Gazoo Racing (the Toyota tuning powerhouse with incredible cars and an odd name) celebrated 2014 and thanked fans with a one-day mega event – The Toyota Gazoo Racing Festival (TGRF), in collaboration with Lexus and Toyota Racing.
Referred to in Japanese reports as a kind of ‘motorsport fan thanksgiving’, over 38,000 Toyota enthusiasts crowded Fuji Speedway under a crisp autumn sky for what looked like one of the happiest days in motorsport outside Gatebil.
The TGRF event was built around four pillars: Watch. Experience. Participate. Eat.
Gazoo really knows how to pull at the heartstrings of the motorsport enthusiast.
A genuine attempt at thanking race fans, ‘Participate’ meant more at TGRF than just spectator access to the parc ferme.
Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda opened the event in a fashion becoming of his reputation as a dyed-in-the-wool car nut.
Jumping into a Gazoo-prepared GR86, the CEO of the twelfth-largest company in the world dialled in some RPM and dropped the clutch. Bouncing off the limiter, Toyoda San threw the race 86 into clean and smoky donuts with a precision that would impress even the staunchest of Summernats veterans. Official reports referred to the boss’ burnout as a ‘donut of force!’.
Fans were invited to do a grid walk and snap photos with their favourite race drivers and cars. 18 2000GTs and Sports 800s were paraded, before Gazoo unleashed organised chaos on the circuit.
Tuned Lexus ‘circuit taxis’ lapped punters constantly, joined by the bizarre sight of packed buses looping the track. Lumbering next to Super GT race cars, FIA endurance racers and the 24H of Nurburgring LFA for ‘circuit safaris’, every bus came with its own racing driver on board to act as a guide to the action.
Super Formula cars screamed down the straight in staged battles, while a round of 86/BRZ time attack and an 86 Dream Race was held. In the Dakar area, Toyota and Hino Dakar racers jumped and slid around, their agility in stark contrast with their burly frames.
On a dirt rally course passengers were thrown sideways by the pros in their championship-contending rally cars while nostalgic and iconic cars like the Toyota 7 buzzed around the track.
The kids, often some of the keenest motorsport fans, were not left out. A ‘Driving Kids With Toyota’ experience park area put primary school-aged kids behind the wheel. They drove the futuristic iRoad drive, were taught to drift in a Mark X G, did emergency stops in a loaded van, ran mini gymkhana in 86s or raced go-karts.
They were also welcomed into the circuit’s broadcast booth and encouraged to try their hand as race announcers. They were then given press vests and sent out to interview Super GT drivers in on the act.
Toyo mascot ‘Wakkuma’ was on hand to cheer on Toyo Tires Team Drift who were brought in to do their thing in front of the crowd on the custom-designed drift park and main straight.
Five of Toyo’s D1 machines were on hand to stun the mob of motorsport fans with precision stunt and drifting manoeuvres. They blanketed the bleachers with tyre smoke and sent each and every festival-goer home with tiny particles of their rear-driven Toyo Proxes as a souvenir.
Shocking the crowd and assembled media (and probably Toyota’s public relations team) the Toyota CEO was offered the chance to accompany Masato Kawabata in the 1000hp Toyo Tires R35X D1 drift car.
A car enthusiast above all, Toyoda San graciously accepted and thoroughly enjoyed the experience of riding co-pilot with the relentless D1GP champion as he slayed rubber and showed Toyoda San what the competition are up to.
With more motorsport action than can be accommodated in a single post, the TGRF is an event that will surely start to creep into the calendars of motorsport fans the world over. The event, and its refreshing approach to fan interaction, serves to further cement Japan’s place as a mecca for fast cars and fun.
If you can think of a day that crams in more fun, activity and entertainment than TGRF let us know, because we want to go!
