The reigning world champion squad has selected three young Japanese rally talents in Hikaru Kogure (20), Nao Otake (21) and Yuki Yamamoto (24) to join the initiative which aims to promote a young Japanese driver to its WRC team.
Toyota began the programme in 2015, with it biggest success story being Katsuta, who has since progressed to drive Toyota’s fourth WRC entry in 2020, before contesting a full season last year. The 28-year-old single-seater convert ended the season seventh in the championship, his best result a second place finish at the Safari Rally.
Toyota opened applications for new junior recruits in August last year receiving 60 applicants that were whittled down to eight, who were chosen to take part in a two-week training camp in Finland, where they were assessed behind the wheel of GR Yaris road cars, crosskarts and two-wheel drive Rally4 cars,
From there, Toyota’s chief instructor and four-time WRC runner-up, Mikko Hirvonen, selected the successful candidates…
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