TOYOTA GAZOO Racing will debut the GR Yaris Rally2 H2 Concept, a hydrogen-engine rally car, on the stages of Rally Finland.
Accelerating its efforts to create ever-better motorsports-bred cars and realise a carbon-neutral society, TOYOTA has been competing with a hydrogen-engine Corolla since 2021 in the Super Taikyu series in Japan. Jari-Matti Latvala, Team Principal of TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team, has been among the drivers who have raced with the innovative powertrain and provided their feedback in its development.
In 2022, the technology was demonstrated on the rally stages of Europe for the first time when the experimental GR Yaris H2 made its debut at the FIA World Rally Championship round in Belgium, driven by Akio Toyoda and Juha Kankkunen.
Since then, development has continued to create the Rally2 H2 Concept, which will be demonstrated at Rally Finland to allow rally fans to experience the potential of hydrogen as one of the options for the future of motorsport in a carbon neutral society.
The car is based upon the successful GR Yaris Rally2 chassis and fitted with an internal combustion engine fuelled by compressed hydrogen, delivering near-zero emissions while retaining the sounds and sensations so enjoyed by rally fans.
The GR Yaris Rally2 H2 Concept has been developed at TGR-WRT headquarters in Jyväskylä, Finland, and tested on local roads, including runs on gravel forest roads like those used in Rally Finland. For its public debut, the car will be demonstrated on the mixed-surface Harju stage in the centre of Jyväskylä, which runs as the opening stage of the rally on Thursday evening and again as SS10 on Friday. Four-time world champion Kankkunen, Deputy Team Principal of TGR-WRT, will be at the wheel.
The car will also be exhibited in the service park during the event alongside other hydrogen vehicles like the Toyota Mirai and Tundra, as part of a wider showcase of hydrogen technology across the city of Jyväskylä.
