The 2022 Rally1 generation marked a fundamental shift in WRC machinery: every manufacturer-entered car must carry a mandatory 100 kW hybrid unit supplied by Compact Dynamics alongside the team's own turbocharged engine. Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT built their challenger around the GR Yaris road car platform, fielding it across a full season programme in 2024 that included a strong presence at the fast gravel stages of Rally Finland. Car No. 37, crewed by Yuki Yamamoto and co-driver Marko Salminen, represents one of the team's wildcard Rally1 entries at Jyväskylä — a circuit of appearances that underlines Toyota's depth of driver development.
The GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid: a new technical era
Under FIA Rally1 regulations introduced for 2022, every car pairs a team-developed 1.6-litre turbocharged inline-3 petrol unit with the standardised hybrid module — a combination that produces around 500 hp combined output. Toyota's choice to base the GR Yaris Rally1 on an existing road car nameplate is deliberate: the homologation rules allow manufacturers to draw on production-car DNA, and the GR Yaris had already earned credibility as a genuine performance platform before reaching the WRC stage.
Rally Finland 2024: Jyväskylä and a Japanese driver in Toyota colours
Held 1–4 August 2024 around Jyväskylä, Rally Finland was the 10th round of the 2024 WRC season and is historically one of the fastest events on the calendar. For Toyota, these stages function as a near home event; for Yuki Yamamoto, a Japanese driver developed through Toyota's own programme, starting car No. 37 on Finnish gravel alongside co-driver Marko Salminen carries its own weight. The car wore the standard 2024 Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT white-and-red livery with Toyota and Gazoo Racing branding.
IXO Models and the Rally Car Collection at 1:43
This 1:43 scale model is part of IXO Models' Rally Car Collection, a well-established reference series for rally collectors covering individual event and livery variants. The model is produced in die-cast metal — a material choice suited to the precise panel lines and aerodynamic bodywork of a modern Rally1 car. IXO's event-specific approach means each release documents a defined moment in a season rather than a generic livery, which gives the No. 37 Yamamoto/Salminen car its identity in the collection.
In the display cabinet: context and companions
At 1:43, this model sits comfortably alongside the rest of IXO's 2024 WRC season lineup — the No. 1 Ogier/Landais car, the No. 17 Evans/Martin entry and the No. 69 Rovanperä/Halttunen GR Yaris all share the same scale and series, making a coherent Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT shelf straightforward to build. Adding the rival Hyundai i20 N Rally1 and Ford Puma Rally1 entries from IXO's same-year range places the No. 37 in its full competitive context. For collectors with a specific interest in Japanese WRC representation or Toyota's driver development pipeline, this car occupies a distinct position that the regular factory entries do not replicate.
