Toyota's President Is Racing A Supra At The Nurburgring 24 Hours

Akio Toyoda might just be the coolest car company boss on the planet. Want an example as to why? This weekend, Toyota’s president will be competing in a race-spec GR Supra at the 24 Hours of Nurburgring.

Not that you’d know it looking at the entry list. In the Toyota UK press release that’s just been sent out, it merely states: “At the pinnacle of Toyota’s principle of using its racing activities to enhance professional and product development, this year, master test driver, ‘Morizo,’ will join the Supra driver line-up.”

Morizo is a pseudonym used by Toyoda, and this is far from the first time he’s rolled it out. ‘Morizo’ has extensive race experience, including previous N24 appearances in an LFA (which yielded a fourth-in-class finish) and a GT86. He’ll be driving the race-prepped Supra with Masahiro Sasaki, Kleen Uwe, and Herwig Daenens.

It’s Toyota’s thirteenth year running in the N24. As well as giving the Supra its latest competitive outing, the Japanese manufacturer will also be running a Lexus LC in the SP-Pro class.

As for the Supra, it’s been christened the ‘Supra VLN9’ and will be racing in the ‘SP8T’ class for forced induction cars of up to 4.0 litres. Our understanding is that it’s close to GT4-spec.

Qualifying for the N24 is taking place on 21 June, with the race itself running from 22 - 23 June.