“At last, the “”Hydrogen GR Yaris”” is on the road! WRC Belgium shows off a part of the hydrogen society! What was it like there?
Finally, the hydrogen Yaris, the GR Yaris H2, has driven in Europe!
On August 19, 2022, Day 1, the first day of competition for the 9th round of the 2022 FIA World Rally Championship (WRC), the Ypres Rally Belgium, was held.
“”GR Yaris H2″” Raced in the WRC! Showing off Toyota’s hydrogen technology to the world! See how it looks like .
The author (Shinya Yamamoto) went to Europe not only to see the “”GR Yaris Rally1 HYBRID”” in action, but also because he heard that a “”special”” model would be driving in Europe for the first time.
That model is the “”GR Yaris H2″” equipped with a hydrogen engine.
Hydrogen-powered GR Yaris H2 to run in WRC Belgium! It’s finally time to show the world what it’s made of!
The hydrogen engine is a unit under development in a project born from Toyota President Akio Toyoda’s strong desire to “”not narrow down our options because we don’t know the future”” and “”the enemy is carbon, not the internal combustion engine.
In Japan, it has been the talk of the town since its entry in the Super Taikyu series from 2021, and this is the first time it is being unveiled to rally and car fans in Europe.
The vehicle is the same test vehicle that the author and other automotive media were allowed to test drive in Japan (there are only two in the world), but the coloring has been changed for this demonstration run to promote the “”H2″” (= hydrogen) concept.
In addition, Pirelli tires (P ZERO Trofeo R), the same brand as the rally car, were installed, and red mud flaps were added to the front and rear.
The first run was SS3 on the 19th, where various vehicles such as “”Information Cars,”” “”000 (Triple Zero) Cars,”” “”00 (Double Zero) Cars,”” and “”0 (Zero) Cars”” were used to check the safety of the course before the competition vehicles started their runs. The GR Yaris H2 followed the two 000 cars. The sticker that identifies it reads “”H2.
When asked by Mitsuhiro Kunisawa, an experienced WRC reporter, he said, “”I’ve never seen it before! (Later, I asked the engineer about it, and he said it was a “”special frame””).
The man behind the steering wheel is Juha Kankkunen, who won the championship with Toyota in 1993.
He drove strongly in front of us with a low-pitched “”whoosh”” sound characteristic of turbocharged internal combustion engines.
If we had not been informed, we honestly would not have known that this car was equipped with a hydrogen engine, but we were reminded once again in Belgium that it was not exhaust gas but water vapor that was being emitted, and that it was truly an uncomfortable and uncomfortable feeling.
What was a little disappointing, however, was that the GR Yaris H2 was running long before the competition, so there were not many spectators along the roadside.
I am sure there are various reasons for this, but I thought it would have been more appealing to European rally and car fans if the cars were driven just before the competition time.
Incidentally, a few of us waved the Japanese flag to show that we had come from Japan to support the rally, and Mr. Kankunen responded with a “”Pippi~♪”” on his horn.
After the race, Kazuki Nakajima, vice president of TGR-E, responded as follows.
After the rally, Kazuki Nakajima, vice president of TGR-E, answered the following question: “”When I watch rallies, I think that the sound of the engine is important.
I can’t imagine a car running without sound.
Europe is leaning toward BEVs/FCEVs, but it is wonderful that we were able to demonstrate that internal combustion engines can also run on hydrogen.
The hurdles we had to overcome to get the car running this time were quite high, but I would like to thank everyone who made it possible.
Finally, the “”Hydrogen GR Yaris”” ran! A glimpse of the hydrogen society at the WRC Belgium! What was it like there?
Pit Area Utilizes Electricity from MIRAI Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles!
The TOYOTA GAZOO Racing pit in the service park had a space for maintenance of the GR Yaris H2 in addition to the four GR Yaris Rally1 HYBRIDs.
In fact, a new initiative is also being implemented in this pit, with electricity for pit lighting being supplied from the hydrogen fuel cell vehicle MIRAI via a Honda power feeder.
In fact, this was made possible through a conversation between President Toyoda and Jari-Matti Latvala, who participated in the Super Taikyu 24 Hours Fuji Endurance Race held in June 2022 as a driver of the ORC ROOKIE Corolla H2concept.
President Toyoda called the person in charge, Mr. Shigetaka Hamada, on the spot and suggested that he would like to challenge a part of the hydrogen pit at the S Endurance Race in the pit of the WRC.
This is one of Toyota’s agile moves. Mr. Hamada, the person in charge of the project, said, “”This is just the first step ……, so we are only using pit lighting, but we are already working on the calculation of the electricity to be used. In the future, we hope to be able to cover all the power needs,”” he told us.
Dream collaboration at the WRC! Toyota’s MIRAI was used to power the pit lighting using Honda’s power feeder (photo by Shinya Yamamoto).
Incidentally, the power supply from MIRAI attracted a lot of attention, with many people asking, “”I know what kind of car MIRAI is, but what on earth is this doing?”” Hamada said, “”I know what kind of car MIRAI is, but what exactly does it do?
Mr. Hamada told us, “”I felt that European people’s interest in hydrogen was higher than I had imagined from a firsthand sense.
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Incidentally, the GR Yaris H2 was being serviced for the demo run the next day, and while watching the mechanics at work, I noticed that they had added a sticker under “”J.KANKKUNE”” in the rear quarter.
And another sticker “”MORIZO””, what is this all about?
The next GR Yaris H2 is SS11 on Day 2, and we will be watching for its demo run.
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)”
