Toyota Gazoo Racing are already building their third GR Yaris World Rally Car as they prepare for the car's debut in 2021.
Testing of the new car began in April, but due to the COVID-19 restrictions, the car's running has been halted.
In an ominous sign for their rivals, the car is already 'very close' to the current Yaris.
“After some shakedown work with the car we did some more performance-based runs in Spain,” Technical Director, Tom Fowler said.
The four-wheel drive GR Yaris road car in action.
“Normally when we’re doing a test like this (development test) we would be on the road as much as possible. When the pre-event test car was in [service], we would have the development car out on the road.
“Because the drivers were all running close to the front of the field in Mexico, they all wanted to keep as much gravel on the surface as possible, so our running time with the new car was a bit limited. We only ran it in the afternoon.
“Once we were confident the car was getting to the right level, we started doing some back-to-backs with the current car. We had some very positive results in the back-to-back.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_vOnEKuSG0
"Short summary would be that it’s not quite there yet, but it’s very close,” he added.
The GR Yaris will be Toyota's third World Rally Car in five years when the 2022 hybrid car will debut.
It is similar to what Hyundai did in 2016 when they ran the New Generation i20 before the new 2017 regulations came into force.
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