Former World Rally Championship driver, Mikko Hirvonen, has joined Toyota as the development driver of its 2017-spec Yaris, according to Motorsport.com.
The Japanese manufacturer has already signed an impressive team ahead of its return to the WRC in 2017 with the project being led by four-time WRC champion, Tommi Makinen. Hirvonen’s former co-driver, Jarmo Lehtinen, is sporting director, whilst tarmac specialist Bryan Bouffier and former Hyundai driver Juho Hanninen have testing roles in the team.
It is believed that Hirvonen will fill the role of lead test driver after Eric Camilli was signed to M-Sport World Rally Team to contest the championship this year.
Hirvonen retired from the WRC at the end of 2014 and recently contested the Dakar Rally for the first time, finishing in fourth place in an X-raid MINI. He is the headline act for the popular Otago Classic Rally to be held in Dunedin, New Zealand, in April.
Toyota are yet to announce a driver line-up for their return to the WRC but it is believed they have approached Sebastien Ogier and Jari-Matti Latvala.
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