With an upgraded engine, Toyota aims to close the top speed gap with Hyundai in the World Rally Championship
Although Toyota is clearly the defining brand in the 2022 World Rally Championship (WRC) season with four wins in six rallies and commanding leads in all WRC standings, the Japanese manufacturer’s factory team is not sitting back. At this weekend’s Rally Estonia (14-17 July), Toyota will deploy an upgrade with an improved engine and revised rear wing.
According to technical director Tom Fowler, the main aim is to increase the top speed of the GR Yaris, as the Hyundai i20 N is currently even better in this sub-discipline. “The Hyundais are faster straight ahead than us. That means they have a better engine.”
“Now is that a dramatic difference? Well, the difference is measurable and then we have to work on it,” Fowler continued. On the other hand, he said, the Toyota was better in the corners, but the GR Yaris was less able to exploit that advantage at the next WRC rounds in Estonia, Finland and Belgium.
“I think we all know that in the next three [WRC rounds] there are some long straights and maybe a few less corners,” said Fowler, characterising the upcoming rallies where he expects a strong performance – and not just because of Ott Tänak’s home advantage in Estonia and Thierry Neuville’s in Belgium. “They will be strong in the next couple of rallies,” the technical director expects.
The change to the rear wing of the GR Yaris, meanwhile, plays only a minor role compared to the engine. “The rear wing has something to do with the balance of the car. It’s just a small adjustment,” Fowler explains.
