From Naruse to Morizo（1/2）

Ever since he was young, Akio Toyoda loved driving and dreamed of being a racer. However, the environment he was surrounded by did not make that possible. His sole joy was quietly driving through the mountains.

Decades later, he met Naruse and heard those fateful words, “It’s annoying that someone at the top like you doesn’t know the basics of driving, but just gets into the car and comments on this and that!” With that, Naruse became his trainer. The two united with the same purpose, but they had no training curriculum.
“We called it training, but I just followed Naruse as he drove his car. It wasn’t like he taught me anything specific. The only two things he said were ‘Hit the brakes where you saw my brake lights go on’ and ‘If the distance between our cars is growing, it means you’re not hitting the gas enough.’ All I did was do my best to chase after those taillights.”
His training partner was the fourth generation, A80 Supra. Production of this model ended in 2002.

“There were some really frustrating times driving at the Nürburgring. The other manufacturers were all driving models that were under development and that they planned to launch in the future. Toyota, on the other hand, didn’t have any current-generation sports cars that it had refined at Nürburgring. Instead, the only Toyota car capable of competing was a used, out-ofproduction Supra. Every time our car got passed by a development car from another manufacturer, it felt like I could hear them saying to me, ‘Hey, Toyota, you can’t make a car like this one, can you?’ I still vividly remember that feeling of frustration.”

After roughly five years of this training, Naruse made a suggestion to Akio, “Why not compete in the 24 Hours of Nürburgring?”
The two decided to participate in the 24 Hours of Nürburgring in 2007 together.
Naruse recalled their discussion. “After about five years of training him, I asked him ‘Why not compete in the 24 Hours of Nürburgring?’ At first, he struggled with the decision, due to his position, but then after a while he said ‘I’d like to do it, so yes, please, let’s make it happen.’ That said, he didn’t just jump into the race, but instead spent the next three years intensively training for it.”

His first 24 Hours of Nürburgring was a success, and he made it all the way to the end.
“That said, the race was stopped for about 10 hours due to rain. I just focused on sticking to Naruse’s tail, driving while keeping a constant eye on my rearview mirror. Every car that came up from behind overtook me. It was that kind of race. Looking back, I’m surprised that Naruse let me race, and that I made it back without incident.”
The successful completion of this grueling race came to have great significance. Shortly after being appointed president in 2009, Toyota met heavy criticism due to a Lexus ES350 crashing after becoming uncontrollable at high speed. This led to immediate speculation spreading about problems with Toyota’s electronic throttle and the Prius’ ABS, and Akio spoke in a hearing by the U.S. House of Representatives. Ultimately, it was determined that there were no defects in the cars, but Akio made it through thanks to the words imparted to him by Naruse, “No matter how badly it might go, it’s not like they’re going to take your life at the hearing.”

“I remembered when I was driving at Nürburgring, when I was constantly battling terror, wondering whether I would make it back alive. That experience is what enabled me to get through that hearing. In that sense, not only was Nürburgring the starting point for me as Morizo, the driver, but also for me as Akio Toyoda, the leader of Toyota.”

After that, he took class victories in 2009 with the Lexus LF-A, which was still in development, and in 2014, with the Lexus LFA. In 2016, he drove the Lexus RC, and in 2019 he drove the GR Supra, which had returned to the race for the first time in 17 years. Of course, he drove these races as a Master Driver, a position passed on from Naruse.