Discover how Akio Toyoda turned a board‑room ban into the standalone Toyota Gazoo Racing brand. Learn the GR story – read more now!
The Early Ban: A President Behind the Wheel
In 2007, Toyota chairman Akio Toyoda laced up for the legendary 24 Hours of Nürburgring – a race that tests both car and driver to the limits. Even as the head of a global corporation, the board barred him from using the Toyota name on the entry. The rationale was simple: motorsport was still seen as a personal hobby, not a corporate activity, and the company didn’t want its brand tied to an individual effort.
Undeterred, Toyoda entered under the pseudonym “Morizo” and registered the team as Team Gazoo. The name came from a used‑car website he helped develop for Toyota, turning an internal project into a covert racing identity.
Racing the Nürburgring in a Modified Altezza
Behind the wheel was a specially tuned Toyota Altezza, paired with Toyota Master Driver Hiromu Naruse. Together they completed the full 24‑hour stint, an achievement that proved the technical capability of Toyota’s engineering team.
However, the experience left Toyoda with a bitter taste. At the time, Toyota lacked a genuine sports‑car platform that could truly challenge European rivals, who routinely used the Nürburgring as a testbed for future road models. Watching competitors outpace his entry, he sensed an internal message: “Toyota could never build a car like that.” The feeling of being dismissed sparked a quiet but powerful determination.
Turning Frustration into Innovation
The ban became a catalyst for change. In 2010, Toyota unveiled the Lexus LFA – a V10‑powered hypercar developed entirely in‑house. The project faced massive technical hurdles and limited internal support, and it was further clouded by the tragic death of Hiromu Naruse in a road accident near the Nürburgring just weeks before the LFA’s debut.
Despite the setbacks, the LFA marked Toyota’s re‑entry into high‑performance road cars after a two‑decade hiatus. The momentum continued with the launch of the GT‑86 in 2012 (in partnership with Subaru) and the GR Supra in 2019 (co‑developed with BMW). What began as fringe projects gradually became core pillars of Toyota’s product strategy.
Formalising the Motorsport Division
In 2015, Toyota consolidated all of its performance‑racing activities under the banner “Toyota Gazoo Racing.” What started as a team that couldn’t legally bear the Toyota logo now had its own budget, structure, and executive backing.
Creating a Standalone GR Brand
Fast forward to 2023: Toyota removed its own name from the Gazoo Racing badge, allowing the “GR” label to operate as an independent performance brand alongside Lexus, Daihatsu, and the Century. The GR lineup now spans a wide range of models:
- GR Yaris – a rally‑inspired subcompact
- GR Corolla – the everyday hot hatch
- GR 86 – a rear‑wheel‑drive sports coupe
- GR Supra – a modern reinterpretation of the classic
- GR GT – an upcoming supercar slated for release
- Future concepts such as GR Celica and even a GR MR2 are already being discussed
The name “Morizo,” once a forced alias, has come full circle. It now represents a brand that embodies Toyota’s racing spirit, its engineering ambition, and the resolve of a chairman who turned a corporate prohibition into a global performance legacy.