Watch Tommy Makinen get serious with Toyota GT86 in Finland [video]

Tommy Makinen may be 51 years old, but he looks like he could be 21 the way he throws the new Toyota GT86 rally car around a rally course. Makinen has been named team principal of Toyota GAZOO Racing leading up to Toyota’s return to the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) in 2017. He looks like he should still be driving a rally car.

Tommi Makinen, a celebrated WRC veteran, will be offering his expertise and he has lots of experience to draw from. Makinen is the winner of 24 WRC rallies and holds four drivers’ titles over his 18-year WRC career. Makinen will be overseeing preparations of the Yaris WRC for its competition debut in 2017, against some very stiff competition.

It looks like Makinen is sharpening his driving skills the way he is driving a Toyota GT86 rally car on a dirt road in Finland in this video below.

Akio Toyoda, Team Chairman said Makinen showed him the appeal of rallying and the relationship between vehicle development and rallying. It’s easy to see why Toyoda asked him to come aboard with Toyota GAZOO Racing. Makinen hasn’t lost his love for rallying and it looks like his driving skills haven’t diminished either. He makes the new Toyota GT86 respond to his every desire on the gravel road in Finland.