Hybrid Toyota Yaris rally car revealed, ready to tackle Monte-Carlo

The new regulations coming into effect for the 2022 season of the World Rally Championship (WRC) bring together two of Toyota's areas of expertise: hybrid technology and racing. The Japanese firm unveiled the gasoline-electric Yaris it designed to compete on dirt, snow and ice.

Loosely shaped like the Yaris hatchback sold in global markets, the Rally1-spec car is built on a dedicated spaceframe chassis. It's a two-door model, like the street-legal GR Yaris, and it features a full body kit that includes a front splitter, flared wheel arches, plus a gigantic rear wing. The last-generation Yaris rally car wore a similar body kit, but the Rally1 gains a pair of pod-like vents mounted on the quarter panels.

This outgrowth is a side-effect of going hybrid; the vents channel cooling air to the 3.9-kilowatt-hour battery pack. Power for the Yaris comes from a plug-in hybrid system that also includes an evolution of the outgoing car's turbocharged, 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine and an electric motor. Toyota pegs the Rally1's output at over 500 horsepower. And, keeping in line with the new regulations, the Yaris gains a mechanical shifter and loses its active center differential. These changes will put each driver's rallying skills to the test, according to the company.