Toyota’s Gazoo Racing, or GR as most people now know it, has become one of the most recognisable performance sub-brands in the industry. With a growing lineup of road cars proudly wearing the GR badge, it is clear that this is no longer just Toyota’s motorsport division. What often gets overlooked is that Gazoo Racing was born from genuine passion, and a fair bit of secrecy, driven by Toyota chairman Akio Toyoda himself.
Back in 2007, Akio finally decided to pursue his long-standing love for motorsport by entering the 24 Hours of Nürburgring. There was just one catch. His participation, and the team around him, were not officially sanctioned by Toyota Motor Corporation. That loophole effectively gave rise to Gazoo Racing, along with Akio’s now-legendary racing alias, “Morizo”. Akio has since admitted that those early racing efforts were, in his own words, humiliating. Instead of discouraging him, that experience became the motivation to make both the cars and the brand relentlessly better.
In a move that signals a return to its original mindset, Toyota has now decided to drop the “Toyota” name from the branding and go back to simply “Gazoo Racing”. According to the company’s official statement, this change is intended to strengthen its motorsports-bred approach to building ever-better cars, while continuing to develop both drivers and engineers through competition.
To achieve that, Akio and the GR team continue to follow a Japanese ritual known as Shikinen Sengu. Inspired by the Ise Shrine in Japan’s Mie Prefecture, the ritual requires that all structures be completely rebuilt every 20 years. Applied to car development, the philosophy encourages constant reinvention rather than complacency. This way of thinking famously led to the creation of the Lexus LFA, a car that has since earned near-mythical status among enthusiasts.
That same principle has allowed Gazoo Racing to grow into a serious force in the performance world. Models like the 86, Yaris, Corolla, and Supra have all benefited from this motorsport-first mindset. They are now being joined by newly launched GR-branded production models, including the GR GT, as well as the latest Lexus LFA concept. Alongside the road cars, Gazoo Racing continues to push hard in global motorsport, with major success in WRC, NASCAR, and WEC, and a renewed Formula 1 connection through its partnership with the Haas team.
While Gazoo Racing takes the spotlight from a branding perspective, other parts of Toyota’s motorsport operation are also evolving. Much of the WRC and WEC development work carried out in Europe has traditionally fallen under Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe. That division is now being rebranded once again, this time to simply “Toyota Racing”, signalling another shift in how the brand wants its global motorsport efforts to be perceived.