MOTORSPORT: Aussie Toyota GR Yaris rally car revealed

Toyota Australia has taken the wraps off the new Toyota GR Yaris AP4 rally car that will compete in the 2021 Australian Rally Championship (ARC).

Developed in a collaboration between Toyota’s product planning and development division and Neal Bates Motorsport, the potent hatch uses the hot new Toyota GR Yaris as its donor model and will be campaigned by Harry Bates and Lewis Bates.

AP4 is a local rally category developed for turbocharged four-wheel drive cars along similar lines to what is now called Rally2 and Rally3 overseas.

The GR Yaris AP4 is visually distinguished from the road-going model using more muscular front fenders, front and rear bumper pods, rear quarter panels, bonnet vents and mirrors that were designed, engineered and fabricated by Toyota in Port Melbourne. 

Underneath, officials haven’t revealed the full extent of changes over the 200kW/370Nm donor, however the new model will be much more in keeping with the regular Toyota GR Yaris than any of Toyota’s recent rally campaigners.

Work on the Yaris rally version first began in March this year. With COVID-19 keeping physical contact to a minimum, officials embarked on the AP4’s design using virtual reality workshops.

“There are no compromises, it’s a race car, it’s not here for styling although we wanted to make it look as good as possible and that is part of the GR philosophy, it’s all about functional beauty,” said Toyota Australia chief designer Nic Hogios.

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“Once the digital designs were signed off, all the data was used to create final CAD files from which CNC milling machines were used to create the moulds to fabricate the various components from fibreglass.”

Rally champion Neal Bates, whose team will campaign the new cars, said the Toyota GR Yaris was much closer aligned to rallying specification in its standard trim than previous Yaris donor cars.

“It gives us an amazing platform to start with. We have got a carbon-fibre roof, we’ve got aluminium doors, we’ve got the lightest and most powerful three-cylinder turbo mass-production engine in the world, we’ve got an incredibly wide stance, and all-wheel drive – it’s literally made to be rallied,” he said.

“If you have a look at the current Yaris AP4s we built, we had to put a different engine in, we had to change it to all-wheel drive, we had to develop the body kit, so for us this car will be easier and simpler to build.”

Harry Bates and Lewis Bates, both sons of Neal, finished first and second respectively in the 2019 ARC.

With the 2020 season cancelled due to COVID-19, Harry said he was looking forward to relaunching his championship defence in earnest. The 2021 ARC season kicks off in Canberra in March.

Meantime, Toyota Australia has confirmed details of a new Gazoo Racing Club that will offer subscribed members insider access, rewards, events and experiences.

Registrations of interest for the Gazoo Racing Club are now open, with memberships to commence February 1, 2021. More information is available online at toyota.com.au/gazoo-racing/club.