Toyota WRC27 coupé prototype seen testing – no longer GR Yaris base; upcoming GR Celica sighted?

Initial images of Toyota’s World Rally Championship entry for 2027 have surfaced, with 2026 being the final year of the current Rally1 technical regulations before it gets replaced by the next evolution of the series that takes effect next year, to be called Rally1 WRC27.

As depicted in a since-deleted Facebook post, the rally car prototype wearing the camouflage is not of the GR Yaris hatchback form that has been campaigned by Toyota in the WRC so far, but is instead a rather compact coupé. According to DirtFish, Toyota has confirmed that a new WRC racer is currently being tested.

The two-door coupé form points to what is likely one of the Japanese giant’s worst-kept secrets; that the Celica nameplate will be making a return. If Toyota’s Rally1 entry for the 2027 is indeed to be based on the upcoming Celica, this would be an early look at the model, albeit under camouflage and rally car bodywork.

“At this point in time we are already running our prototype test car. The design team are concentrating on all of the feedback that’s coming from that car and working around issues and improvements. The original target was to start running the car in 2026. We met that target. The car has been running for a few tests already and it’s done more than 2,000 km,” said Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team technical director Tom Fowler.

The upcoming WRC27 regulations require participating teams to use a spaceframe chassis constructed to FIA blueprints, as is the case with current Rally1 regulations, albeit with powertrain that is adapted from current Rally2 cars which is comprised of a 1.6 litre turbocharged engine with a 32 mm intake restrictor for a peak power output of around 290 hp. Transmission will be a five-speed sequential manual gearbox, without steering column-mounted shift paddles, sending drive to all four wheels.

To that end, Toyota’s upcoming WRC27 competition car is likely to be powered by the 1.6 litre, turbocharged three-cylinder unit from the GR Yaris Rally2 rally car, as indicated by audio from the since-deleted footage, whereas the current Rally1 car is powered by a 1.6 litre four-cylinder engine from the previous-generation Toyota Yaris WRC.