Almost two decades ago Akio Toyoda wanted to go racing. Toyota wasn’t so sure. He did it anyway. But he did it, respectfully, under the team name of Gazoo Racing. And called himself Morizo.
Back then, Gazoo.com was Toyoda’s website selling nearly-new Toyotas.
It was about to become so much more. A pair of Lexus IS 300s were found on the site and converted into Nürburgring-ready race cars. Toyoda and his racing inspiration, Toyota’s master driver Hiromu Naruse, made it through a horribly wet, tricky 24-hour race.
That was 2007. Morizo was up, running, racing and soon to be rallying. And he would do it with a determined spirit, with the knowledge lifted from both stage and circuit to make ever-better cars. In the years that followed, he talked of his frustration at watching other cars overtake him in that maiden 2007 race in Germany. That frustration fuelled his desire to see Toyotas overtaking everything.
Gazoo Racing was born on the track.
With motorsport programs around the world, including the World Endurance Championship, NASCAR, numerous single-seater and GT-based series about to be joined by a World Rally Championship entry, the decision was taken in 2015 to place them all under the name of Toyota Gazoo Racing.
From this season, Toyota’s motorsport divisions will be split, with WEC and NASCAR immediately going under the new name of Toyota Racing. Toyota Gazoo Racing will remain an entity in the World Rally Championship (most likely because the 2026 series entry has already been made in that name) and in its association with the Haas F1 team. But in 12 months, the WRC will be run under Gazoo Racing.
The thinking is clear: Toyota Racing (formerly and formally known as Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe GmbH) will still operate out of its Cologne facility, running the WEC effort with this year’s TR010 Hybrid. It will also continue to supply the engines for the GR Yaris Rally1 cars. More than ever, the development of engines and powertrains will become the focus of Toyota Racing.
Outside of WEC and NASCAR, Gazoo Racing will go back to where the chairman started his story with the concentrated emphasis on even better car manufacturing and the further development of human resources.
If anybody gets history, it’s Jari-Matti Latvala. So, who better to explain the significance of the shift.
“First of all, we are very excited to be part of the Gazoo Racing family as it returns to its roots,” Latvala told DirtFish. “Morizo-san wants to keep this idea which was done in the past. Through the motorsport we learn, we can evolve and we can create something better and that’s how we create ever better cars.
“For the 2026 [WRC] season everything will continue as normally and this is going to be like a transition year and then in the 2027, there will be a new GR name and a logo.”
Latvala describes 2026 as a "transition year" before the WRC team changes identity
Fundamentally and operationally, will much change? From what we can understand, very little. The removal of the name ‘Toyota’ from TGR serves as a demonstration of the confidence Toyoda has in the GR brand (which sits in the stable alongside Toyota, Lexus, Century and Daihatsu). But it also serves as recognition of the shared values he took to the track alongside his great friend and mentor Naruse, 19 years ago.
Personally, I think GR is mature enough to stand alone. Mention the letters R and S to me and I’m immediately transported to Hannu Mikkola, Ari Vatanen and an RS1800. Not Ford. Interestingly, mention the same letters to my son and he’ll talk of a journey involving a late noughties, five-liter, V10-engined RS6. Not Audi.
A GR Yaris is a GR Yaris. As it is with the GR Corolla and the all-new GR GT.
Gazoo Racing was the ignition point for one of Toyota’s most fruitful periods in global motorsport. Understand that and you understand the passion which continues to drive Morizo and his whole team. And that will never change, no matter what the name.
