Toyota announces WRC plans

[Allez Andruet]

Guys, stop saying how poor was Hyundai at the beginning! It's totally incomparable. Don't you have an idea of their recources and infrastructure?! From the very beginning they showed not only high ambitions but also determination to achieve them. That's why so many professionals went there without doubt. And in 2016 they were "working" even more than VW. What do we have in Finland at the same time - one old man who has a hobby to drive rally cars at safe pace and hates anyone else's opinions! Only facility upgrade to meet WRT demands is one external toilet. Sorry but the bashing they get here is at the bare minimum. Of course it's better to have them rather than not, do not get me wrong.

This is exactly the kind of BS post by some total idiot which was referred to in the earlier post.

[AL14]

Everybody wants Toyota to be a winning car. Nobody hopes the opposite. But someone can try to predict what will be the outcome judging from what he knows and that prediction can be negative.
It's totally normal unless you live in a fairy tale where everything is positive and nothing bad happens.

[pantealex]

Let´s see how Monte goes...

Hope everyone remembers who Hyundais 1st Monte went...

And Hyundai is best team now, maybe. So I believe Toyota can do same.

If Toyota is Top 5 in first rallies I´m happy. But I believe they will get some podium places next year, 1st place finish, don´t think so.

[AMSS]

Let´s see how Monte goes...

Hope everyone remembers who Hyundais 1st Monte went...

And Hyundai is best team now, maybe. So I believe Toyota can do same.

If Toyota is Top 5 in first rallies I´m happy. But I believe they will get some podium places next year, 1st place finish, don´t think so.

If I remember correctly than first Monte for Peugeot 206 WRC was even worse I think none of the cars started to the rally because battery was dead after parc ferme, so Toyotas start can`t be worse than that

[COD]

The more I hear bashing like this - the more I want Toyota to succeed.
Seriously, why are you so negative about it? Yes, I know Yaris is built in a farm of Makinen… but from another point of view it looks quite good:
It has backing from Toyota
It has sponsor
It looks nice (!)
It looks quite good on recent tests (remember Hyundai in 2014)
It’s drivers lineup looks like this:
One IRC and S-WRC champion who never had proper chance to shine in WRC (and did a lot of testing in Yaris)
One fast guy who has 16 WRC wins under his belt (okay, he might not be next WRC champion, but he definitely can show Yaris potential)
One young gun

For me, all of it looks quite nice! I wish all the best for them!

Its not that I hope they fail, quite the opposite. Just that with all the info I have and what I have followed, it just doesn't look good. Like I said, I hope they prove me wrong

[Rallyper]

Guys, stop saying how poor was Hyundai at the beginning! It's totally incomparable. Don't you have an idea of their recources and infrastructure?! From the very beginning they showed not only high ambitions but also determination to achieve them. That's why so many professionals went there without doubt. And in 2016 they were "working" even more than VW. What do we have in Finland at the same time - one old man who has a hobby to drive rally cars at safe pace and hates anyone else's opinions! Only facility upgrade to meet WRT demands is one external toilet. Sorry but the bashing they get here is at the bare minimum. Of course it's better to have them rather than not, do not get me wrong.

So, what do you like in the sport of rallying (WRC) ?? Tell us.

[N.O.T]

No matter how hard the propaganda machine works that thing that makinen put together is nothing more than a finnish nationalistic flop tower.

Its going to be really fun when the same propaganda machine will try and defend the nothingness they produce event by event.

I wonder if latvala has brought with him any posters from his VW days to hang around.

pathetic and useless.

[Mirek]

That´s true! Not very good situation if the car is much weaker that others. The season 2017 is in any case the development year for the Toyota Gazoo Racing WRC, but there must be some potential to show if it will be possible to win in 2018.

It's development year for all teams. That's why these forced restarts via change of rules are done from time to time. The aim is to bring all teams on the same start line (of course not totally possible). All of them have same conditions for future development - same number of jokers etc.

[Rally Power]

Its not that I hope they fail, quite the opposite. Just that with all the info I have and what I have followed, it just doesn't look good. Like I said, I hope they prove me wrong

That's a fair point but probably the info you got is the same we got: they’ve started a WRC team from almost scratch; their facilities aren’t state of the art but they’re good enough for the job; despite the remote location they’ve managed to attract experienced staff; they’ve designed and hugely tested a whole new WRC car in a very limited time; the car is ready and will be homologated without delay; they’ve got a balanced driver line up for their first season…honestly, anyone looking at this facts in a sensible and fair way will be puzzled to find all the wrong doings appointed by the eager critics of this Makinen/Toyota venture. To me they've already proved they're a serious WRC contender and I'm quite happy to see Toyota back in WRC alongside TMR. Best luck to them!

[Mirek]

If I remember correctly than first Monte for Peugeot 206 WRC was even worse I think none of the cars started to the rally because battery was dead after parc ferme, so Toyotas start can`t be worse than that

Wasn't it Škoda's first WRC start or Peugeot failed so hard too? I don't remember anymore