Completing the 24 Hours of Nürburgring is the start line for making ever-better cars

This year marks TGR’s return to the 24 Hours of Nürburgring after a six-year hiatus. While the commitment to making ever-better cars has remained unchanged since 2007, this year marks a new participation structure combining TGR and ROOKIE Racing (RR). Meticulous preparations for the race began in the autumn of 2023, including car-making, tests in Japan and overseas, and participation in the NLS in April.

TGRR quickly got a taste of the Nürburgring on the first day of qualifying during the night session when cars No. 382 and No. 110 were damaged upon landing after a jump. Neither incident was catastrophic, but they underscored just how unforgiving the Nürburgring truly is. One of the engineers summed up the situation by saying, “The phrase ‘smooth sailing’ is not in the GR dictionary.”

On the day of the final race, Morizo addressed the team during the morning meeting: “Today marks the beginning of our 2025 Nürburgring challenge. When the newspaper was delivered to my room this morning, it filled me with pride to see a photo of the GR YARIS along with the headline, ‘Toyota returns to Nürburgring.’ I am grateful to be here, not as the lone Morizo of twenty years ago, but surrounded by colleagues. That is why I am determined to complete the race and bring home the results we have earned together. Thank you.”

The race started at 4:00 PM, and despite the initial chaos in all classes, cars No. 109 and 110 ran without any accidents.

Four hours in, and after a red flag interruption, Morizo took the wheel and drove alongside Ishiura in car No. 382. What was initially planned to be three laps turned into six as Morizo kept pushing for one more lap. Ishiura later joked, “Morizo’s pace kept improving, which put pressure on me.”

Unlike previous years, which were plagued by constantly changing weather conditions (particularly rain and fog), this year's Nürburgring was blessed with clear skies, allowing for faster lap times overall. Crashes began to pile up across the Ring after 10:00 PM as darkness began to fall, but both cars managed to avoid the chaos. This time of day often saw issues occur in previous Nürburgring challenges, leaving the pits in chaos, but this year, nothing happened. One engineer muttered, “This kind of quiet is actually scary.”

The situation remained unchanged even as the sun began to rise from the pitch-black night. Then, at 10:00 AM, Morizo took to the track for his second run. Five laps were initially planned, but a radio malfunction forced him to make an emergency pit stop on the fourth lap. Mechanics sprang into action and got him back on the track right away; and in fact, those few minutes were the only time that car No. 109 was stopped during the race. Morizo then added more laps, completing a total of nine. Combined with his first stint, he completed 15 laps, the most ever in a single race in the TGR history at the Nürburgring. Hirata, a Nürburgring veteran who has participated since 2007 and watched Morizo's in-car footage, commented, “The way he drove the car and was overtaken by faster cars reminded me of Mr. Naruse, which was very moving."

The cars continued to run without incident. Impressed by such smooth progress, Hirata was asked for comments by the media; however, he remained cautious, saying, “We've had many close calls in the past, so I can't say anything until they cross the finish line.” True to his word, with three hours remaining, car No. 110 suffered two flat tires on top of other problems. The Nürburgring has no room for complacency.

Finally, the checkered flag was waved at 4:00 PM, 24 hours after the start of the race. This year's 24 Hours of Nürburgring was particularly chaotic compared to races in recent years, with only 88 of the 134 cars finishing. However, car No. 109 finished in 52nd place overall (1st in the SP2T class), and car No. 110 finished in 29th place overall (4th in the SP class), successfully completing the 24-hour race.

Although TGRR successfully completed the 24-hour race at Nürburgring after a six-year hiatus, this is not the finish line; it is the start line for “making ever-better cars,” a goal that has remained unchanged since 2007.

*Results are as of 4:00 PM local time on June 22.

Post-race comments

■Toshiyuki Sekiya: TGRR GM
There are a few issues to address going forward, but there were almost no problems with running, turning, or stopping. In other words, the prowess of the GR YARIS, which has been refined in the Super Taikyu, was on full display at the Nürburgring, and was truly an impressive sight. On the other hand, I also feel that the team may have been outmatched by the car itself. In the past, our activities at the Nürburgring were a one-shot deal, so there were various breakdowns, but that wasn't the case this time. However, this project started in the autumn of 2023, and the process was a series of repeated breakdowns and fixes. The Nürburgring is not easy and cannot be taken lightly.

■Kei Hisatomi: GR YARIS Chief Engineer
It took a long time, including development, but we decided to see things through without compromise. We were able to proceed with confidence in the race because we had the benefit of everything we had done up to that point, but as time went on, my anxiety grew, and by the end, I was just hoping it would be over quickly. We focused on maintaining production specifications for the machine, and the fact that it completed the race proves that our approach to car-making is correct. However, my challenge and mission going forward is to incorporate the knowledge we gained from this project into our next production model, so there is still a lot of work to be done.

■Morizo
I successfully completed 15 laps, which was the goal I had set for myself as a driver. I was able to drive safely despite crashes and challenging road conditions, and the practice I had done by watching Mr. Naruse's taillights in the past proved very useful. I had a conversation with Mr. Naruse while driving. When I asked him, “Have I become a better driver?” he replied, “I told you not to get any better. If you do, you won't be able to recognize a good car.” But I replied, “If I don't get better at driving, I won't be able to appreciate good cars.”
Looking back, when Mr. Naruse and I launched GR in 2007, our team received no support from anyone. However, this time, we were able to participate as a single team combining GR and RR—engineers, mechanics, and drivers—and I am truly delighted. This is something that we wanted to do 20 years ago but couldn't, so as I gripped the steering wheel, I realized that this once lonely endeavor had become one with many colleagues in making ever-better cars.
We completed this race through the efforts of everyone who participated. Thank you very much, and well done to you all.