Jari-Matti Latvala believes hydrogen is the fuel of the future in rallying – The Toyota team boss sees an expiry date for the hybrid
“We are running hybrid engines now, but in about ten years we will need a new solution,” says Jari-Matti Latvala, who sees an expiry date for hybrid powertrains already in the first season of the Rally1 era. The Toyota team boss throws hydrogen into the ring as a fuel, saying a battery-powered car makes no sense for the sport.
“The hybrid is something new, but I think hydrogen could be an option because we can never go fully electric in the rally world,” Latvala said. “Without sound, people wouldn’t come to the forests or the mountains either. We need the sound, which is not as important in circuit racing as it is in rallying.”
Latvala himself will experience a hydrogen-powered car in June 2022. At the 24h of Fuji he will drive the GR-Corolla-H2, a completely new concept car. The Finn will be on the circuit, having been invited by Toyota boss Akio Toyoda. This also means that the team boss will not be in Sardinia, where the next round of the World Rally Championship (WRC) will take place at the beginning of June.
The new Rally1 cars have been used in the WRC since 2022. The combination of electric motor and combustion engine, powered by one hundred per cent sustainable fuel, already promises low CO2 emissions. Although the car has only been introduced this year, the WRC and the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) are already discussing the next generation of vehicles.
