Following Rally Islas Canarias, Toyota revealed that the car will have a silver base colour for the gravel events run during the European summer. Since early last year, the factory team’s cars have featured a predominantly black design.
Read more: New livery for Toyota’s Rally1 cars revealed for summer gravel events
Kalle Rovanperä got an early look at the new look last week during his test day in Portugal.
“I really like it. It’s super cool,” Rovanperä enthused.
“I think I always like when there is change. First time seeing the car, I was really happy. And I have already seen a few pictures from the stage. I think it looks really good on the pictures.”
The reason behind the new livery is practical: silver doesn’t absorb heat in the same way as matte black. At the upcoming rallies in Portugal, Sardinia and Greece, the cockpit can get almost as hot as a sauna.
“I think the main goal is obviously try to keep the whole car, all the parts and us drivers more cool in the car which is always quite crucial for us. We are going to have some really hot rallies and it gets super hot in the car. So I hope it will help us a bit.”
When Toyota unveiled the new livery, the name of Kalle’s father, Harri Rovanperä, also came up. Harri claimed his only WRC win in 2001 – in a silver Peugeot.
“This isn’t so shiny as the 206 livery, but almost same colour. And it’s quite nice,” Kalle Rovanperä smiled.
Watch the video of Rovanperä’s test in Portugal below!
