WRC
Toyota’s journey to 100 WRC wins
Oliver Solberg’s run to a sensational Delfi Rally Estonia win not only created history for the Swede - it also marked a significant milestone for Toyota as it celebrated 100 WRC victories.
From humble beginnings when a privateer duo scored the marque’s first win in 1973, the Japanese brand has grown to become one of rallying’s powerhouse marques, claiming eight constructors’ titles and powering drivers to nine world championships. Toyota is only the second manufacturer to chalk up 100 wins, behind Citroen, which leads the way with 102 wins.
Here are 12 of Toyota’s most defining victories on the way to scoring an incredible WRC century.
Win #1 - 1973 - Walter Boyce/Doug Woods - Press-on Regardless Rally (USA) - Toyota Corolla Levin TE27
Toyota’s success in the World Rally Championship stretches back to the inaugural season in 1973, but it was Canadian privateers Walter Boyce and Doug Woods that scored the first WRC win for the brand when the championship headed to Michigan, USA.
Running a Toyota Corolla Levin TE27 on a shoestring budget, the pair completed an event known as “America’s longest, richest, oldest, meanest car rally”, winning by a whopping 24minutes and 15sec at the end of 552 kilometres of gruelling gravel stages.
Win #2 - 1975 - Hannu Mikkola/Atso Aho - Rally Finland - Toyota Corolla Levin TE27
The first WRC victory as a factory team arrived in 1975 when Hannu Mikkola and Atso Aho took a Toyota Corolla Levin TE27 to victory at the Rally of 1000 Lakes in Finland.
It proved to be a history-making moment as Toyota became the first Japanese brand to conquer the event, while Mikkola claimed a then record fifth Finland win after defeating Simo Lampinen’’s Saab 96. Toyota would finish seventh in the constructors’ championship that year.
Rally Finland 1975: Hannu Mikkola/Atso Aho
© McKlein
Win #5 – 1984 - Björn Waldegård/Hans Thorszelius - Safari Rally - Toyota Celica Twin Cam Turbo
Over the years, Toyota has been renowned for its success in the toughest of conditions the WRC can offer, dominating the gruelling Safari Rally Kenya. Its first of a record 12 wins at the event arrived in 1984 when Björn Waldegård/Hans Thorszelius campaigned a Celica Twin Cam Turbo to victory by 11 minutes from Rauno Aaltonen.
Toyota took victory again in 1985 and 1986 and would score four consecutive wins from (1992-1995), before again dominating the Safari Rally’s return to the WRC in 2021, winning every edition since.
Win #14 - 1990 - Carlos Sainz/Luis Moya - Rally Finland - Toyota Celica GT-4
Toyota’s first direct involvement in a WRC title arrived in 1990 when it helped Carlos Sainz and Luis Moya to the first of two drivers’ world championships driving for the team. Perhaps the most defining victory of the season came in Finland when Sainz became the first driver from outside Scandinavia to win the high-speed gravel event, beating Ari Vatanen by 19sec.
Win #25 - 1992 - Carlos Sainz/Luis Moya - Rally Catalunya (Spain) - Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD
Carlos Sainz chalked up Toyota’s 25th victory with an emotional run to his first triumph in his home round on the way to a second world title. Sainz needed a strong result to keep his title hopes alive, but he delivered in style. Sainz’s blistering speed on asphalt set up the perfect buffer to navigate through the tricky gravel stages that followed, eventually taking the win by 36sec from Juha Kankkunen.
Rally Catalunya (Spain) 1992: Carlos Sainz/Luis Moya
© McKlein
Win #33 - 1993 Juha Kankkunen/Nicky Grist - RAC Rally of Great Britain -Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD
The 1993 season proved to be a pivotal one for Toyota as it claimed its first WRC constructors’ title, while Toyota driver Juha Kankkunen became the first pilot to win four drivers’ crowns.
Toyota sealed its first manufacturers’ title in style as Kankkunen took the iconic Castrol-liveried Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD (ST185) to victory over Mitsubishi’s Kenneth Eriksson by 1min 44sec in Great Britain. It marked Kankkunen’s fifth win of the season.
Win #44 - 2017 Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila - Rally Sweden -Toyota Yaris WRC
After an 18-year absence from the WRC, Toyota rejoined the championship in 2017 and it was Jari-Matti Latvala that put the carmaker back on the top of the podium.
In only its second event of its comeback, Latvala guided the all-new Toyota Yaris WRC to victory on the Swedish snow with a 29.2sec margin over M-Sport-Ford’s Ott Tänak. Toyota finished third in that season’s manufacturers’ title race.
Rally Sweden 2017: Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila
© Red Bull Content Pool
Win #50 - 2018 - Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila - Rally Australia - Toyota Yaris WRC
Toyota racked up its half-century of WRC wins in 2018 when Jari-Matti Latvala claimed what would be his 18th and most likely final WRC win at Rally Australia. Toyota’s second season of its WRC comeback yielded its fourth manufacturers’ title, helped by Ott Tänak contributing four wins (Argentina, Finland, Germany, Turkey).
Win #69 - 2021 Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia - Rally Monza - Toyota Yaris WRC
Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia signed off their full-time WRC careers on a high by beating team-mates Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin at Rally Monza in a tense title decider. Ogier took his eighth world title in the same year Toyota wrapped up its fifth constructors’ crown.
Win #75 - 2022 - Kalle Rovanperä/Jonne Halttunen - Rally New Zealand - Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid
A sixth constructors’ crown followed in 2022 but, in New Zealand, history was made as Kalle Rovanperä won the rally to become the WRC’s youngest ever world champion aged 22 years and one day old. The Finn had already taken the record of the WRC’s youngest ever rally winner in Estonia the previous year. Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen scored six of Toyota’s seven wins during the 2022 season.
Rally Estonia 2022: Kalle Rovanperä/Jonne Halttunen
© Red Bull Content Pool
Win #93 - 2024 - Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin - Rally Japan - Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid
Toyota sealed its eighth constructors’ title in a dramatic title decider on home soil. Elfyn Evans claimed a second Rally Japan win, while Sébastien Ogier’s Wolf Power Stage win helped Toyota defeat rivals Hyundai to take the title by three points - the closest margin since Lancia captured the crown by two points in 1983.
Win #100 - 2025 - Oliver Solberg/Elliott Edmondson - Rally Estonia - Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
Toyota’s century was completed in Estonia when Oliver Solberg and Elliott Edmondson produced once of the most remarkable drives in recent WRC history, taking a maiden WRC victory on their debut for the team in a one-off drive. Solberg and Edmondson defeated Hyundai’s Ott Tanak by 25.2sec.
Toyota’s 100 WRC wins per driver
- Sébastien Ogier 17
- Kalle Rovanperä 16
- Carlos Sainz 15
- Elfyn Evans 10
- Ott Tänak 10
- Juha Kankkunen 9
- Didier Auriol 7
- Bjorn Waldegard 6
- Jari-Matti Latvala 2
- Mats Jonsson 2
- Ian Duncan 1
- Armin Schwarz 1
- Hannu Mikkola 1
- Esapekka Lappi 1
- Oliver Solberg 1
- Walter Boyce 1
