event, driven on surfaces ranging from snow and ice to gravel and mud.
