Toyota is taking a familiar name back to where it once made history. After more than 25 years away, the Corolla badge is returning to rallying, with the newly developed GR Corolla RC2 set to compete in the American Rally Association National Championship next year.
The car will make its competitive debut at the 100 Acre Wood Rally on March 13 and 14, marking Toyota’s first Corolla rally outing since the late 1990s. For the Japanese manufacturer, it is both a nod to its past and a clear signal of its future ambitions in North American rallying.
First shown as a concept at the Tokyo Auto Salon earlier this year, the GR Corolla rally project quickly moved beyond the drawing board. Development has been led by Toyota’s World Rally Championship engineers, working closely with US-based Rallysport Services.
The test programme has involved former WRC drivers Jari-Matti Latvala, now Toyota’s WRC team principal, and Juho Hänninen, both bringing years of top-level rally experience to the car.
Under the skin, the GR Corolla RC2 leans heavily on a proven formula. It borrows key lessons from the successful GR Yaris Rally2, a car that has won back-to-back WRC2 titles. Like the Yaris, the Corolla uses a 1.6-litre, three-cylinder turbocharged engine paired with four-wheel drive. It has been built to RC2 regulations, placing it at a performance level roughly equivalent to Rally2 in the ARA series.
Driving duties will fall to Seth Quintero, a 23-year-old star from Toyota’s World Rally Raid programme. Quintero will contest seven rounds of the ARA season, switching from the larger DKR GR Hilux he has raced at events such as the Dakar Rally to the lighter, more agile Corolla. He has already tested the car alongside Latvala and Hänninen and admits the move to stage rallying brings a very different challenge.
Toyota has not ruled out expanding the programme, with a second GR Corolla RC2 being considered for selected ARA rounds through 2026.
The Corolla’s return carries strong historical weight. Toyota claimed its first World Rally Championship victory with a Corolla in 1973, and the model later helped secure the manufacturers’ title in 1999. Since then, Toyota’s rally efforts have centred on the Yaris. This new chapter brings the Corolla back into the spotlight.
Alongside the car’s debut, Toyota has also added Zeal Jones and 16-year-old Hiroya Minowa to its WRC Challenge Program, underlining its focus on developing the next generation of rally talent.
For Toyota, the message is clear. Motorsport remains a testing ground, not just for trophies, but for building better cars on and off the road.
