Toyota GR Yaris teased

Victory in the World Rally Championship is finally lighting the fuse on a super-hot Toyota Yaris.

The new turbocharged all-wheel drive Toyota GR Yaris pocket rocket is about to go into production and will be given its world debut in Australia on the final day of this year’s WRC grand finale.

The unveiling of a prototype for the first real Toyota Yaris hot hatch will take place at the Wedding Bells special stage on the northern outskirts of Coffs Harbour on Sunday, November 17.

First details of the car and launch plan have come from the Facebook page of Toyota Gazoo Racing in Japan.

The single, heavily-cropped rear-end shot of a car labelled GR-4 is captioned with the words “GR Yaris Prototype. Live at Wedding Bells, Rally Australia. 2019.11.17”.

The picture shows a car based on the the all-new Yaris revealed last week in Japan (below), but with heavily pumped-up rear guards -- a clear pointer to its four-wheel drive powertrain -- and wearing Toyota’s signature motorsport camouflage.

It is a clear step up and beyond the previous GR Yaris, a Europe-only front-wheel drive turbo model that carsales drove in Belgium earlier this year.

But its GR-4 badging also reflects a direct link to the GT-Four line of Celicas which were once the company’s rally flagship and became a top selling road car during the early days of the Subaru WRX and Mitsubishi Lancer Evo.

There are conflicting reports on the GR-4 Yaris, which could be either a static production prototype or a modified rally car to be driven on the gravel stage which has hosted a number of previous Toyota motorsport events.

Akio Toyoda, president of Toyota Motor Corporation and a committed motorsport fan and driver, once drove a prototype 86 rally car on the same road with Tommi Makinen riding alongside. Makinen’s team in Finland built the car and the two men’s friendship provided the spark for Toyota’s return to the WRC with Makinen as team principal.

This year Toyota has claimed the WRC driver’s title with Ott Tanak, 25 years after its last success with Didier Auriol in a Celica GT-Four, and is going all-out to also clinch the manufacturer’s crown at Rally Australia.

A high-profile guest is said by one source to be driving the GR-4 Yaris in Australia, and that could be anyone from multiple Australian rally champion Neal Bates -- the company’s longest serving motorsport ambassador -- to Makinen or even Toyoda.