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It's a mere month to go before the start of the Monte Carlo Rally and the 2017 World Rally Championship, and Toyota is stirring up the excitement by revealing its rally challenger in the shape of this be-winged Yaris WRC.
As with all WRC cars, the Yaris is powered by a 1.6-litre turbo engine, with more than 380hp - getting back to the good old Group B days. Well, almost.
The team's drivers will be experienced Finnish pair Jari-Matti Latvala and Juho Hänninen. Lead driver Latvala - a three-time runner-up in the WRC alongside co-driver Miikka Anttila - has invaluable experience with 169 starts and 16 WRC victories under his belt.
"I started my rally career in a Toyota Corolla GT back in 2001 and my first competitive outing in a World Rally Car was behind the wheel of a Corolla WRC in 2003 in Estonia; so, in many ways, it feels like I'm coming home," Latvala said.
"I'm really happy to join the Toyota Gazoo Racing WRC team from the very start and lead this new adventure with them. I feel lucky to be part of this story and I hope we will amass a lot of victories in it," he said.
Second driver Juho Hänninen, who has taken part in the development of the Yaris WRC from its very first outing, will be joined by co-driver Kaj Lindström who first competed in the WRC in 1996. Finn Esapekka Lappi, the recently crowned WRC2 champion, will join the team through the season as a test driver.
Team chairman and global Toyota president Akio Toyoda said participating in the WRC would enable Toyota to train and strengthen its people and cars. "Because they involve competition on all types of roads, rallies are the optimal stage on which to hone the capabilities of both people and cars," Mr Toyoda said. "Toyota has not been seen on that stage for a long time, but I'm truly happy that we're back."
It's Toyota's first time back in the WRC since it quit in the early 2000s to concentrate on what would ultimately be a fruitless Formula One team, but the new squad already has championship winning form in the shape of its team manager - former multiple WRC champ Tommi Makkinen. "The Yaris WRC is a well-designed car with incredible potential. The new regulations allow for much greater freedom in terms of development" he said. "Although we have yet to explore all the possibilities, we can say that the car is reliable and quick. I really can't wait to see the results in racing conditions."
Although Volkswagen has now pulled out of the WRC, Citroen is joining Toyota in returning with a full works squad to take on the M-Sport Ford team, and it seems likely that the Volkswagen cars will still be entered as a private squad. With more power and more aggressive aerodynamics, it could just be that rallying is entering a new golden age.
Toyota will be hoping to underline the transfer from stage to road too, as it has confirmed plans for a hot Yaris, potentially badged as Yaris Gazoo, in honour of the racing squad. It will be a rival to the Fiesta ST and will likely have a 200hp 1.6-litre turbo engine.