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.
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