Toyota GAZOO Racing

World Rally Team

ARA National Championship

Organised by the American Rally Association, the ARA National Championship is the premier rally series in North America.

A NEW CHALLENGE IN THE USA

TGR-WRT is expanding its horizons by developing and running a car on American soil for the first time, beginning from the 2026 season.

By competing in the ARA National Championship, the team is furthering its efforts to use motorsports to build ever-better cars, gaining knowledge and expertise from the diverse range of different roads, surfaces and characteristics encountered across the United States.

TGR-WRT has designed, built and developed a new car especially for this challenge: the GR Corolla Rally RC2. With this, it is harnessing the successful pedigree of the Corolla model within rallying and contributing to the continued evolution of GR models.

The team also hopes to support the development of rallying in North America, where the GR Corolla is available as a rally-bred performance car for the road.

Participating in ARA also forms part of TGR-WRT’s long-standing commitment to developing young drivers. The team identified and selected one of America’s most exciting up-and-coming motorsports talents – Seth Quintero – as a driver for this new project.

Already a proven star in the FIA World Rally Raid Championship where he competes for TOYOTA GAZOO Racing, Quintero now has the chance to challenge himself in a new discipline, in line with the ethos of TGR to help drivers develop their skills and achieve their dreams in motorsport. In adapting to the unique demands of stage rallying, he can count on the guidance of experienced Finnish navigator Topi Luhtinen.

In addition to Quintero, TGR-WRT has also called upon experienced WRC drivers to support the development of the GR Corolla Rally RC2 such as its Team Principal, Jari-Matti Latvala, and test driver Juho Hänninen.

GR COROLLA RALLY RC2

The GR Corolla Rally RC2 has been developed to compete in the ARA National Championship. It is eligible for the ARA’s RC2 class, which is roughly equivalent to the Rally2 specification used in championships around the world.

Indeed, the process to develop the GR Corolla Rally RC2 has utilized TGR-WRT’s experience from the World Rally Championship and in particular, the proven GR Yaris Rally2 package.

Inside the GR Corolla bodyshell, the car shares many of the same mechanical features as the GR Yaris Rally2, such as the 1.6-liter turbocharged three-cylinder engine and five-speed sequential gearbox delivering power to all four wheels.

MEET OUR ARA CREW

#103 Seth Quintero
Driver

  • Born: 12 September 2002
  • From: San Marcos, California, USA
  • W2RC T3 Champion 2023
  • Fun fact: Holds the record for the most stage wins in a single Dakar Rally

#103 Topi Luhtinen
CO-Driver

  • Born: 12 August 1994
  • From: Pieksämäki, Finland
  • Finnish Rally Champion 2021
  • Fun fact: Started out driving in rallysprints before focusing on co-driving

Events

  • 13-14 March Rally in the 100 Acre Wood (Salem/Potosi, Missouri)
  • 17-19 April Olympus Rally (Shelton, Washington)
  • 11-13 June Southern Ohio Forest Rally (Chillicothe, Ohio)
  • 18-19 June Rally Colorado (Rangely, Colorado)
  • 27-29 August Ojibwe Forests Rally (Detroit Lakes, Minnesota)
  • 18-19 September Overmountain Rally Tennessee (Newport, Tennessee)
  • 9-10 October Lake Superior Performance Rally (Marquette, Michigan)

News

  • ARANews

    Latvala leads TGR-WRT 1-2 on Olympus Rally debut

  • ARANews

    TGR-WRT launches new North American rally program