All eyes were on Toyota at the beginning of the year when it unveiled a mid-engine GR Yaris at the Tokyo Auto Salon. As if that wasn’t intriguing enough, the hot hatch ditched the familiar 1.6-liter three-cylinder it shares with the GR Corolla in favor of a larger four-cylinder 2.0-liter engine. The plan was to test the pocket rocket in endurance racing a few months ago, but its track debut was postponed after encountering “difficulties” during development.
Fast-forward to October: the “G20E” is still a work in progress, but Toyota has now successfully tested the new engine in competition. None other than company chairman Akio Toyoda finished third overall, piloting the mid-engine GR Yaris during the sixth round of the Super Taikyu Series at Okayama Circuit.
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