TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Takes on the Challenge of 24 Hours of Nürburgring Endurance Race with New Supra

[johnny_10196]

https://www.autocar.co.nz/autocar-news-app/toyota-s-president-in-nurburgring-24-hour-race

TOYOTA’S PRESIDENT IN NÜRBURGRING 24-HOUR RACE

Toyota’s president, Akio Toyoda, is a bit of a badass. He’s more than happy to jump behind the wheel of a prototype 745kW hypercar for a few test laps, had massive hands-on input into the development of the new A90 Supra and pushed hard for Toyota to stop making boring cars when he took over in 2009. So I suppose it stands to reason that he would want to race his new flagship model at one of the most gruelling events on the planet.

However, the president of a massive company like Toyota isn’t usually able to partake in such activities. So, Toyoda hatched a plan. If you look at Toyota’s driver entry list, you’ll see, amongst the host of names, one Mr. Morizo. Turns out, this was Toyoda himself. The man is well acquainted with the Green Hell, having turned plenty of laps in his third-generation Supra, while remaining anonymous meant others treated him like an equal.

He spoke to Automotive News and said that "There is a sense of closeness. They feel that they can talk about anything and approach me. But when they view me as president, they keep a distance.

"I think there is something more I can contribute to increasing car lovers not as Toyota president but as Morizo," Toyoda continued. "What matters to Toyota is that more and more people understand what I do on the roads. That's what I believe in. That will help us make ever-better cars, for sure."

For the record, his team’s GR Supra ended up 41st overall, 20 laps down on the winning Audi R8 LMS but third in the SP 8T class, behind a BMW M4 GT and an Aston Martin Vantage AMR.

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[Ryanthetemp]

Official press release on their results:
https://toyotagazooracing.com/release/2019/nurburgring/0625-01.html

 

[2JZ-No-Sh*t]

 

[justbake]

"TGR, like the other competitors, also met with severe conditions. About eight hours after the start, oil leaked from the LEXUS LC transmission. Choosing to replace the transmission, the LEXUS LC was forced to take a pit stop for more than two hours. At the same time, the GR Supra, which was running well, made contact with the top car at that time. Fortunately, the GR Supra was able to continue driving, but the drivers remained anxious." from https://toyotagazooracing.com/release/2019/nurburgring/0625-01.html

Ironically the LC had issues when people keep saying the A90 would be unreliable

 

[nigaskiga]

"TGR, like the other competitors, also met with severe conditions. About eight hours after the start, oil leaked from the LEXUS LC transmission. Choosing to replace the transmission, the LEXUS LC was forced to take a pit stop for more than two hours. At the same time, the GR Supra, which was running well, made contact with the top car at that time. Fortunately, the GR Supra was able to continue driving, but the drivers remained anxious." from https://toyotagazooracing.com/release/2019/nurburgring/0625-01.html

Ironically the LC had issues when people keep saying the A90 would be unreliable

On the road I think the LC will obviously be more reliable overtime. Endurance racing can break things that normally wouldn't break in road cars.

 

[Mazdryk]

The 2020 Supra took part in the 24h Nurburgring and took 3rd place in its class. Anyone have inside info on how well the car performed and it’s problems? I can only find general articles with no specific info. I’m also curious of the mods.

 

[johnny_10196]

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