Juha Kankkunen can be seen at the World Rally Championship in Belgium testing a possible rally car of the future.
Juha Kankkunen will test Toyota’s hydrogen Yar in Belgium next week. Pentti J. Rönkkö
Four-time rally world champion Juha Kankkunen63, will make a surprise return to the rally tracks in next week’s World Rally Championship in Belgium.
It is a demonstration participation, as Kankkunen drives only one special test on each day of the rally.
In Belgium, Kankkunen drives a hydrogen-powered Toyota GR Yaris H2 car, which is presented to the public for the first time. Kankkunen runs his special test before the actual competitors.
The car’s engine has been developed based on the GR Corolla H2 car, which competed in the Fuji 24-hour race in Japan in June. In that race, the car was driven by Toyota’s team manager Jari-Matti Latvala and president of the car brand Akio Toyoda.
– I would have liked to drive the car myself, but I have to focus on the rally. I’m looking forward to what kind of feedback Kankkunen will give about the car, Latvala said in the team’s press release.
Hybrid engines are currently used in the World Rally Championship until at least 2024. Switching to hydrogen cars is one possibility from 2025 onwards.
Kankkunen won his last world championship with Toyota in 1993.
He drove his last full World Rally Championship season in 2002. Kankkunen drove his last race in Jyväskylä in 2010.
The Belgian rally, driven on asphalt, starts on Thursday next week.