[ad_1]
One of the main reasons for Toyota’s successful return to the World Rally Championship (WRC) is its team manager, WRC legend Tommi Makinen. The four-time world champion has been the leader of the Toyota Gazoo Racing WRC since 2017; leading the team to a constructors’ championship in 2018 and then to the world championship titles for driver and co-driver in 2019.
However, at the end of 2020, Makinen will step down as team principal. Instead, it will help develop the automaker’s future sports cars and plan the future activities of motorsport.
According to Toyota’s official announcement, starting in January 2021, Makinen’s role will be “Motorsports Advisor to Toyota Motor Corporation”. Part of the work includes “the development of GR vehicles created for motorsports, the strategic planning of motorsport activities and the development of driver talent.”
There was no mention of which specific GR models Makinen will monitor. However, it is safe to assume that it will be all of them. So you can expect it to provide information on models like the upcoming GR Super Sport hypercar to ensure it performs well both on and off the track. Afterwards, you could also monitor future developments of the GR Supra. Heck, we might even see a GR Yaris Tommi Makinen Edition like the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 6 TME.
“It is thanks to your support that we can win in the WRC. And by drawing on their experience, we were able to create the GR Yaris, a 4WD sports car. In the future, he will be our motorsport advisor. In addition to providing expert advice on how to win races, as he has been doing, we hope he will provide a wide range of advice so that Toyota can produce ever-better cars, ”said Akio. Toyoda, president of Toyota.
Whatever vehicle Makinen gives feedback on, we are sure it will be a good one. We’re excited about the upcoming high-performance Toyota models, right? We hope they reach the Philippine market.
