When you think Toyota Yaris, your brain does not conjure images of a battle-ready WRC race car. This will soon change. Toyota is jumping back into the World Rally Championship and the lowly Yaris is its weapon of choice.

We outlined some of the cars specs and Toyota’s intentions in February 2015 and showed you a testing mishap when Tommi Makinen had a misstep with the car in Spain in May of 2016 when it broke a wheel.

Toyota and Gazoo Racing have done an outstanding job developing the WRC Yaris as more than 5,000 kilometers have been logged to refine every aspect of vehicle performance. The team plans to add a second car, which will dramatically expand their data gathering capacity.

“The reason we are working with two cars is that we wanted to split development into two parts,” explained Tom Fowler, WRC Chief Engineer. “The first team works only in Finland, concentrating on the reliability and endurance of the car, with a test program focused on the engine and gearbox. The second test team is focused on the suspension, and is working at the other European bases, such as in Spain and Portugal.”

As it stands, the current driver make-up consists of Tommi Mäkinen, Juho Hanninen and Jarkko Nikara. With this collection of talent, the addition of a second car, and the high expectations of Toyota it is clear the team plans to come out swinging in 2017.

The only real question is will they enjoy immediate success against the mainstays of WRC; namely the VW Polo, Ford Fiesta, and Citroen C3? Things should be interesting from the first stage of 2017 to the last.