It may ‘only’ be a humble supermini, but really, underneath, it’s nothing of the sort. The Toyota GR Yaris is a special car. The sort that only comes along once in a lifetime. Maybe it will be the last of its kind.
Born for the sole purpose of helping the Toyota World Rally Championship team, unlike any other current Yaris it has a bespoke 3-door body. The chassis underneath actually borrows from the bigger Corolla. It has a wider track and a longer wheelbase. The regular Yaris is mass-produced in France, this is hand finished in Japan. There’s a 6-speed manual gearbox, a manual handbrake, all-wheel-drive and with the Circuit Pack, two limited-slip differentials with selectable power distribution.
It’s a car-nerds wet dream and it arrived via a free update to GT Sport towards to end of last year. It’s so good that I even waxed lyrical about it in our ‘best cars in games’ podcast episode which you can listen to below. There are some other online daily races within the game this week, but you’ll find me doing Race A on repeat…
Here it is then. The ‘big one’. Well, for me, anyway. The race itself is in fact a small affair. The short version of Autopolis being the venue, the GR Yaris the car and five laps the length. Short, sharp, fun. Every car is identical and with 12 on the grid, this is going to be a riot.
I suppose I should talk about Race B now. but it’s difficult to prise myself away from the loveable Japanese hot hatchback. The Nürburgring GP loop is yours to race around in any evenly matched Gr.4 car from your garage. Seeing as we’re on a Toyota kick this week, we’re going to go for the GR Supra, but you could also select the 86 Gr.4 or even stretch to the Lexus RC F Gr.4 to stay on-brand. Four laps and no consumption mean qualifying times will be important.
Finally, Race C this week is a Gr.3 affair, around the fabled Suzuka circuit. A venue that reminds us that track limit debates would be a thing of the past if kerbs, grass and gravel were used to prevent shortcutting. As per usual, this event sees fuel consumption and tyre wear plus a choice of tyre compounds, so you may have to try it a few times to work out the optimum strategy. We’re going for another Toyota, the GR Supra Racing Concept ‘18, but the choice is yours.
You can view the full details below and we’ll be back next week with the latest ranked Daily Races. For now, let us know on social media if you’ve managed to snag a victory during the latest Sport Mode events.
Race A
Car: Toyota GR Yaris 1st Edition RZ “High Performance” 2020
Track: AUTOPOLIS INTERNATIONAL RACING COURSE SHORTCUT COURSE
Laps: Five
No. Of Cars: 12
Duration: 15 Mins
Tyres: Sports Soft
Fuel Consumption: None
Tyre Wear: None
Start Type: Grid Start
Race B
Car: GR.4, any
Track: Nürburgring GP
Laps: Four
No. Of Cars: 16
Duration: 15 Mins
Tyres: Racing Medium
Fuel Consumption: None
Tyre Wear: None
Start Type: Rolling Start
Race C
Car: GR.3, any
Track: Suzuka Circuit
Laps: 10
No. Of Cars: 20
Duration: 25 Mins
Tyres: Racing Medium or Racing Hard
Fuel Consumption: 2x
Tyre Wear: 7x
Start Type: Rolling Start
