You’ve heard the saying: “If you want to make it, you can’t fake it, you can only live it.” Well, this philosophy appears to be more than just a saying for Toyota President, Akio Toyoda, but more of a mind-set. For the man who actually bears the name of the illustrious car manufacturer, Mr. Toyoda will race for the third time in his semi-professional career, in the storied Nurburgring 24-hour endurance race later this month.
This passion for his brand and his family legacy is something that manifests itself in his love for motorsport and his passion for making great motor cars. Many attribute this passion to the Japanese manufacturers’ recent reversal of fortunes. Mr. Toyoda is especially known for his passion for racing and along with three other three factory Toyota drivers, they will compete in arguably the most testing endurance race in the world.
This isn’t the first time the President of Toyota has embarked on such race-fuelled shenanigans. Mr. Akio Toyoda also raced the 2007 and 2009 Nurburgring 24-hour races when he was still the company’s vice-president. Last time Mr. Toyoda raced a Lexus IS-F in 2007 and a Lexus LFA at the Nurburgring in 2009, his team finished 87th out of 170 on that occasion. We are eager to see what they will bring this time to the track this time: a race-prepared Toyota 86 perhaps?
Being the boss of the world largest automaker, he explains that his racing is not just for fun, but also to evaluate the company’s product: “It’s not merely a private activity. This is part of the company’s effort to produce good cars by judging the performance of our production under such severe conditions.” an official Toyota press release said.
