Rally racing has a unique grassroots appeal amongst the varying disciplines in motorsport because of how close you can get to living the dream–all you need is a nice back road and a little imagination that your humble hatch or compact is actually a turbocharged World Rally Championship (WRC) machine.
If your car happens to be from Toyota, the mental image is even easier to come up with because of its deep history in rally racing with nameplates like the Celica, Corolla, and most recently, the Yaris.
A personal racing dream
Akio Toyoda, the current chairman of Toyota, is likely the type of man to hallucinate rally scenes while driving because he is an avid racer himself.
In 2007, Toyoda formed a scrappy team of Toyota colleagues with two used Altezzas under the Gazoo Racing banner to enter the Nurburgring 24 Hours race. Not even deemed a factory entry but rather an amateur effort, the Gazoo Racing philosophy of “roads build the people, and the people build the cars” was nonetheless born.
From that small start, Gazoo Racing grew into the unified banner for Toyota’s racing exploits and Toyoda could move on to the next step of his dream: use everything they’ve learned from Gazoo Racing to make Toyota vehicles exciting.
A born champion
To compete in the World Rally Championship, a manufacturer can simply take an existing car off their showroom floor, modify it to borderline unrecognizable WRC-spec, and send it off to the races.
The alternative–for manufacturers wanting the best possible platform–is to create a race car from the ground up and then “homologate” it to be livable and road-legal and send it off to the dealers.
The GR Yaris, the first purely Toyota-developed sports car in 20 years, proudly continues Toyota’s history of choosing the latter option. The last time they built a homologation special in the ’90s resulted in the all-conquering Toyota Celica GT-Four–the first Japanese rally car to ever take home a WRC title.
The GR Yaris is currently the defending 2022-2024 WRC manufacturers champion–definitely marking another successful chapter in Toyota racing history.
Toyoda must be mighty proud because according to Andy Ty, Assistant Vice President of Toyota Motor Philippines, “One unique feature of the GR Yaris is that it was personally approved by Chairman Akio Toyoda, and not just in the office approval sense of the word. He personally spent hours test driving the car throughout its development and making multiple micro improvements.”
Nothing but performance
Evident in its three doors, three cylinders, and three pedals (or two if you prefer the newly arrived direct AT variant) the GR Yaris is lightweight and peels away everything unneeded in the pursuit of performance.
Inside the GR Yaris’ aerodynamic shell is a driver-focused cockpit with an emphasis on delivering essential information as clearly as possible with a full digital 12.3” display. The center console holding the 7” display audio system is visibly canted to the left.
These are details that enthusiasts like Francis Samonte, a proud GR Yaris and GR Yaris Owners Philippines (GRYPH) member, keenly appreciate, saying, “The car’s interior is driver-centric, no fuss, no fancy gauges, which is reminiscent of the sports cars of old. It allows the driver to concentrate on driving and developing driving skills further.”
Up front, the mighty 1.6-liter G16E-GTS engine provides a max output 280PS and 390Nm of torque to all wheels via the GR-Four 4WD system providing composed footwork whether on the gravel or tarmac. Behind the wheel, it simply gives the sensation of a car you can point and shoot.
Since its debut, the GR Yaris quickly developed a legit reputation as a track weapon for grassroots racers but, perhaps more importantly, it also helped reenergize the car-loving community around the Toyota brand.
The halo effect is back
Seeing a GR Yaris pass by on the road provides a shot of excitement for car lovers and the opportunity to once again own a car with a direct bloodline from the highest tier of motorsport is what enthusiasts dream of.
The existence of the GR Yaris and its stablemates under the Gazoo Racing nameplate so you can do exactly that (without having to restore a 90’s project car) is proof that Toyota’s new focus on excitement is more than lip service to its storied past.
According to Ty, “We envision building a community of motorsports and automotive enthusiasts here in the Philippines, and the GR Yaris has played a big role since its launch last 2021. With the new GR Yaris, we look forward to continuing that objective as we continue to bring the community together to enjoy our vehicles as they should be enjoyed.
Consumers have embraced it as well; Samonte shares that “GRYPH was established to gather the different GRY owners of the country. To date, GRYPH has turned into ‘GRYPH and Friends,’ as the community is so fun to be with, where camaraderie and friendships prevail—so much so that it has attracted even non-GRY owners to join, and eventually buy their own GRY.”
The next lap
They’ve been dominating in the Le Mans 24 Hours, are dipping back into Formula 1, and continue to lead the pack in rally racing–what’s next for Gazoo Racing? The overall mission isn’t over yet: make Toyotas exciting cars.
Maybe more GR-S models to add to the highly sought after Fortuner and Hilux editions or maybe it’s time to bring back another name from Toyota’s more than 60 years of motorsport history.
