The journey of GAZOO Racing

A challenge born of humiliation

TOYOTA GAZOO Racing has promoted the making of ever-better cars and the fostering of talent by taking on the challenge of competing in various motorsports categories both in Japan and abroad.

GAZOO Racing traces its origins back to 2007, when Akio Toyoda (then executive vice president) competed in the Nürburgring 24 Hours endurance race alongside driving mentor and Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) Master Driver Hiromu Naruse and several other colleagues.

At the time, because competing in the race was not recognized by TMC as an official company activity, the team was not permitted to use “TOYOTA” in its name, and thus entered under the name “Team GAZOO”. Furthermore, as Toyoda’s intention to drive in the race was unable to gain much understanding, his only choice was to compete under the driver name “Morizo”. Although the team managed to finish the race, the achievement immediately came with a sense of humiliation. That was because, while many other, mainly European, competitors were putting under-development cars through their paces in the race, Toyota did not have such a car, let alone any sports cars in its sales lineup, and was on the verge of losing its ability to pass on its car-making skills and expertise. When overtaken on the track by other manufacturers’ development vehicles, Toyoda felt as if he could hear rivals say: “No way that you guys at Toyota could build a car like this!”, igniting a sense of humiliation that he still vividly recalls to this day.

The Shikinen Sengu of car-making sustained by conviction

Sports car development demands an approach to manufacturing that not only improves a car’s characteristics and fundamental performance by also strives to make a car failure-proof even in harsh environments. All such efforts also contribute to the development of mass-production cars. At the same time, the front lines of motorsports provide numerous opportunities to hone car-making skills and foster talent.

At Ise Shrine in Japan’s Mie Prefecture, traditions and skills are passed down through a ritual known as “Shikinen Sengu”, which entails all of the shrine’s structures being rebuilt every 20 years. Similarly, sports car manufacturing has traditions and skills that cannot be passed down once they are lost. Armed with a sense of crisis that TMC would become a company incapable of building sports cars, Toyoda initiated the development of the Lexus LFA, choosing the Nürburgring course as the car’s main development site.

Launched in 2010, the LFA was TMC’s first authentic sports car developed in-house in approximately 20 years. It was the result of a project that faced enormous difficulties, including a lack of wholehearted support within the company for car-making that was deemed by some to be unprofitable, as evidenced by the fact that development was permitted to proceed under the condition that only 500 units would be sold.

Just before the LFA’s release, the unthinkable happened: Naruse passed away in an accident near the Nürburgring. The calamity occurred not long after LFA development had concluded and Naruse, as master driver, had given his approval by saying, “Let’s go with this.” For Toyoda, suddenly being without his driving mentor and TMC’s master driver came with an immense sense of loss.

However, Toyoda, remaining steadfast in his conviction that cars and talent are honed on the front lines of motorsports, continued to pursue sports car development. Then came the revival of the 86 in 2012 and the GR Supra in 2019. However, the development of these models relied on Subaru and BMW, respectively, meaning that TMC was not able to achieve the complete in-house creation of a sports car.

The launch of TOYOTA GAZOO Racing

In April 2015, TMC decided to consolidate its in-house motorsports activities, including those under the banners of “TOYOTA Racing”, “LEXUS Racing”, and “GAZOO Racing”, under the unified “GAZOO” name, upon which it adopted the logo “TOYOTA GAZOO Racing”. It was a development that marked the moment when activities that could not use “TOYOTA” back in 2007 could finally bear the company’s name. However, even though those activities had officially come under the umbrella of a large corporation, the original sense of humiliation that had driven Toyoda and Naruse began to fade.

The never-ending pursuit of making ever-better cars

Toyoda, then as president, decided that TMC would return to the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) to further evolve its activities to make ever-better cars. Returning to the WRC, in which competing vehicles are based on production vehicles, marked a major turning point in TMC’s motorsports activities.

Until then, TMC had developed its motorsports vehicles based on already completed production vehicles. However, after returning to the WRC, it began a new approach to car-making that reversed the conventional order by first creating a car capable of winning in the WRC and then turning that car into a production vehicle. This led to the launch in 2020 of the GR Yaris, a Toyota in-house-developed sports car, under the philosophy of making ever-better motorsports-bred cars.

