Toyota is light at the end of the WRC tunnel

The Frenchman was very happy with the launch strategy. His left foot had found the biting point, while his other prodded the throttle pedal twice. Revs rose and died before settling around 3000. Right foot cocked.

Three, two, one...

Left up, right down. Hard. Fast.

Four, fat, wide, warmed Michelins spun wildly for a moment before adhesion was found, forward motion made.

Right foot still buried, ratios were changed under pitiless pressure. The noise was stunning; crackles and bangs on overrun way more urgent than a burble.

Toyota's last WRC campaign was with the Corolla in 1999 © LAT

And then a long corner. Any long corner. Doesn't matter which.

Aim it at the apex and bury it. Four black lines drawn across another corner of Corsica.

That was Didier Auriol winning on the French island in 1994. He was driving a Toyota. And the world was smiling with him.

It's fair to say the Celica Turbo 4WD was never at its absolute best on asphalt, especially of the cooking-hot Corsican variety, but Auriol remembers these moments well. Savours them.

The 1994 world champion's memories of that Celica aren't dissimilar to those of his colleagues: the ST185 made you work for it.

Still, it was Toyota's finest hour. In terms of rally wins and world championships, nothing else would come close. But the Turbo 4WD was about more than the numbers.

Done up in all its Castrol finery, it was a beauty. As well as being a beast.

Standing alongside Subaru's mundane-looking Impreza, the Celica was a winner. Even before fuel had been fired into cylinders, it looked full of energy and purpose. And, with a 38mm restrictor and power to spare, it was little wonder the drivers got such reward behind the wheel, while delivering such spectacle from the outside.

The Celica set the tone for early 1990s Group A rally cars © LAT

That was Toyota at the height of its power. The early-doors penny-pinching had gone. The helicopters had arrived.

And world rallying was being carried along on the crest of this wave.

Admittedly, Toyota did come a cropper 12 months later, catching an edge and tumbling into the waves when somebody in Cologne mistook a 34mm restrictor at rest for something 25 per cent bigger once the fated Celica GT-Four was under power.

As Juha Kankkunen told me last week "we all make mistakes".

It's fair to say the Finn has mellowed on the matter down the years.

Why this story? Why the recollection of four wheels spinning their way from Ajaccio to Corte? Because, unless you've had your head buried for the past week and a bit, you'll have heard the news: Toyota's back in the World Rally Championship.

Understandably, the World Rally Championship thinks this is quite a big deal. And I'm inclined to agree.

The good thing is that Toyota's announcement - made by president Akio Toyoda - brings to an end the ceaseless speculation and pontification on the relationship between Japan and Cologne.

Eye-catching GT86 caused a stir in Finland last year © McKlein

The Yaris WRC will continue to be developed by Toyota Motorsport GmbH in Germany before being campaigned by the same from 2017 forwards.

The only downside is that it is the Yaris.

Don't get me wrong, the Yaris is a very worthy car. But it's not a GT86, is it? When Tommi Makinen developed a four-wheel-drive GT86 for Toyoda in time for last year's Rally Finland, we caught a glimpse of just how cool World Rally Cars could be if we weren't mired in sensible, B-segment economics.

Frankly, the motor doesn't matter. What matters is that a region south-west of Tokyo called Toyota City will be represented at rallying's highest level again.

In terms of cars and cities, the place formerly known as Koromo is right up there. It's the place where 338,875 pay slips originate every month. And, the world's 12th largest company puts its extensive and global workforce to good use: last year it sold 10,231,000 cars.

And generated a revenue of JPY 22.064 trillion. That's a lot. A trillion comes with 12 zeros and, in 2013, Toyota Motor Corporation generated 22 of those. Granted, it's less in sterling: £122,564,263,867.

It's those numbers that make Toyota the world's biggest car marker. It's those numbers that make Toyota worth having in the World Rally Championship.

This time the Yaris will represent Toyota on the stages

Toyota has seen the correlation between the likes of the Volkswagen Polo R WRC and the Hyundai i20 WRC and what's being sold in the showroom. A hybrid World Endurance Championship racer is perfect for high-speed green credibility, but for demonstrating meaningful, understandable and aspirational road-going technology, the WRC is the place to be.

For that to work, it's got to be B-segment. So sorry, no super-sexy GT cars here please. But don't worry. Stand by the side of the road - not too close, obviously - and you'll still be blown away by the sight and sound of the thing in just the same way all those Corsicans were when Auriol sent his Celica off the line 21 years ago.

Confirmation of Toyota's return rounded off a pretty perfect start to the year for the World Rally Championship. A snowy and unpredictable Monte Carlo is always the best way to kick off a new season - especially when you have a returning nine-time champion in the face of his old adversary for the first day.

But this time, there was plenty to cheer even before Sebastien Ogier steered the #1 Volkswagen Polo R WRC over the ceremonial start and Alp-wards.

Casino Square's not exactly the most conservative of places at the best of times, but on 2015's fourth Thursday, the place excelled itself.

Idris Elba stepped out of Ogier's Polo, Dustin Hoffman wandered along for a look, Jacky Ickx was as fever-filled as ever and members of the Monegasque royal family mingled as the World Rally Championship got itself going, showbiz style.

Then David Coulthard, twice the fastest man in the world around these same streets, got out of Elfyn Evans's car and complained about his gentlemen's vegetables.

Coulthard prepares for a ride with Evans around the streets of Monte Carlo

Coulthard's a local. And a fan. He didn't need asking twice if he fancied a run through the bottom section of the principality's grand prix circuit. Like the odd McRae before him, Evans didn't disappoint with DC alongside.

"That was really cool," smiled the Scot. "Going into Rascasse, it was dry to damp, and as soon as we see a damp track you have to back out. But the speed he carried in there on the first lap, I was like: 'Well, we're going to hit the barrier there'. Not a bit.

"I've had the privilege of sitting beside a couple of handy guys before, but not on Tarmac. I've always said rally drivers are the most skilled drivers in the world, because of the different situations they have to deal with.

"Single-seater drivers, we're the goldfish of the motorsport world in that every minute and a half we do the same thing again. We have different challenges in trying to do a tenth of a second on every lap time and hitting those tiny margins - whereas in rallying you can afford to be a bit cautious in one corner and what we consider to be completely mental in another."

And, with that DC was swallowed up into the marvellous melee that had become the start of the WRC season.

It was around that time that it started snowing in Sweden. And it's snowed and snowed some more. Looks like those round-one good times are ready to roll on and on.