Akio Toyoda’s enthusiasm for racing is contagious.
The company’s executive chairman may have relinquished the day-to-day operations of the business, but his enthusiasm for racing is indirectly responsible for Toyota’s long-awaited arrival into Supercars competition.
Toyota Australia boss John Pappas revealed ahead of the on-track debut of the GR Supra that the company has been considering joining the country’s premier racing category for the past 25 years. What has changed in recent years, which has acted as the catalyst for the entry with Walkinshaw TWG Racing and Brad Jones Racing, is the rise of Gazoo Racing.
Gazoo Racing (GR) began life as Toyoda’s personal racing project in 2007 but has evolved into the company’s global performance and racing brand. GR now includes sponsorship of the Haas Formula 1 team as well as all Toyota and Lexus racing activities as well as a range of road cars – including the GR Supra and GR 86.
Pappas explained that Toyoda’s focus on racing and ensuring Toyota makes more exciting cars to drive has spread across the entire company and helped him and his predecessor, Sean Hanley, have the confidence to jump into Supercars competition.
“Akio’s philosophy actually is all about producing ever better cars,” Pappas said. “He actually talks about that. I’m pretty sure you can look him up talking about ever better cars some time ago when we went through this great phase.
“I look at it and I think that just inspires all of us globally to continue to build, particularly the GR brand in this case. To see how the GR brands evolved from 2015 globally to where it is today, and the various products now that form within GR, like the GR 86 and the GR Supra, the GR Yaris, the GR Corolla. We love to see that expansion and what we’ve seen today, the trajectory we’re on, we continue to build on the GR brand. So, absolutely, we want to continue to build on that.”
Pappas made it clear that the purpose of Supercars is to build up the GR brand in Australia and inspire customers and fans, rather than the old adage ‘win on Sunday, sell on Monday’.
“ Look for us, actually, this is not about selling more cars,” Pappas explained. “It’s actually more about building the GR brand building on the GR brand. And it’s really more about what I said before about just learning. Learning to build better cars, better people.
“They’re the two key things for us. Right? This is not about more sales and trying to sell more cars. It’s about building better vehicles, better people, and building the GR brand.”
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