Join the rally
A new exciting direction was soon added to Toyota's popularity and appeal, which meant joining an international rally with a European team. Swedish racer Ove Andersson convinced the Toyota team at a meeting in London to let him race a Toyota Celica in the 1972 RAC Rally in Great Britain. Toyota's success led to the continuation of the said program and the founding of Andersson Motorsport in Sweden in 1973.
First victory on the rally circuit
Toyota prepared the Corolla and Celica models for the competition, with additional support from Japan. In 1974, the oil crisis threatened to bring the motorsport program to a premature halt, requiring even greater efforts to supply the team with the necessary parts and equipment. Ultimately, the team's faith in the project soon paid off. Finnish driver Hannu Mikkola driving a Corolla 1600 at the 1,000 Lakes Rally in Finland in 1975 brought the team its first victory. In the same year, the team won the title of Toyota Team Europe.
Toyota World Rally
Over the years, with the help of manufacturers and racers, championship titles have been won with legendary cars such as the Celica TA63 Twincam Turbo, nicknamed the "King of Africa".
In 1979, a street in Cologne was named Toyota Allée in honor of Toyota. The dedication of the Toyota motorsport teams paid off and everyone's dream came true - to win the "Triple Crown". After winning the 2022 Dakar Rally, Toyota holds the WRC and WEC winner's titles simultaneously.
A new exciting direction was soon added to Toyota's popularity and appeal, which meant joining an international rally with a European team. Swedish racer Ove Andersson convinced the Toyota team at a meeting in London to let him race a Toyota Celica in the 1972 RAC Rally in Great Britain. Toyota's success led to the continuation of the said program and the founding of Andersson Motorsport in Sweden in 1973.
First victory on the rally circuit
Toyota prepared the Corolla and Celica models for the competition, with additional support from Japan. In 1974, the oil crisis threatened to bring the motorsport program to a premature halt, requiring even greater efforts to supply the team with the necessary parts and equipment. Ultimately, the team's faith in the project soon paid off. Finnish driver Hannu Mikkola driving a Corolla 1600 at the 1,000 Lakes Rally in Finland in 1975 brought the team its first victory. In the same year, the team won the title of Toyota Team Europe.
Toyota World Rally
Over the years, with the help of manufacturers and racers, championship titles have been won with legendary cars such as the Celica TA63 Twincam Turbo, nicknamed the "King of Africa".
In 1979, a street in Cologne was named Toyota Allée in honor of Toyota. The dedication of the Toyota motorsport teams paid off and everyone's dream came true - to win the "Triple Crown". After winning the 2022 Dakar Rally, Toyota holds the WRC and WEC winner's titles simultaneously.
