The official debut of the Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 car took place at Rally Monte Carlo at the end of January. A total of four of Toyota’s new cars entered the competition, with Finnish hopeful Sami Pajari demonstrating the best pace with the newcomer, ultimately finishing fifth in the Rally2 class, about five minutes behind the class leader.
Pajari and Toyota team principal Jari-Matti Latvala emphasized after the race that Monte Carlo did not yet give a true picture of the GR Yaris’s performance capabilities. However, it was clear that the car still needed development.
This past weekend, five of Toyota’s Rally2 vehicles were seen in action at the Finnish Rally Championship round in Rovaniemi. Toyota received a relieving result from the Arctic Rally when Mikko Heikkilä clinched the victory in the SM1 class with the new car.
Heikkilä engaged in a tight battle with Skoda driver Teemu Asunmaa throughout the weekend. The gauge was perhaps the toughest possible, as Asunmaa has won the Arctic Rally four times and knows the stages extremely well. Yet, Heikkilä managed to secure his first victory in the classic race by a margin of 7.3 seconds.
“Of course, it was nice that first of all, we drove the first fastest stage times with this car and then came the first victory with this car. Not bad at all,” Heikkilä quipped.
Toyota’s team principal Jari-Matti Latvala was at least very pleased that the new car’s first significant victory came so quickly.
“Mikko drove a splendid rally. We saw in Monte Carlo that the car has performance, but there were also areas where the car wasn’t at its best. Now, it was genuinely nice to see that in a fast competition the car has enough performance to compete against other brands,” Latvala rejoiced.
“It’s a really good thing for Sweden.”
The next test for the Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 car will be Rally Sweden next week, which will feature seven new cars from the Japanese manufacturer. Finnish drivers racing the Toyota include Pajari, Heikkilä, and Roope Korhonen.
