The Toyota Yaris Rally1 has a chance to make history at Rally Chile BioBio next weekend, but how? Find out below.
How The Toyota Yaris Rally1 Can Make History, Well Kinda
The Toyota Yaris Rally1 currently sits with 15 rally wins heading into Rally Chile BioBio next week. This 15-win number may seem random to mention, but it’s the main focus of this article. As to tie for the 10th winningest car in WRC history, the Yaris Rally1 only needs 1 rally win. Something they can and probably will achieve in Chile. If they do win, the Yaris Rally1 joins another Toyota for the 10th most wins in WRC history. The other Toyota in question? The Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD (STI85). The Celica won its first event at the 1992 running of Safari Rally Kenya, with Carlos Sainz behind the wheel. Its final win came at the 1994 Rally Sanremo with Didier Auriol behind the wheel. Anyways back to the Yaris Rally1. The first win for the Yaris Rally1 came at the 2022 running of Rally Sweden, with Kalle Rovanperä behind the wheel, and the latest win came at EKO Acropolis Rally Greece with Rovanperä also piloting the car. In fact, Rovanperä has the most wins in the car, winning 9 of the 15 events the car has won
Could The Yaris Rally1 End Up Higher On The List?
The Toyota Yaris Rally1 has a chance to tie for 7th on the all-time wins list. Joining the Fiat Abarth 131 with 18 wins. In doing this the Yaris Rally1 would pass the Ford Escort MK2 and Lancia Stratos, both are tied for 8th on the list, with 17 wins a piece. Most likely the Yaris Rally1 will be tied for 8th place by the end of the season. As it’s unlikely that the car will be brought to victory seven consecutive times. As a Toyota driver has won every event from Safari Rally Kenya onward. Rovanperä may be a good driver, but at two events he and every other driver have little experience at, it’s unlikely he or another Toyota driver will win both. Toyota will probably win their home event of Rally Japan to end off the season, however. It is worth mentioning that there is a chance no Toyota driver could win in the remainder of the season. This is extremely unlikely, however, as well Rovanperä seems unstoppable and Elfyn Evans is right behind him.
Joining Another Toyota
Once the Toyota Yaris Rally1 joins the list of the 10 winningest WRC cars it’ll join another Toyota. Not the Cecila, it’s actually another Yaris. The Toyota Yaris WRC which was used from 2017 to 2021. Taking home its first win at Rally Sweden in 2017 with now Toyota team principal Jari-Matti Latvala behind the wheel. Its final win came at its final event, the 2021 running of Rally Monza, with Sebastien Ogier behind the wheel. The Yaris WRC currently sits tied for fourth on the list. It’s tied with the Citroen DS3 WRC with both cars having 26 wins. Funnily enough, once the Yaris Rally1 makes the list there will be 3 Citroens and 3 Toyota’s on the list. It’s no surprise there are so many Citroens on the list seeing as Sebastien Loeb won 9 consecutive championships with the cars.