Toyota Considers Returning To The World Rally Championship In '14

Japanese automaker Toyota is considering a return to the World Rally Championship series in '14, according to Gerald Dirnbeck of MOTORSPORT TOTAL. Toyota left the WRC in '99 after winning 43 races, four construction titles and four driver championships to focus on its F1 involvement. Toyota discontinued its F1 involvement in '09 and is repositioning itself in motorsports. Toyota Motorsports President Yoshiaki Kinoshita said, "We hope, we will be ready for a return in '14. Our goal is to put together a WRC program." Toyota's current focus is on its endurance program, which participaties in the World Endurance Championship series. There, the company can test "its hybrid technology." Whether Toyota returns to the WRC or not depends on several factors, including a "solution to the WRC's financial troubles." Kinoshita said, "Nobody knows, what the economic future will look like", but "if our economic situation is exceptional, we could do both [WEC and WRC]" (MOTORSPORT TOTAL, 6/28).