HKS has announced that it will make a full-season entry in the JN3 class of the All Japan Rally Championship from the 2027 season. It plans to make a one-off entry in the final round of the 2026 season first, using the HKS GR YARIS based on the GR YARIS.
HKS has announced that it will make a full-season entry in the JN3 class of the All Japan Rally Championship from the 2027 season. As preparation, it has disclosed plans to make a one-off entry in the final round of the All Japan Rally Championship, MONTRE 2026, in November 2026. The competition vehicle is expected to be the HKS GR YARIS, based on the Toyota GR YARIS. HKS plans to use the event to verify vehicle development, durability and setup under race conditions.
For this rally programme, HKS will compete with the HKS Rally Team, made up primarily of young employees from its product development division. The company intends to apply vehicle data and driver feedback gained through competition to product development, as well as to use the experience to train engineers who will lead the company in the future.
The team will compete in the JN3 class, where 4WD vehicles compete closely, with Taguchi Katsuhiko (田口勝彦) as driver and Kitagawa Sae (北川紗衣) as co-driver. Following the one-off entry in 2026, HKS plans to complete preparations for the team structure and vehicle development ahead of a full-season entry in the 2027 season.