Like everything else in 2020, the launch of the GR Yaris was far from normal. The venue was the car park outside Toyota GB’s press workshop, in a sprawling industrial estate near Gatwick airport. The assembled journalists lined up, face masks on and socially distanced, each of us given a key inside a sanitised plastic pouch. Instead of Michelin-starred food and five-star facilities, we got packed lunches and a portaloo.

Strangely, though, none of it mattered. Partly that was because, shortly before England entered its second Covid lockdown, it was a relief just to leave the house. But mainly it was due to the GR Yaris: a firecracker of a car that made the suburbs of Crawley feel like the Col de Turini. Rave reviews, numerous awards – including UK Car of the Year – and a long waiting list would soon follow.

Five years on, Toyota has given the GR Yaris a glow up. There’s more power – up from 261hp to 280hp – along with more torque – previously 266lb ft, now 288lb ft – from the three-cylinder turbocharged engine. Zero to 62mph now takes just 5.2 seconds, helped by four-wheel drive and a modest kerb weight of 1,280kg.