Toyota Gazoo Racing or TGR recently announced their participation at this year’s WRC (World Rally Championship) Rally Finland to showcase something new they’ve been working on. Dubbed as the GR Yaris Rally2 H2 Concept, it encapsulates years of research and development to advance TGR’s rally racing journey with carbon neutrality in mind.
From the get-go, the GR Yaris Rally2 H2’s body shell looks unsurprisingly similar to what the team is currently using this season. This means that it passed all FIA (Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile) rules and regulations to compete. However, it exhibits a redesigned livery to set it apart from the current championship contender, and to signify something different under the hood.
Case in point, the unit will most likely sport a turbocharged 1.6L 3-cylinder internal combustion motor fueled by compressed hydrogen. Now, to the basic high school chemistry student survivors out there, when you say hydrogen, it means there’s water involved. That water comes in the form of a vaporized and heated byproduct in place of the usual harmful and dirty petrol smoke we’ve been dealing with, all these years.
Basically, Toyota’s technical wizards have figured out a way to replace petrol fuel with something that’s gentle to the environment to keep the concept of an internal combustion engine alive for many years to come. This is good news for us “petrolheads” (or “hydroheads” in the near future?) as the joyful experience of driving and tinkering an internal combustion engine, with all its sounds and mechanicals, won’t be very much affected.
Sounds cool, yes. But what’s cooler is that Toyota has been in the works, developing their hydrogen-fueled engine technology since 2021. The concept was first used by a Toyota Corolla Sport racecar which took on the 2021 Super Taikyu Series in Japan. Since then, tons of feedback from Toyota Gazoo Racing team, headed by Jari-Matti Latvala, the Team Principal of TGR World Rally Team, have been taken into top priority to achieve what is to be unleashed at the 2025 Rally Finland.
The 2025 WRC Rally Finland will happen from July 31 to August 3. There, TGR will set up an area to exhibit the GR Yaris Rally2 H2 Concept, along with other hydrogen-powered vehicles like the Toyota Mirai and Tundra. It’s all part of a bigger showcase highlighting hydrogen tech around the city of Jyväskylä.
