Between 21 August and 8 September 1957, the classic Mobilgas Round Australia Rally took place. It covered a gruelling 14,480 kilometres around the country.
Amongst the 52 competitors that arrived in Melbourne for the race was the first ever Japanese manufacturer to enter an international motorsport contest – Toyota.
We arrived with the Toyopet Crowne RSD – a four-door sedan powered by a 1.5-litre engine, giving out a mere 48 horsepower. It was slower than most other vehicles and no professionals were recruited to drive it. Instead, two employees from the Toyota factory got behind the wheel with a local navigator.
The Toyopet Crowne RSD finished 47th and won third prize in the overseas entry class. While bumpy, the race was the epic beginning of our motorsport history.
It was the moment our competitive fire stirred up. Since then, almost 65 years later, we haven’t stopped racing. Because for Toyota, motorsport has become the flesh and blood of tomorrow’s cars.
Forty-five
WRC races won
Four
24 hrs of Le Mans wins
Thirty-two
WEC victories
Our new generation race and rally cars are built to win.
2021 -
Winner of 2021 Netier National Capital Rally
2022 -
2021 -
Winner of 2021 24 Hours of Le Mans
These notable race cars played an important role in our storied motorsports history.
1979 - 1980
3 WRC Races Won
1988 - 1996
41 WRC Races Won
1996 - 1999
4 WRC Races Won
2012 - 2019
3 - 24 Hrs of Le Mans wins (LM P1-H Class)
2018 - 2020
Winner of the 2019 Australian Rally
Championship (ARC) & 2020 Australian Rally Cup
2018 - 2021
Winner of the 2018 and 2021 World Rally Championship (WRC)
Starting with the incredible GR Yaris, we’ve built a rally beast to defend our ARC Championship.
Learn HowWhile Toyota’s motorsport history can be traced back all the way to the outback of Australia, the roots of TOYOTA GAZOO Racing go back twenty years.
In 2007, Toyota expanded its car development activities with a decision to compete in the Nürburgring 24 Hours – the gruelling endurance race held on the famous track winding through the German forest. However, as an unofficial Toyota activity, the team, made up of employees, was called TOYOTA GAZOO Racing. The name was taken from a revolutionary photo sales system that was created by the driver and visionary of the racing team Akio Toyoda, the current president of Toyota.
With a limited budget, the newly-named team entered the race with two second-hand Altezzas. Both cars finished the miraculously challenging race, starting a new era for Toyota motorsports.
Today, all of Toyota’s motorsports activities are united under TOYOTA GAZOO Racing with motorsports firmly established to make ever-better cars.
TOYOTA GAZOO RACING
