It’s official. Not only is Toyota bringing back the Celica, it will compete in the World Rally Championship. Technically, it will be named the GR Celica and, in a surprising twist, be campaigned alongside the GR Yaris. In an age where manufacturers struggle to keep a single sports model in their lineups, Toyota somehow has such an overabundance of them that they will field both models in two separate WRC teams.
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A rule change to the Rally1 class for 2027 has allowed Toyota a unique opportunity to build two teams, which means the company could run as many as 12 cars at each event. Toyota Racing will campaign the GR Celica Rally1, while the somewhat confusingly named Gazoo Racing Toyota team will run the GR Yaris Rally1.
Both cars will be built to Rally1 class rules, which means equal power and performance. As technical director Tom Fowler explained in an interview Dirtfish, all GR Celica and GR Yaris will share major components and spaceframe chassis, but have distinct body shells each with their own unique aerodynamic devices.
The announcement marks the Celica’s return to WRC after a 32-year absence. The last time ended in infamy, when an illegal restrictor plate was found on the cars’ turbos. The team’s points were wiped from the standings and banned from competition for 12 months. Toyota returned in 1997 with the European-market Corolla hatchback, though privateer Celicas continued to compete without factory backing.
As for 2027, helming the Celica will be 2026 champ Elfyn Evans, Oliver Solberg, and Sami Pajari. Driving the Yaris will be 2o19 title holder Ott Tänak retuning from Hyundai, Takamoto Katsuta, and Kalle Rovanperä. That’s the starting lineup, but with up to six cars running under each banner there’s always the possibility of new drivers entering mid-season.
It appears the mystery car seen testing in Portugal now has a name, though it looks quite different from the mid-engined car Toyota has been racing in Japan. Regardless, having so many performance cars to choose from that you need two WRC teams is a good problem to have.
