The technical director of Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT, Tom Fowler, reveals that the 2022 Rally1 car will run with the latest bodywork specs at this week's tests for Rallye Monte Carlo.
As it is understood, the Japanese team used a number of bodyworks to its car later this year with the intention of misleading its main rivals, Hyundai Motorsport and M-Sport Ford, via the photos which were taken by people and were published on social media.
However, Sebastien Ogier tested the Toyota GR Yaris last weekend in Alsace while Takamoto Katsuta completed his test with the car today.
Moreover, Kalle Rovanpera and Elfyn Evans will be behind the wheel of Toyota Rally1 car later this week and all of these drivers will run with the latest bodywork specs that the team brought there.
Finally, Toyota mechanics are preparing and are building the final version of hybrid GR Yaris in Finland factory, but the final car shape will be launched before the start of Rallye Monte Carlo.
"We have put it all on the line and we’re ready to go", Fowler said.
"Our specification for Monte-Carlo, down to the last few driver-related details, is fixed and we are building the cars here at the moment for Monte-Carlo.
"The workshop is incredibly busy at the moment with lots of people here in Finland preparing the first rally cars.
"We have done our homologation inspection with the FIA last week and we’re just making some final touches to paperwork with the FIA, but this is all going smoothly.
"You will have seen various body styles through the testing.
"None of these body styles which you have seen before the one which has been displayed this week were ever intended to be used in rally.
"They were always things for Hyundai and Ford to take pictures of and spend time analysing.
"It is the same thing as we did in 2015 and 2018 when everyone said everything was wrong and illegal.
"So our main target with the bodywork through this year has been to make other people put as much energy as possible into trying to understand what they are.
"There may be now and again during this week’s test some different items on and off for various reasons, but effectively the base bodywork is the homologated version we have submitted to the FIA".
Source: wrc.com
Photo Credits: Julien Pixelrallye
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