If Toyota had not ticked off its vice president and later president to participate under its brand in the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring, the legendary brand Gazoo Racing would probably never have been created.
Photo: Toyota
Hiromu Naruse (left) was a top pilot and mentor to Akio Toyoda (right), who raced under the pseudonym Morizo.
When, in June 2007, the then Vice President of Toyota, Akio Toyoda, decided to start the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring, the project did not have the support of the headquarters or the wider management of the company. Toyota didn’t even allow him to use their brand, and if he wanted to start, he had to choose another team. So that the car company would not have any problem with it and so that he himself would not attract unnecessary attention, he even decided to race under a false name. Therefore, he raced under the pseudonym Morizo, or Morizo Kinoshita, and named his team “GAZOO”.
He borrowed this name from the Gazoo.com portal, which was Toyota’s automotive portal, focused on the sale of new and used cars. So the iconic name “Gazoo” was originally not for sharp and rugged cars, but for “riders”.
And why did Toyota sulk so much at the decision of its future boss to race a racing car? The reason was simple. At that time, the Japanese automaker built its PR on the fact that it produces reliable and safe cars that are ideal for families. She didn’t want to spoil this image by suddenly having one of her top managers embark on some dangerous adrenaline project. They simply did not like that the same person who should be promoting comfortable family cars would suddenly be behind the wheel of a wild racing special.
10-05-15-lexus-is-f-nurburgring-24h Lexus IS F at the Nürburgring 24 Hours in 2010.
Toyoda later recalled that his first Nürburgring was a “success” only because he made it to the finish line healthy. The weather was extremely bad and the race was interrupted by rain for about ten hours. According to him, all he was trying to do was keep up with his mentor (and top driver) Hiroma Naruse, keep checking his rear-view mirrors and put up with being overtaken by one car after another.
After the race, Toyoda was frustrated despite both cars “miraculously” completing the 24-hour race. He realized that Toyota didn’t have a car that would “hold up with honor” at the Nürburgring. From his first big race, Toyoda came back adamantly convinced that the brand needed to broaden its direction and needed something completely different in addition to “family cars”.
Photo: TASR/AP, Daniel Mears
Akio Toyoda This is how Akio Toyoda enthusiastically presented the legendary sports Supra in the USA in 2019.
And he worked hard at it. The Gazoo team did not remain a one-year affair, it developed and in 2009, Akio Toyoda (already as the president of Toyota) reached the podium at the Nürburgring 24-hour race as a member of the Lexus IS F crew of the Gazoo Racing team in the SP8 class – he came in 3rd place in his category. Five years later, in 2014, a more significant result came – Toyoda was a member of the Lexus LFA crew and managed to win in the same SP8 class, while Toyota itself called this year the most successful in its history, as all three of its cars won first place in their classes.
After this triumph, Toyota finally decided in 2015 to unify its sports activities under one brand. And so the Toyota Racing, Lexus Racing and Gazoo Racing projects came into being, which we know as iconic to this day – Toyota Gazoo Racing. In 2017, Toyota announced the launch of the “GR” sports car (for the Japanese market), and the “GR” designation thus began to function as a separate and clearly named line of sports-oriented cars and modifications. In 2019, the first Toyota GR Supra officially appeared on the market, followed by the GR Yaris. The new commercially available model line immediately generated huge enthusiasm and was followed by other “GR” models, including the Corolla.
Photo: Nikos Karanikolas
WRC Acropolis Rally 2025 / SS1 The Toyota GR Yaris became an icon immediately after its launch. The photo shows a special Aero Performance version, introduced in 2025.
Without the enthusiasm and stubbornness of a man who initially could not race “under Toyota” even though he was its boss, the iconic brand Gazoo Racing (GR) might never have been born. And Toyoda himself did not damage Toyota’s reputation by racing, quite the contrary. A brand headed by a manager capable of sitting in the cockpit of a racing car and succeeding in the competition of the best professional pilots has added tremendously to its reputation.
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