Ott Tanak lands 2027 WRC car testing role with Toyota

WRC 2027 Rally car

WRC 2027 Rally car

Next year the cars will be built to a €345,000 cost cap and will be largely based around the current Rally2 cars. They will feature a suspension set out in a double wishbone configuration, with braking and steering systems derived from current Rally2 specifications.

Images and videos of the car in testing have emerged across social media in recent weeks and months. The vehicle features a vastly different shape compared to the brand's current GR Yaris Rally1, creating speculation as to which model of car Toyota will contest the 2027 season.

For now the team has remained tightlipped on the car’s identity with its head of engineering Kevin Struyf describing it as a ‘prototype” ahead of the team’s final iteration of its 2027 machine.

“It's just a prototype rally car at the moment,” he said. “In 2027 the regulation changed for the first time in rally where the body is quite open, so the choice of the manufacturer is not really clear where we want to go, so it's just a base mule car, a prototype car.

“A lot of people get excited about some model, but there is nothing about any model at the moment, it's just a prototype.

“Basically, we are continuing the development of the mule car that we have seen in Portugal, and the car will continue to do some tests this month [April].

Oliver Solberg, Elliott Edmondson, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1

Oliver Solberg, Elliott Edmondson, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1

"Quite soon, another chassis is in the build, and we will test a bit more, let's say, the final model, because the problem is that there were some technical elements that weren't super clear or super defined by the FIA [when we started development].”

Toyota has conducted back-to-back tests comparing its prototype with its current GR Yaris Rally2 machine.

“It's a Rally2 car or very close, so there is nothing that makes the car faster than a Rally2 car at the moment,” added Struyf.

“It's a different Rally2 car with a bit different dimensions, different suspension, which is one of the main topics of 2027, where we have for the first time since a long time ago in rally, the double wishbone suspension. It is like our current Rally2 car at the moment, and this is our benchmark and what we want to beat.

“We have been checking [against our GR Yaris Rally2], but just to make sure that we are not completely wrong. I would say, [the feedback from the drivers] is quite good at the moment.

“There are things to improve, which is always the case when you go to a new car with new dimensions, there are always pros and cons but we feel we have good tools to develop a good car.”

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