TOYOTA GAZOO Racing to display 2018 GR Super Sport Concept at Tokyo Auto Salon

TOYOTA GAZOO Racing revealed that it will be participating in the 2018 Tokyo Auto Salon with the theme “Meister's Workshop.” The company will showcase models that have been part of different motorsports competitions. It will also include cars that have made because of these events. The goal is not only to promote how truly enjoyable vehicle customization is but to convey as well just how cars will remain to display increasingly exciting presence, especially in the future.

Other models that will be participating in such races will also include, among others, the TS050 Hybrid and the Yaris WRC. This is not all as the company will also exhibit the GR Super Sport Concept. This concept car began from being part of the World Endurance Championship, or WEC, and is but one of the many examples of how such technological feedbacks gained from motorsports events has been integrated. TOYOTA GAZOO Racing will also be putting on display production vehicles like the 86 GR. It will even exhibit the Vitz GRMN, this was a 150-unit limited edition model released specifically for Japan.

Those familiar with racing know that the objective of racing is not only to develop race cars but to help people move toward the goal of producing even better cars. Indeed, this is made possible by participating in various motorsports activities like national races and rallies. It helps as well to be part of top category races like the World Endurance Championship (WEC) and even World Rally Championship (WRC), to name a few. Any such knowledge and technologies gained from being part of such events are then utilized to develop new production vehicles. It is through this integrated development process that Toyota developed its “GR” sports car series, which was officially launched last September.

Toyota as a brand has been part of different motorsports like the Nürburgring 24 Hours endurance race, the WEC, and even Formula One. Such activities are done by separate entities like “GAZOO Racing,” “Lexus Racing,” and “Toyota Racing,” all of which operate within the company. Of the three, it was GAZOO Racing that joined the Nürburgring 24 Hours race back in 2007 and utilized two Altezzas, both of which were used. GAZOO Racing was backed by a team of mechanics composed of employees chosen from with the brand’s different departments. The team worked on the principle of “roads build the people, and the people build the cars.”

This is in line with the philosophy of none other than Kiichiro Toyoda, Toyota’s very own founder. It was in 1952 when he said car racing is not only about entertainment but plays an important role in the development of the passenger vehicle industry in Japan. Automakers can use racing as a chance to push the performance of a vehicle to its limits and challenge supremacy, he added. He continued by saying that this allows automakers to find new ways of advancing technology in the automotive industry.

PRESS RELEASE

TOYOTA GAZOO Racing to Exhibit GR Super Sport Concept at Tokyo Auto Salon 2018

TOYOTA GAZOO Racing will be participating at the Tokyo Auto Salon 2018, an event showcasing customized cars, which is scheduled to be held at Makuhari Messe in Chiba Prefecture, Japan, for three days from January 12-14*, 2018.

*January 12 Industry and Press day; January 13 and 14 Public days

TOYOTA GAZOO Racing aims to develop its cars and people toward the goal of "making ever-better cars" through participation in motorsports activities, such as top category races including the World Rally Championship (WRC) and World Endurance Championship (WEC), as well as national rallies and races. The technologies and know-how acquired through such activities are subsequently fed back into the development of new production vehicles. As part of this integrated development process from motorsports activities through product development, Toyota launched the new "GR" sports car series in September.

The theme selected by TOYOTA GAZOO Racing for Tokyo Auto Salon 2018 is "Meister's Workshop" and will feature cars that have competed in various motorsports activities, as well as cars that have been developed as a result of these competitions. The aim is also to promote the enjoyment of vehicle customization and communicate how cars will continue to exude an increasingly exciting presence in the future.

In addition to vehicles competing in motorsports such as the Yaris WRC and TS050 Hybrid, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing will also be exhibiting the GR Super Sport Concept, a concept car originate from participation in the WEC, as one example of how technological feedback acquired through motorsports activities is incorporated. The exhibited vehicles will also include production vehicles such as the 86 GR and the Vitz GRMN, a 150-unit limited edition model for Japan.

The vehicles scheduled to compete in the 24 Hours of Nürburgring in May will also be revealed, while the drivers for the race will be announced on January 12.