The new Rally1 cars will have performance parity with Rally2 next year, and Toyota got an early read on performance
Toyota’s 2027 World Rally Championship challenger caught the eyes of the watching world in Portugal last week. On Monday we delivered news of what the team and the car was doing – but the key question of pace remained unanswered.
Until now.
The Japanese manufacturer has back-to-backed its 2027 car against its own GR Yaris Rally2 to give a real-time understanding of where the competition is going to be next year. This offers genuine insight for Toyota.
It’s rare that a new regulation set offers the opportunity for an authentic benchmark, but the FIA’s decision to deliver parity between Rally1 and Rally2 makes this the reality for next year.
So where is the new car against the GR Yaris Rally2 which will vault from the second to the top tier of world rallying next season?
“It’s hard to beat our Rally2 car at the moment,” Toyota’s technical director Tom Fowler told DirtFish. “But that’s not surprising: the engine is the same, the weight is the same and the 2027 car is brand-new. The GR Yaris Rally2 has had three years’ development so far.
Will the new car be quicker than the old one? Right now, it doesn't seem so, but the plan is to get them level
“This hasn’t happened for a long, long time,” said Fowler. “You’re disassociating the point of homologation with the eligibility of the vehicles in the event. For next year, you can arrive with an older [Rally2] car where previously everyone’s homologation for the top category were all aligned to the same year.
“It means the door is much more open to use an older vehicle with a higher level of development against a newer vehicle which has a slightly different regulation and all of this brings massive unknowns – which will hopefully result in good competition and plenty of excitement. But ultimately… with a Toyota winning!”
Words:David Evans
Tags: Tom Fowler, Toyota, WRC, WRC 2027
Publish Date March 24, 2026 DirtFish
https://dirtfish-editorial.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com/2026/03/zVUwAiuA-toyotawrc27-a-1-780x520.jpg March 24, 2026
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Toyota's 2027 Rally1 car currently can't beat their 3-year-developed Rally2 car in testing.
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This reveals the challenge of new regulations where older, refined cars may outperform newer designs initially.
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Similar transition happened in 1987 when Group A cars replaced Group B, promoting second-tier to top category.