Toyota is going all out for the 2027 WRC season. The Japanese manufacturer will field no fewer than six cars at every round, split between two separate teams and, even more remarkably, two different cars. The Celica returns to the World Championship, while world champions Ott Tänak and Kalle Rovanperä are also set to return to rallying’s top level.
The speculation is over. Toyota will homologate two cars under the new WRC27 regulations, which are designed to reduce costs and increase competition at the top level of the sport.
The regulations allow different bodywork designs to be developed around a common tubular spaceframe chassis. Combined with the revised championship structure, which will see the Manufacturers’ Championship replaced by a Constructors’ Championship alongside a separate Teams’ Championship from 2027, this offers manufacturers greater flexibility in how they compete. This allows Toyota to develop and homologate two cars with distinct body designs, despite sharing (almost) identical underlying machinery.
Two distinctly different-looking prototypes have been spotted during testing over recent months, fuelling speculation about Toyota’s plans. That speculation has now been put to rest, with the manufacturer confirming that the two cars will compete under separate team identities.
Celica returns to the WRC
TOYOTA Racing will field the GR Celica Rally1, with newly crowned World Champion Elfyn Evans joined by Oliver Solberg and Sami Pajari.
Meanwhile, GAZOO Racing Toyota will see two familiar faces return to the WRC. Tänak and Rovanperä will join Takamoto Katsuta in the line-up, driving the new GR Yaris Rally1.
Tänak stepped away from the WRC at the end of last season but returned to Toyota last April as a development driver. The Estonian will now make his return to the championship as a WRC driver.
Rovanperä also stepped away from the WRC at the end of 2025, with the two-time World Champion planning to pursue a career in single-seater racing. However, health issues forced the Finn to abandon those plans. He will return to the rally stages in 2027, although his programme will not cover the full season.
Rovanperä’s part-time programme leaves room for additional drivers in the GAZOO Racing line-up. Nine-time WRC champion Sébastien Ogier remains a potential candidate for that seat. The Frenchman has long been looking to reduce his WRC commitments and has already announced that he will skip his home event, Rallye Monte-Carlo, which opens the 2027 championship.
Toyota: Ogier ‘remains part of the GAZOO Racing family’
Ogier ‘remains part of the GAZOO Racing family’, Toyota says, although no details have been given about how many, if any, rounds he could contest. The manufacturer has also stated that one of its young drivers from its talent development programme could get the opportunity to drive the car.
Further details about the two cars and their liveries will be announced at a later date.
Photo: GAZOO Racing
