WRC: Toyota introduces the hybrid Yaris Rally1

Aside from the car, Toyota Gazoo Racing’s rally section is undergoing another major change this year: it will no longer rely on World Champion Sebastian Ozier, who has opted to only compete in a handful of select WRC races this year his luck in WEC long-distance races and Lehmann 24 hours.

As a result, the burden of the Championship will rest on the shoulders of Welsh Elfin Evans and Finland’s Kale Rovanpera, who will drive the two Yaris Rally1 hybrids in all 2022 WRC races, while Ozier will share third with Esapeka Lapi. The champion will start in Monte’s profile, but the Finn will play most of the remaining games.

The new Yaris Rally1 follows the new design of the current generation of Yaris production – and to be precise, the ‘hot’ GR Yaris. And while the production Yaris has had a hybrid version for many years, the racer got one for the first time this year – thanks to a major makeover that turned this year’s WRC racing into a hybrid for the first time.

They will use a hybrid system with a 100 kW electric motor, which in certain areas of the experts, in addition to the power of the 1.6 turbo internal combustion engine, will deliver power “blasts” for three seconds. The electric motor is powered by a 3.9 kWh battery, which is charged with the energy recovered during braking.

The color scheme of the Yaris Rally1 maintains Gazoo’s classic philosophy in every form of racing it competes in – like the WEC and the Dakar Rally, won yesterday by Nasser Al Attiyah in the Toyota Hliux T1+.

It is worth noting that Toyota Gazoo Racing will have a second team in the World Rally Championship of the year, called “Next Generation”, for which the Japanese Takamoto Katsuta will lead and regularly compete in the Manufacturers’ Championship.