Finland’s top court rejects Toyota rally team appeals, €100m project to start soon

Finland’s Supreme Administrative Court has rejected two appeals against zoning decisions for Toyota Gazoo Racing’s planned rally team facility in Jyväskylä, clearing the way for construction to begin within weeks, Yle reports.

The €100 million project includes a test track and technology centre in the Majajärvi area. Private individuals had challenged the zoning, citing groundwater protection and endangered species in the area.

The court ruled there were no grounds to grant leave to appeal, upholding earlier decisions by the Hämeenlinna Administrative Court and Jyväskylä city council, which approved the detailed and master plans in December 2024.

Separate appeals over environmental permits for the test track were also rejected by the Supreme Administrative Court. Earlier this year, a local nature conservation group had demanded a halt to construction over an unnoticed spring, but the Finnish Safety and Chemicals Agency (Tukes) found no legal basis to stop work.

Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team plans to relocate from Jyväskylä’s Jyskä area to Majajärvi, where it will employ over 300 people. Project manager Jan Kinnunen said construction could start as soon as the city processes the building permit.

The technology centre is expected to create around 1,000 person-years of employment. Work on the test track began last spring and is set to finish by January 2027.