Another pointer to what Toyota’s doing comes in the timing of the test.

Hänninen ran on the same test road as Sébastien Ogier and Kalle Rovanperä were using for their Rally Sweden preparations. When the 2020 car fell silent, the new motor was fired up and sent in.

This indicates very early running in the development cycle and again sources have confirmed this was the GR Yaris WRC’s first real time in stage mode. It was a shakedown, but clearly one that went well.

Day two progressed, on the evidence of the changes made to the car, into some very early performance running.

The need to test this 2021 Yaris will, however, bring the team into direct conflict with its six-time world champion in the same way Ogier and his then Volkswagen colleagues railed against the use of pre-event tests as a development opportunity for the 2017 Polo R WRC four years ago.

As the year passes, Toyota will want to focus as many of its 42 days on next year’s car as possible, while Ogier will want a tight focus on a seventh title in what’s scheduled to be his final season in the WRC.

Are we getting a bit off topic here? Possibly. You came here wanting to know more about what Juho was pedalling.

From what we could see from the outside, the biggest change at the front of the car comes with a smaller air intake (this mirrors the new road car, obviously). Other than that there are small tweaks to dive planes at the front, along with a lip on the outer edge of the front arch. These, along with the repositioning of the air exit vents closer to the outer edge of the bonnet, are an effort to rework airflow at the front of the car.

Much has been made of the decision to run with a ‘homologation special’ GR Yaris for next year, but actually current homologation regulations could make Fowler’s job more complicated for 2021.

Ask any current designer for the best base model for a World Rally Car and they’ll take you to the base model found up and down supermarket car parks.

What they won’t ask for is the marketing-driven, gen z-focused hot road car which comes in almost as wide as a current World Rally Car. It’s true. Ogier’s car in Sweden this week was based on a road car 1510mm wide. Elfyn’s Yaris in 12 months will have come off a hot hatch 1805mm wide – that’s only 70-mil narrower than the Yaris WRC.

One rival designer admitted this had caused the odd bit of head scratching.

“You want the narrowest car possible,” they said. “That gives you as much room as possible to work to the maximum width – that’s where the freedom is. Starting with a very wide road car could potentially compromise the World Rally Car.”