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Two former World Rally Champions with Toyota are making their comeback to the WRC. Kalle Rovanperä and Ott Tänak last featured in the series at the 2025 season finale in Saudi Arabia.
Two-time world champion Rovanperä retained Toyota's support throughout his year-long sabbatical from the championship. Meanwhile, 2019 title winner Tänak parted ways with the Japanese manufacturer after his championship triumph, subsequently racing for Hyundai and M-Sport.
For the 2027 WRC season, Toyota will enter two three-car teams. Toyota Racing will field the GR Celica Rally1, while Gazoo Racing Toyota will compete with the GR Yaris Rally1. Both returning champions will campaign the Yaris.
Toyota deputy team principal Juha Kankkunen revealed that the squad enjoyed complete freedom when selecting their driver line-up.
"There were even more drivers who expressed interest," Kankkunen revealed.
According to the Finnish rallying legend, negotiations with Rovanperä and Tänak went smoothly.
"To be honest, it didn't take long talks at all. Neither of them needed much convincing. It took slightly longer with Kalle because he still wants to do circuit racing. At Toyota, we have a great GT3 car that he can test whenever he wants. He also still wants to do some drifting, but in the end, he agreed to come back pretty quickly."
"One dinner and three bottles of wine — that was all it took," Kankkunen joked.
Tänak is set to contest the full campaign, while Rovanperä will run a partial programme. Kankkunen explained that the Finnish driver's exact schedule has yet to be finalised.
"The situation remains open. Seb Ogier will contest some rallies and Kalle will have more starts, but we haven't decided exactly how they will split the events yet," Kankkunen said.
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