Living the rally driver fantasy with the Toyota GR Yaris

It’s not often you’re given the opportunity to cut loose in a performance car, slipping and sliding in front of dozens of highway patrol officers.

Toyota’s GR Yaris took on police at Beat the Blue.

There’s something a little surreal about sliding all four wheels into a corner while members of the NSW Highway Patrol watch on and cheer.

But that’s the whole point of the NSW Police’s annual “Beat the Blue” charity event at Sydney Motorsport Park.

There are no fines handed out, but you do leave the event a little lighter in the hip pocket, thanks to a $100 donation to NSW Police Legacy, an organisation set up in 1987 to care for families of deceased members of the NSW Police Force.

We were invited to take part in the event, which takes place on a wet skid pan in the middle of the Sydney Motorsport Park racetrack.

Toyota’s GR Yaris delivers thrills when drifting on a skid pan.

Toyota loaned us a GR Yaris hot hatch for the event. It’s the road going version of the car to beat in the World Rally Championship and Australian Rally Championship, making it the natural choice for fans of getting sideways.

It combines a turbocharged 1.6-litre, three-cylinder engine with a six-speed manual transmission and rally-bred all-wheel-drive.

© Copyright: Jack Martin Photography

It’s a flawed car to drive every day, with minimal boot space, frightful visibility from the driver’s seat and noticeably firm suspension.

But the Yaris’ compact dimensions, muscular bodywork and 200kW of turbocharged thrust result in a little car with enormous potential.

The all-wheel-drive Yaris proved to be fast and fun on a wet circuit. Photo: Celebrate Photography.

A warm-up run before the police charity event reveals the Yaris is an enthusiastic playmate on the skid pan. A tug of the handbrake sends the tail arcing wide, initiating a lurid slide before a full-throttle burst of acceleration pulls the car straight with all-wheel-drive traction.

Like its rally car cousin, the GR Yaris is a natural performer in slippery conditions.

A second attempt sends the car even further out of shape, while a Scandinavian flick steers the car left, then right, the tail swinging further still as momentum takes hold.

The Yaris spins all four wheels with traction control deactivated, making drivers feel heroic when the car scrambles across slippery surfaces.

The Toyota Yaris was a hit with spectators at Beat the Blue. Photo: Celebrate Photography.

Toyota’s angry little hatch was a crowd favourite at Beat the Blue, where its snarling three-cylinder engine and lurid slides put on a show.

It was hilarious from behind the wheel, as the Yaris’ playful handling and surprising grip offered a glimpse of the driving joy normally reserved for pro race and rally drivers.

It was fun to pretend to be a rally star for a day, exploring the potential of a modern performance car in controlled conditions.

The NSW Highway Patrol sees the event as an opportunity for car enthusiasts to cut loose in a safe environment without breaking road rules.

Beat the Blue attracts a strong crowd.

Car lovers even get the chance to race against the police at Beat the Blue, testing their skills in front of a packed crowd.

More than 11,000 people attended this year’s event, which raised more than $30,000 for charity.

Police won more races than the public – even though many enthusiasts brought faster cars. It proved that skilful driving – not sideways showboating – is the quickest and safest way around a series of corners.

A few tips from Driving Solutions expert James Stewart helped me extract more performance from Toyota’s hot hatch, enough to finish on the podium of a motorkhana shootout involving 100 participants in high-performance vehicles.

Getting hold of a GR Yaris isn’t easy – the car is officially sold out for the moment.

But there might be another batch in the future, and there will definitely be a more practical five-door model with the same running gear in the new Toyota GR Corolla.

And it’s relatively easy to find an opportunity to enjoy a slide in controlled conditions, as every state and territory has at least one skid pan. You’ll find them in NSW (Sydney Motor Sport Park), QLD (Mount Cotton), Victoria (Phillip Island), WA (Barbagallo), South Australia (The Bend), ACT (Sutton Road) and Tasmania (Symmons Plains).