TOYOTA COMPLETES ASPHALT TESTS WITH GR YARIS RALLY2

Toyota Gazoo Racing completed the latest phase of its GR Yaris Rally2 test programme in France late last month.

The all-new Yaris ran on asphalt in the south of France, with Kalle Rovanperä joining Juho Hänninen as a test driver for the Japanese marque.

The team has reported positive progress with the car which has now been developed across all surfaces. Rovanperä’s input is arguably the most relevant with him having won the WRC2 Pro title as recently as 2019, when he was driving for Škoda Motorsport.

Prior to his time in the Fabia, the Finn had also driven M-Sport’s Ford Fiesta R5 and Peugeot’s 208 T16 in competition.

Toyota’s technical director Tom Fowler said: “Juho has done most of the miles in the car and is, of course, our test and development driver. Having Kalle come into the car validates much of what Juho’s saying, but it also gives us a different take on different aspects of the car.

“Every driver is different and wants different things from a car – the nature of this one (the GR Yaris Rally2) is that it will be driven by a variety of drivers, so we need to have a car which is going to work on different levels.”

The GR Yaris Rally2 is set to break competitive cover in the FIA World Rally Championship next season.