The biggest car news and reviews, no BS
Our free daily newsletter sends the stories that really matter directly to you, every weekday.
The Toyota GR Corolla takes inspiration from the automaker’s successful World Rally Championship (WRC) team, but the closest it’s gotten to a stage so far is the parking lot. That’s about to change, as Toyota has confirmed that a rally car based on the hot hatch will bring the Corolla name back to rallying in 2026. But instead of the WRC, the Corolla rally car will compete in the American Rally Association (ARA) championship.
Toyota showed a GR Corolla rally car concept at the Tokyo Auto Salon in January of this year, and finally confirmed Friday that a fully-developed version would compete in the ARA season. Officially known as the GR Corolla RC2, it will compete in the RC2 class, which Toyota describes as “roughly equivalent” to the Rally2 class in international rallying. It’ll retain the 1.6-liter turbocharged three-cylinder engine used in the GR Corolla road car, but the release was otherwise light on technical details.
Toyota plans to enter a single car starting with the second round of the 2026 season, the 1000 Acre Wood Rally in Missouri. American Seth Quintero will drive while also running a Toyota-backed campaign in the World Rally Raid Championship (W2RC). His co-driver will be Finn Topi Luthtinen.
Toyota
The Corolla has a long history in rallying, from Hannu Mikkola’s 1975 1000 Lakes Rally win to the 1999 WRC manufacturer’s championship. Toyota withdrew from rallying after that, returning in the late 2010s with the Yaris, which has become a dominant force in the series. The Corolla’s comeback in the ARA will help with “developing cars on North American roads and making ever-better motorsports-bred cars,” the automaker said in a statement. That’s in line with motorsports-obsessed chairman Akio Toyoda’s goal of building more cars for driving enthusiasts.
The GR Corolla RC2 will also be a gift to American rally fans. It could create a manufacturer battle between Toyota and Subaru, which (via partner Vermont Sports Car) has been the only consistent manufacturer presence in the ARA championship for some time. It’ll be great to see a remix of those 1990s WRC Corolla vs. WRX battles play out across rural America.
Got a tip? Email us at tips@thedrive.com
Stephen has always been passionate about cars, and managed to turn that passion into a career as a freelance automotive journalist. When he’s not covering all things tech for The Drive, you can find him looking for a new book to read.
