Toyota Gazoo Racing

Lore & Background

In 2007, an in-house team consisting of student test drivers and mechanics led by Hiromu Naruse competed in the 24 Hours Nürburgring race under the name Team Gazoo. Akio Toyoda also participated as a driver. The team used Altezzas and BMW E90s. From 2002 to 2009, Toyota Motorsport GmbH (now TGR Europe) engineered and developed Formula One cars for Toyota, but the team failed to win a race and withdrew at the end of 2009. From 2009 onwards, Gazoo Racing introduced development models such as the Lexus LF-A and FT-86. In April 2015, all motorsports activities were unified under Gazoo Racing. In 2017, the Gazoo Racing Company was established as an in-house company.

In Their Own Story

The rain at Le Mans in June 2018 had turned the Mulsanne Straight into a mirror, reflecting the frantic lights of the TS050 Hybrid. Inside the cockpit, Kazuki Nakajima gripped the wheel, his eyes scanning the track ahead while Fernando Alonso managed the hybrid energy deployment with surgical precision. For decades, this moment had been denied to them; now, as they crossed the line, the roar of the crowd was not just applause for a win, but a release of forty years of collective tension.

Reader's Guide

TGR's entry in the FIA World Endurance Championship is operated by TGR Europe from Cologne, Germany. Racing under the Toyota Gazoo Racing name since 2016, the team has won the World Endurance Championship four times, with wins at Le Mans three times with its LMP1 class TS050 Hybrid, and twice with the LMH GR010 Hybrid. TGR Europe also enters the Nürburgring 24 Hours endurance race. In the World Rally Championship, the Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team (TGR WRT) is based in Jyväskylä, Finland, and has won multiple manufacturers' and drivers' championships. In Super GT, TGR announced the use of the Toyota Supra from 2020 onwards. In October 2024, TGR entered Formula One with Haas F1 Team as a technical partner, with the partnership extended from 2026 with TGR becoming Haas' title sponsor.

Did You Know?

• The name 'Gazoo' comes from a Toyota portal site and the Japanese word for 'image'.
• The GR Yaris is produced at the 'GR Factory' inside the Motomachi plant without a conveyor belt assembly line.
• Former rally driver Jari-Matti Latvala is the team principal of TGR WRT.
• The GR Supra, the first GR brand-exclusive car, shares a platform with the BMW Z4 and is produced by Magna Steyr in Austria.