It's been a little while since rallying has been a properly exciting spectator sport, but the changes coming next year promise to address that. More power, more dramatic cars and new techology should see to that. This on top of the sub-categories you
probably didn't know about
. Yes, the cars are still (mainly) hatchbacks and perhaps the names aren't as big as in rallying's glory days. But there remain reasons to be excited for the 2017 WRC.
Now this looks like a rally car!
The return of Toyota to rallying is a project we've been following for
a couple of years now
, with the test cars having now completed 3,000 miles off-road in the past nine months. Testing is currently being split between two locations, the engine and transmission car based in Puuppola, with the other car in Spain and Portugal; its remit is to develop the suspension. Interestingly the team hasn't completed any tarmac testing yet, but Chief Engineer Tom Fowler says "we can already tell that the car's performance levels are really high."
Team Principal Tommi Makinen - yes, really, Tommi Makinen - is enthusiastic about Toyota's prospects too. He's even taken the Yaris out for its first ever drive. Rumours that he's still quickest continue to abound... Makinen says "The feeling was great and it was fun to drive as well."
Check out those arches too...
The full driver line up is to be announced in due course, but testing duties are currently being undertaken by Juho Hanninen and Jarkko Nikara. According to the former the handling is already "perfect", so presumably they can spend the time until Monte Carlo now working on a livery. Fingers crossed for Castrol...
There isn't a tech spec from Toyota, but expect it to mirror that of the Citroen C3 also seen recently. That would mean around 380hp and a kerbweight below that of the current WRC cars. It also has some outrageously flared arches, a centre-exit exhaust and a spoiler of gargantuan proportions - all good to see! More news to follow as 2017 approaches.