The TOYOTA GAZOO Racing logo, a white 'G R', the 'G' on a black rectangle, the 'R' on a red rectangle. A smaller 'R' sits to the right.

Toyota motorsport origins

Let's back up to where it all began
Neal Bates and Coral Taylor drive a dusty, rally-beaten nineteen-nineties W R C Corolla. The front passenger side wheel is midair as it races around a rally track, kicking up gravel.
 

Racing heritage

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.

A black and white photograph from 1957 of a Toyopet Crowne R S D arriving in Australia for the Mobilgas Round Australia Rally. Teenagers surround the vehicle.
 

Highlights over the decades

45

WRC races won

4

24 hrs of Le Mans wins

32

WEC victories

Today’s championship race cars

Our new generation of race and rally cars are engineered for victory. With cutting-edge technology and innovative design, these machines are built to dominate the track and rally stages, showcasing our commitment to excellence and performance.
A white 2021 Toyota A R C G R Yaris A P 4 rally car at the Netier National Capital Rally, in red and black racing livery with sponsor logos. It's cornering a track bend surrounded by paddocks.
A 2022 Toyota W R C G R Yaris Rally1 in racing livery, driving along a road overlooking a cliff, with a tree-lined rockface visible in the background.
WRC GR Yaris Rally12022 - Present.
A 2021 W E C G R 010 Hybrid racecar on the wet track at the 2021 '24 Hours of Le Mans', cornering a bend.
WEC GR010 Hybrid2021 - Present. Winner of 2021 24 Hours of Le Mans

A line-up of classic winners

A white 2018 Toyota Yaris W R C rally car in sponsor livery, kicking up loose gravel at the 2021 World Rally Championship.
 

2018-2020

Toyota Yaris AP4

Winner of the 2019 Australian Rally Championship (ARC) & 2020 Australian Rally Cup

World Rally Championship

A white 1979 Toyota Celica R A 40 with sponsor logos on a dirt rally track in the Australian bush.


1979-1980

Toyota Celica (RA40)


3 WWRC races won




A white 1989 Toyota Celica G T Four (S T 185) racing on a dirt rally track in the Australian outback. The hills in the background are obscured by dust in the air.


1988-1996

Celica GT-Four (ST185)


41 WRC races won




A Toyota Corolla W R C from the nineties with Taylor Bates at the wheel, drifting across a rally dirt track. Gumtrees are faintly visible in the background behind plumes of dust.


1996-1999

Corolla WRC


4 WRC races won




A 2018 Toyota Yaris W R C in sponsor livery, kicking up dirt as it drifts around a gravel rally track.


2018-2021

Toyota Yaris WRC


Winner of the 2018 and 2021 World Rally Championship (WRC)




Le Mans

A 2017 Toyota T S 0 50 Hybrid racecar on the track at a '24 Hrs of Le Mans'. It has a highly aerodynamic design covered in sponsor livery, and features a spherical cockpit.
 

2012-2019

Toyota TS050 Hybrid

3 - 24 Hrs of Le Mans wins (LM P1-H Class)

A new era with TOYOTA GAZOO Racing

While 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.

“The idea of GAZOO was founded on a spirit of challenge aimed at instigating change.”

TOYOTA GAZOO Racing

A Toyota G R 86 in sponsor livery, hitting the bend at the Nürburgring 24 Hours. The asphalt track shows lots of tyre marks from other competitors.

Nürburgring 24H, 2022

Explore GAZOO Racing worldwide

TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Europe

Discover TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Europe (TGR-E), based in Cologne, Germany. Their cutting-edge facility is the home of TOYOTA GAZOO Racing’s FIA World Endurance Championship team, the birthplace of the Yaris Rally1 Hybrid engine and the base for TGR’s European customer motorsport activities.

TOYOTA GAZOO Racing

Experience the thrill of TOYOTA GAZOO Racing worldwide. Built by enthusiasts, for enthusiasts, TGR has created a unique brand experience that encompasses exclusive events, track days and opportunities to connect with fellow motorsports fans.