Two-time world champion Jonne Halttunen is back in competitive rallying – but this time he’s calling the shots rather than the pace notes. And he’s calling them on Toyota’s arrival in the American Rally Association National Championship.
The 40-year-old Finn, who has won 18 WRC rounds to date, will bring his vast experience to the role of project manager for Toyota’s GR Corolla RC2-based ARA program in 2026. The team has elected to skip this week’s season-opening Sno*Drift Rally, but Halttunen will lead the squad’s ARA title hunt from next month’s 100 Acre Wood Rally forwards.
Halttunen, the latest star co-driver to move into a new role at TGR following the team’s deputy operations director Jarmo Lehtinen and sporting director Kaj Lindström, said: “My job is to manage the project and also try to help the team in the best possible way, using all the knowledge I have gathered from my career in WRC, and to give my feedback.
“I haven’t had the chance to meet everyone involved yet, but we have had a lot of meetings, and there are a lot of people who have been involved in WRC too. I know that they’re all professionals and everything I’ve heard about the team is positive, so I’m looking forward to working with everyone.”
Halttunen won't get inside the GR Corolla RC2, instead managing the project
And he’ll be working closely with Seth Quintero and Topi Luhtinen, driver and co-driver in the factory GR Corolla RC2.
Halttunen added: “Seth is doing the full championship [except Sno*Drift] and many people will know him from Dakar – but he’s brand new to rallying, so for him it will be a big, big challenge. He will have Finnish co-driver Topi alongside of him. It’s a big thing for them: they have to learn how to make pace notes together – OK, Topi knows, but Seth doesn’t. It’s going to be exciting.
“For me it will be super-interesting to work in USA. I have been there a few times and now I’ve been working a few times with the team – everybody seems really professional and very closely connected. It’s going to be nice to go to different rallies. For example, when we go to, say, Sardinia or Portugal, everything is already the same and we go for maybe eighth or 10th time.
“Now everything is basically new. So that’s super nice. And I already said in the end of last year, people were asking like ‘What would you like to do?’ And I said ‘I would like to continue in the rally in some kind of managing job’. As a co-driver, [we] tend to normally like to arrange stuff: you’re always ahead of stuff. I think the reason why Kaj Lindström and Jarmo [Lehtinen] are working for Toyota is because, basically, the co-driver always has what it takes in these kind of jobs.”
After eight years co-driving Kalle Rovanperä at the top of the world championship, Halttunen was forced to pause the pace notes when his driver stepped away from rallying and into racing at the end of last season.
As well as finding a new challenge, there’s another reason for Halttunen heading Stateside.
“The sport has given me so much so I also want to contribute back. With this role, I think I can actually combine all of these in this project. I think we have the tools to work to help raise the popularity and grow the sport in America.”
This year Halttunen will also compete as a driver in Finland’s F-Cup, which begins on Saturday (February 7).
