Toyota Yaris WRC
Toyota Yaris WRC, 2018
© WRC / Automobilist
01
Car Info
The Toyota Yaris WRC marked a triumphant return for Toyota, winning the manufacturers’ championship in only its second season back in the World Rally Championship.
The Yaris WRC featured a turbocharged 1.6-litre four-cylinder engine producing approximately 300 bhp, paired with an advanced four-wheel-drive system and sequential transmission. Constructed on a strengthened production shell, Toyota Gazoo Racing’s engineers optimized aerodynamics, weight distribution, and handling to create a highly competitive and reliable rally car. Under the leadership of team principal Tommi Mäkinen, the development program benefited from Toyota’s extensive motorsport resources.
The 2018 championship campaign was characterised by consistent performances from Ott Tänak, Jari-Matti Latvala, and Esapekka Lappi, all contributing victories and podiums. Tänak emerged as the team’s lead driver, but the team’s collective depth and reliability proved pivotal in securing the manufacturers’ title.
Toyota’s 2018 manufacturers’ championship signified a successful return to rallying’s highest level following their 1999 Corolla WRC success. This victory validated Toyota’s reinvestment in the WRC and heralded the beginning of a new era of competitiveness and potential dominance in the sport.
In 2021 the Toyota Yaris WRC returned to the pinnacle of the World Rally Championship, capturing the manufacturers’ title after narrowly missing out in the previous two seasons. This evolved iteration of Toyota’s World Rally Car, originally introduced in 2017, demonstrated the power of continuous refinement and development in maintaining competitiveness during the final year of the traditional World Rally Car era before the arrival of hybrid Rally1 regulations.
Based on the Yaris production car’s strengthened and modified body shell, the 2021 specification featured a turbocharged 1.6-litre engine producing approximately 380 bhp. Engineers enhanced four-wheel-drive systems, optimized aerodynamics, and improved reliability, extracting peak performance from the mature platform. Under team principal Jari-Matti Latvala’s leadership, Toyota Gazoo Racing leveraged detailed development work accumulated over four seasons to once more deliver a consistent championship-winning package.
The 2021 championship saw Sébastien Ogier claim his eighth drivers’ title in his second season with Toyota, while team-mates Elfyn Evans and emerging talent Kalle Rovanperä contributed multiple victories and vital points. The team’s depth and consistency across all drivers proved decisive, with Ogier’s experience and Rovanperä’s rapid rise forming a formidable driver line-up that secured Toyota’s second manufacturers’ crown in four years.
This 2021 title marked the Yaris WRC’s final championship before the switch to the Rally1 era in 2022.
2021
© wrc
02
Technical Specifications & Achievements
Car Name
Toyota Yaris WRC
Chassis
Modified production steel monocoque (World Rally Car)
Engine
1.6L inline-4 turbocharged with 33mm restrictor (380 bhp)
Transmission
6-speed sequential with 4WD
WRC Wins
23
WRC Manufacturers Titles
2 (2018, 2021)
