WRC legend Kankkunen to drive hydrogen Toyota rally car 

Four-time World Rally Championship champion and Toyota deputy team principal Juha Kankkunen will pilot the latest hydrogen-powered rally car from Toyota at Rally Finland.

The GR Yaris Rally2 H2 Concept will make its debut during the Harju stage on the first two days of the event, which runs from 31 July until 3 August.

The car has been extensively developed at the Toyota WRC team’s headquarters in Jyvaskyla, Finland, and is based around its current GR Yaris Rally2 car – albeit fitted with an internal combustion engine fuelled by compressed hydrogen.

Toyota previously showcased the technology in the WRC at Ypres Rally Belgium in 2022, when Kankkunen and then Toyota president Akio Toyoda jumped behind the wheel. Since then, the concept has undergone further development to create the current iteration of the car, which will make its debut in Finland.

Toyota has heavily invested in developing hydrogen-powered race cars as one of the options for the future of motorsport in a carbon neutral society. The Japanese car maker has been competing with hydrogen powered cars since 2021 when it raced a modified Corolla in the Super Taikyu series in Japan, with Toyota’s WRC team principal Jari-Matti Latvala among the roster of drivers.

Last month, Toyota unveiled a hydrogen-powered prototype test car as the next step on its road to racing with the alternative fuel at the Le Mans 24 Hours.

The GR LH2 has been built at Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe in the German city of Cologne around a chassis from its GR010 Hybrid Le Mans Hypercar. No details of the engine or hybrid system, which have been developed at Toyota’s Higashi-Fuji Technical Centre in Japan, were revealed.

In addition to the debut of the GR Yaris Rally2 H2 Concept, Toyota will field a standard GR Yaris Rally2 for Latvala to contest his home event in Finland. The 18-time WRC rally winner contested the WRC2 class at the event last year, piloting a Toyota to second in class and sixth overall.

“I’m really excited to make my 20th Rally Finland start, driving the GR Yaris Rally2 together with Janni Hussi,” said Latvala. 

“It’s Finnish rally tradition to mark a big birthday by entering our home event, so thank you Akio Toyoda for allowing me to realise this special achievement in the year I turned 40. 

“It’s also a chance for me to stay sharp at the wheel of a modern rally car as I provide my feedback into the development of this and other cars for TGR-WRT.”