The GR Yaris, which was unveiled at the Tokyo Auto Salon in January of that year and recorded its maiden victory in a Super Taikyu Series 24-hour race that September, began to be seen in action in motorsports events around the around, eventually leading to the development and launch of the GR Corolla. It was exactly this achievement that revived TMC’s in-house production of sports cars capable of winning in motorsports.

In 2025, Toyota returned to the Nürburgring 24 Hours race for the first time in six years, fielding a GR Yaris. While behind the wheel, Toyoda, who is TMC’s current master driver, says that he conversed with Naruse. Only TMC’s two master drivers know what they talked about.

For Toyoda, the next challenge was to conduct a true Shikinen Sengu in the form of TMC creating the ultimate in sports cars. As such, the GR GT, GR GT3, and LFA Concept premiered in 2025.

TGR’s journey of the motorsports-bred making of ever-better cars and the fostering of talent is without end. It will soon be 20 years since Team GAZOO came to be in 2007.

“No way that you guys at Toyota could build a car like this!” The humiliation felt by Hiromu Naruse and Akio Toyoda was the starting point of it all.

TGR would like to extend its sincere gratitude to everyone in the world of motorsports, its partners, and its fans for their unwavering commitment.

Together with all stakeholders, TGR―under the name “GAZOO Racing”―intends to continue making ever-better motorsports-bred cars and fostering the talents of drivers, engineers, and mechanics.

TGR looks forward to everyone’s continued support.

Toyota Motor Corporation works to develop and manufacture innovative, safe and high-quality products and services that create happiness by providing mobility for all. We believe that true achievement comes from supporting our customers, partners, employees, and the communities in which we operate. Since our founding over 80 years ago in 1937, we have applied our Guiding Principles in pursuit of a safer, greener and more inclusive society. Today, as we transform into a mobility company developing connected, automated, shared and electrified technologies, we also remain true to our Guiding Principles and many of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals to help realize an ever-better world, where everyone is free to move.

SDGs Initiatives

https://global.toyota/en/sustainability/sdgs/

The next chapter in Jacob Abel’s driving career will take place in IMSA, where the former Dale Coyne Racing IndyCar Series driver will contest the five endurance races with Era Motorsport in the LMP2 class.

The 24-year-old from Kentucky spent nine years in open-wheel racing as he rose up the USF Championships ladder and reached Indy NXT, where he placed second in the 2024 championship behind Louis Foster.

Following an unrewarding rookie IndyCar season, Abel embarked upon an Asian Le Mans Series campaign in LMP2 with Vector Sport RLR, and was in contention for a GTD PRO seat within the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship before ultimately deciding to join Era for Daytona, Sebring, Watkins Glen, Road America, and Road Atlanta.

Abel will share the No. 18 Era LMP2 with full-timers Ferdinand Habsburg and Naveen Rao, as well as Logan Sargeant as the fourth driver for this month’s Rolex 24 At Daytona.

“This is something I’m really excited about,” Abel told RACER. “We worked hard to continue in IndyCar, but that didn’t work out for this season. We already have the Asian Le Mans program going and that made making my first real move into IMSA in LMP2 an easy decision with Era.”

The Bulter University graduate will make his debut with the team next week at the Roar Before The 24 test at Daytona held the weekend prior to the Rolex 24.

KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – NASCAR Cup Series driver Carson Hocevar is getting a three-year extension with Zeigler Motorsports for sponsorship of his number 77 race car.

The 22-year-old Portage native met with fans yesterday at Zeigler Auto Group.

Hocevar was the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Rookie of the Year and will have the Zeigler name on his car for 11 races in 2026, including the June 7th race at Michigan International Speedway.

He finished 23rd in 2025, with nine top ten finishes, two top five finishes, and one pole position.

Though still one of the leading factory GT drivers for McLaren in various championships around the world, Marvin Kirchhöfer took his first IMSA victory last year at the wheel of a Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R.

Kirchhöfer was the ’secret weapon’ for AWA (now 13 Autosport) when the Canadian team won last year’s Rolex 24 At Daytona in GTD, giving the Z06 GT3.R its first Daytona and GTD class win.

The German driver will be back in a Corvette this year in IMSA, running the three biggest endurance races of the season for the flagship Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports team. He recently completed his first test for the team, where he’ll team up with reigning IMSA GTD PRO champions Antonio García and Alexander Sims in the No. 3 Corvette.

