Beset by troubles and bad weather at the Nürburgring 24 Hours Yet, both “people” and “cars” achieve tremendous growth

The Nürburgring 24 Hours was held from May 26 to May 29: free practice and the first round of qualifying took place on May 26, the second round of qualifying and top-thirty qualifying on May 27, and the race itself on May 28–29.

At 11.50am on the day of the race, the drivers, mechanics, and everyone else related to the team attended the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing pre-race meeting. Team representative Akio Toyoda expressed his gratitude at being able to return with the team to the Nürburgring ten years after his first participation in 2007, and gave a motivational speech: “Whatever happens, I want us all to concentrate and to strive with unity of purpose to do our best to the very end. All the vehicles should aim to complete a longer distance and more laps than last year. The target for the LEXUS RC F is a single-digit placing, and the target for the TOYOTA C-HR Racing and the LEXUS RC is to complete the race.”

The race commenced at 3.30pm, 30 minutes earlier than last year. The starting drivers were Masahiko Kageyama for the TOYOTA C-HR Racing, Takayuki Kinoshita for the LEXUS RC and Kazuya Oshima for the LEXUS RC F. The race started in dry conditions, but an unexpected downpour of heavy rain and hail near Adenaur Forst after approximately 40 minutes played havoc with the track surface. A series of racecars slid off the circuit or were forced to retire, forcing officials to bring out the red flags and temporarily suspend the race. TOYOTA GAZOO Racing’s three machines managed to stay clear of trouble, but the LEXUS RC was afflicted with a powertrain issue when returning to the pits. Fortunately, however, the team was able to solve the problem during the three hours or so that the race was suspended, and suffered no loss of time.

When the race was restarted at 7.20pm, the rain was still such that the racecars were forced to follow the safety car for the first three laps. But the three TOYOTA GAZOO Racing racecars were running smoothly. By the time the sun set around 10pm, the track had dried out and the three vehicles changed to slick tires during routine pit stops. At about 11.50pm, however, with the night wearing on, the LEXUS RC was forced to make an emergency stop. Though the team investigated the cause of the trouble, they were unable to fix it; they rolled the racecar into the team tent behind the pit lane and began working through the night to find a solution.

The TOYOTA C-HR Racing and the LEXUS RC F, meanwhile, were piling on the laps without incident. When the sun started to rise around 6.30am, the TOYOTA C-HR Racing was running in second place in the SP2T Class, and the LEXUS RC F had risen to 20th overall. Then, just after 6.45am, Takeshi Tsuchiya reported vibrations coming from the rear of the RC F. The team managed to fix the issue in the pits, and the RC F rejoined the race.

Though the circuit had remained dry after the downpour early in the race, at 10.30am rain began to fall once again. The TOYOTA C-HR Racing had been racking up incident-free laps, but then Daenens reported over the radio: “The engine has stopped.” Unable to return under its own power, the racecar was transported back to the pits by truck. The team had been braced to expect the worst but, after checking various parts and refueling the vehicle, the engine started without issue. The cause of the problem was an empty fuel tank, as the team had been trying to complete as many laps as possible using little gasoline. The team lost approximately an hour of running time overall, but when Kumi Sato took over driving duties and returned to the track, the TOYOTA C-HR Racing continued on as if nothing had happened.

At midday, with just three and a half hours to go before the end of the race, repairs to the LEXUS RC were finally complete and Takayuki Kinoshita led the machine back to the circuit. The three TOYOTA GAZOO Racing cars were on track together for the first time in approximately 12 hours; but, with just 90 minutes to go, the RC again struck problems. The mechanics tried to repair the car until the very end of the race, but it never returned to the circuit.

For the final stint of the race, Masahiko Kageyama was at the wheel of the TOYOTA C-HR Racing while Takuto Iguchi drove the LEXUS RC F. These two racecars met up just before the finish line to take the checkered flag together at 3:30pm.

The TOYOTA C-HR Racing was third in the SP2T Class, and 84th overall; the LEXUS RC F finished in 24th place overall.

Team representative Akio Toyoda commented after the race: “For the first time in a long time, I feel we executed a race typical of the Nürburgring. We have undertaken this challenge for ten consecutive years now, and we were once again shown the harsh realities of the Nürburgring in this 24-hour race. The weather and the condition of the vehicles themselves exposed a number of issues, both from the perspective of making ever-better cars and of personnel development. I think it was a kind of Nürburgring where we gave many people the chance to stand in the batter’s box, and everyone had a good swing.”

The results of this year’s race are not the goal, but rather the start of a process of making ever-better cars. This concept remains unchanged since the team’s first participation in 2007. Going forward, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing will continue its activities to develop personnel and cars alike.