I'd find it very strange to give/get a penalty for this, so had a look at the regulations. 2020 regulations aren't out yet. But for 2019, nothing's written about a mandatory attendance on the WRC launch event. Only attendance on the prize-giving was required this year. From Toyota this could be a reaction to the WRC launch taking place in the UK on the same event again. There's a bigger event in Japan, so why not do it there? The UK isn't the center of the world...