IXO 1-18 Tanak and Meeke 2019 Toyota Yaris WRC diecast model car review

IXO has just released its 1:18 replicas of the 2019 Toyota Yaris WRCs. These are the cars that were driven by that year’s World Rally Champion Ott Tanak and British favourite Kris Meeke.

The 2019 season turned into a tight three-way scrap between Toyota’s Tanak, Citroen’s Sebastien Ogier and Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville. After the first five events, Ogier and Neuville had amassed two wins each, while Tanak lay third in the standings with ‘only’ one victory to his name.

Across the middle of the season, however, the Estonian was close to untouchable. He won four of the next five events, and could even have made it five victories in a row but for last-minute power steering problems on the Italian round. This left him with a useful 33-point championship lead to manage to the end of the season, and Tanak duly delivered. A sixth victory of the campaign on Rally GB all but sealed the deal, while second place on the following event in Spain confirmed Tanak as the 2019 World Rally Champion. At the time there was still one round to run in Australia, but this was later cancelled due to the wild fires taking hold across the country.

While Tanak made the headlines, Kris Meeke put in a solid job as his team-mate. Second place in Germany was the Northern Irishman’s best result of the season, which he backed up with nine further top-ten finishes.

IXO’s replicas of Tanak and Meeke’s Yaris WRCs are based on their cars from the Swedish Rally, which was Ott’s first win of the season. With RRPs of just £74.99 each, the model manufacturer’s offerings continue to exemplify an absolute bargain.

Click IXO 1-18 Tanak and Meeke 2019 Toyota Yaris WRC to order.