Toyota Takes a Step Back Into Rallying with Yaris R1A

ToyotaToyotaJapan, 1937 > present155 models
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left rallying in 1999 to pursue sports car racing and Formula 1. Its Corolla WRCToyota Corolla WRCJapan, 1997 > present1 photo
went out with a bang by winning the manufacturers championship that year. At the Rallye Deutschland, Toyota will make its first tentative steps back into rallying by introducing the Yaris R1AToyota Yaris R1AJapan, 2012 > present2 photos
. 

This Yaris competes under the FIA's R1A rule set that is meant as an introduction to international rallying. Toyota estimates that a donor car and the R1A upgrade kit would cost about €22,500. The R1A rules limit cars to 1.4 liters of displacement.

Toyota Motorsports GmbH created the upgrade kit for the current three-door Yaris. It includes s racing exhaust and catalytic converter system, shorter final drive gear, motorsport suspension with adapted springs and adjustable ride height, bolt-in roll cage, guards for sump, fuel tank and fuel lines, fire extinguishers, rally seats with safety harness and power cut-off switch.

Performance figures are the same as for the production car with 99ps and 120Nm of torque. The top speed is 175km/h and acceleration to 100km/h takes 11.7 seconds. The car weighs about 1,000kg.  

“It is a great thrill for TMG to return to rallying, a discipline in which we enjoyed a great deal of success in the past. The TMG Yaris R1A is a completely different project compared to our WRC past; it is an affordable but exciting car, which makes rallying‟s major events accessible to a whole range of participants. We have already received numerous inquiries about this car so we know there is a huge appetite in the rally world for a new TOYOTA; I hope this is the start of a new rally dynasty at TMG," said Toyota Motorsport GmbH President Yoshiaki Kinoshita. 

The Yaris R1A is the first car to be homologated as an R1A car, and the class will officially become part of the WRC in 2013. In the Rallye Deutschland, the Yaris R1A will be the zero car that runs the course first to make sure that the stage is safe. The drivers at the Rallye Deutschland will be Isolde Holderied and co-driver Herbie Hossbach.