Kankkunen will take to the legendary Harju stage both on Thursday and again on Friday evening, driving the Japanese manufacturer’s brand-new GR Yaris Rally2 H2 car. It’s a hydrogen-powered rally car built on the same core platform as the Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 used in WRC2.
Performance-wise, however, the hydrogen version still falls well short compared to its combustion-engine counterpart – but Kankkunen says the project is only just beginning. A couple of years ago, he drove a few stages of Rally Belgium in a hydrogen car as well, but at that time it was a fully civilian version.
“It goes alright, but of course it can’t be directly compared to a Rally2 car since the engine is different and there’s no anti-lag. But it’s a fun machine to drive. A new car is always a new car,” Kankkunen said at the Jyväskylä service park.
“It responds well – just a small turn of the wheel and it goes where you want.”
The current version is only capable of covering short spectator stages like Harju. It is equipped with two small pressurised hydrogen tanks in the rear. Development is ongoing, however. Hydrogen-powered rally cars gained renewed attention this spring when the FIA released the new technical regulations for 2027 onwards, allowing manufacturers to freely choose their powertrains. In theory, future rally cars could run on hydrogen, electricity, conventional combustion, or hybrid systems.
“If you want real range, then the car needs to have a fuel-cell power unit. Those have already gone a thousand kilometres. This one can do 25 kilometres, just enough for the Harju loop,” Kankkunen chuckled.
“With these pressurised tanks, you can’t get real range – at least not yet. But in ten years, who knows? I’ve driven different prototypes in Japan, and when you put your foot down in an electric car, it just goes until it hits the limiter – no lag at all.”
Kankkunen has enjoyed being part of the hydrogen project, which has given him the chance to drive various development versions. Toyota of course has its dedicated test drivers, but the opinions of the former world champion are still listened to with great interest.
“At this age, I don’t understand all that much about these things anymore – but you can always give your opinion and say what you think. We’ve got good test drivers for this as well,” Kankkunen summed up.
“Even though it lacks performance, this is still exactly the same Rally2 car as the ones Jari-Matti [Latvala] and Oliver [Solberg] are driving. And it’s got plenty of speed for me. If you look at my age, it’s just the right pace.”
