“It is immensely pleasing to welcome Toyota back to our World Championship,” said Jean Todt, President of the FIA. “The brand has a long and enviable rallying history and I am proud to have been part of that in the 1970s with such great drivers as Achim Warmbold, Hannu Mikkola and Ove Andersson, the original founder of Toyota’s rallying activities. It will be a pleasure to follow the development of the new Yaris WRC as Toyota makes its preparations for the 2017 FIA World Rally Championship.”

 

The Yaris WRC has already completed a preliminary test programme on tarmac and gravel stages throughout Europe, establishing a promising baseline on which to build over the coming months. Development will now be expanded and the dedicated team of specialists to engineer and operate the car will be increased.

 

The Yaris WRC follows an illustrious line of Toyota cars to carry the brand into WRC and when it makes its competitive debut in 2017, it will mark almost two decades since the company’s final World Championship rally in 1999. During 25 years of continuous rally activity, 43 wins were achieved with iconic cars like the Celica Twincam Turbo and GT-Four variants and the Corolla WRC featuring legendary drivers such as Carlos Sainz, Juha Kankkunen and Didier Auriol.