“It was really nice being back behind the wheel of the Corvette, so I really enjoyed the test,” said Kirchhöfer. “I was generally quite impressed by the whole setup of the team. I got a nice welcome from my teammates as well. I already knew Nicky (Catsburg) from previous racing before, too. That was very nice and I really, really enjoyed working with them. Everyone has been very supportive and very helpful getting me up to speed within the team and getting reacquainted with the Corvette.”

His first real-world test was preceded by some driver-in-the-loop (DIL) simulator work with the team.

“I also had the DIL test a couple of weeks ago in Charlotte, which also was quite interesting,” Kirchhöfer said. “I haven’t been in a sim for quite some time. It’s not something that I’m used to. When I was younger, I used to do quite some development back in the day for DTM, but that was more than 10 years ago so it’s been a bit of a break for me being in a sim. But I really enjoyed it. 

“It was quite impressive, with how dedicated everyone was working during those three days. The first day was about getting me into a groove, and the second day Tommy (Milner) joined. There were quite a few nice bits of information that took from him. 

“The feedback from the DIL model was very impressive. It’s always a bit more difficult to get a feeling for adjustments in a simulator than in the actual real car because you are limited to only a few feedbacks that you can take. Most of them will be like visual feedbacks – you don’t really have the tire sound or the feeling of the tire scrubbing and all that. It’s not easy to really get it right every time, but I must say overall that it has been very good and very positive. Good preparation for the Rolex coming up in a couple of weeks.”

Outside of IMSA, where he’ll run at Daytona, Sebring, and Petit Le Mans (Road Atlanta), Kirchhöfer will continue with McLaren, heading up one of Garage 59’s new entries in the WEC LMGT3 class, and running in the Bathurst 12 Hour for Optimum Motorsport.

But with RLL Team McLaren surfacing as a late addition to the 2026 IMSA GTD PRO grid – one day after Kirchhöfer was revealed at Corvette Racing/Pratt Miller for 2026 – he’ll have to go through the unique circumstance of fighting against McLaren in America’s three biggest endurance races of the season.

“Hopefully we’ve done our parts and our work well and can make it a good 2026 Daytona 24 race,” he said of what’s to come with Corvette.

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Makita U.S.A., Inc. and Pipes Motorsports Group (PMG) Suzuki are proud to announce a new technical partnership ahead of the 2026 SuperMotocross Championship. This collaboration reunites two iconic names in American motocross and supercross, bringing together Makita’s engineering excellence and Suzuki’s racing heritage through the PMG Suzuki program.

Under the agreement, Makita U.S.A. will serve as a technical partner to PMG Suzuki, supporting the team throughout the 2026 SuperMotocross season. The partnership underscores a shared commitment to performance, reliability, and innovation at the highest level of professional motorcycle racing.

Makita’s return to Suzuki racing represents a renewed alignment rooted in decades of motorsports success. The partnership reflects the continued growth and credibility of the Pipes Motorsports Group program, as well as Suzuki’s strong and competitive racing platform heading into the 2026 championship

“Makita has been a cornerstone partner in Suzuki racing for many years, and their return is meaningful. Having a trusted brand with such deep roots in our motorsport’s history rejoin the Suzuki family through the PMG program speaks to the credibility of the team and the strength of our racing platform,” said Chris Wheeler, Suzuki Motor USA Motorsports Manager.

For Pipes Motorsports Group, the partnership carries both professional and personal significance.

“Growing up as an aspiring racer, I always marveled at the accomplishments of the Makita Suzuki teams’ of the past. Our technical partnership for the 2026 season is a welcomed addition and the young kid in me is excited to see the red Makita logo back on a Suzuki motorcycle,” said Dustin Pipes, Team Principal of Pipes Motorsports Group.

“Makita’s return to Suzuki racing is more than a reunion—it’s a statement about innovation and a continuation of a winning legacy. We first teamed up 21 years ago to capture championships, and today it feels like we never left. Partnering again was an easy choice with a team that shares our relentless drive. Together with PMG Suzuki, we’re blending decades of engineering excellence with cutting-edge technology to push the limits of performance.” -Brent Withey, Vice President, Marketing.

As the 2026 SuperMotocross Championship approaches, Makita U.S.A. and PMG Suzuki look forward to building on a legacy of success while pushing the limits of performance and technology on the track.

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