Toyota has commenced its preparations for the upcoming World Rally Championship round, set to take place in Kenya in three weeks.
WRC teams are not permitted to conduct pre-competition tests outside Europe, so Toyota’s preparatory runs for the Safari Rally are being held in Portugal.
This week, Rovanperä was fine-tuning the settings for the Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 car in Southern Europe, a daunting task given Safari Rally’s unique conditions.
This time, Rovanperä’s trusted co-driver, Jonne Halttunen, was not calling out the notes. Instead, his co-driver was Ville Mannisenmäki. He is better known as the co-driver for the reigning Finnish Rally Champion, Teemu Asunmaa.
Mannisenmäki, previously involved in tests with Rovanperä as Halttunen’s backup, stepped in for the testing session.
Mannisenmäki has previously been Rovanperä’s co-driver in tests, as he serves as Halttunen’s backup.
Watch the video of Rovanperä and Mannisenmäki’s test below. The article continues after the video embed.
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In Rovanperä’s test, attention was also drawn to the possibility of a completely new feature in the GR Yaris, a so-called snorkel, which could be utilized in Safari Rally. The specialized rally car aerodynamics website WRCWings.tech highlighted this aspect.
The iconic Kenyan event, occurring amidst the rainy season this year, may present extremely wet conditions and multiple water crossings. The technical regulations now allow a “snorkel” in Rally1 cars, designed to prevent water and dust from entering the engine.
Snorkels were a common sight in past editions of Safari Rally. The legendary event made its WRC return in 2021, but until now, snorkels were only permitted in Rally2 cars. Current regulations enable their installation on cars across all classes.
Safari Rally is scheduled for the Easter weekend, March 28-31.
