In 2007, an in-house team of student test drivers and mechanics, led by Hiromu Naruse — a test driver at Toyota — competed in the 24 Hours Nürburgring race. Akio Toyoda, then vice president of Toyota, participated as a driver having received instruction directly from Naruse. Because the team was not permitted to use the name "Works Toyota Racing", the name Team Gazoo was adopted instead. "Gazoo" derives from a portal site that Toyota was involved in establishing; Naruse was nicknamed "Cap" and Toyoda "Morizo" for public relations purposes. With minimal budgets, the team used discontinued Altezzas and BMW E90s, posting activity reports on the Gazoo website as an amateur project.
From 2009 onwards, after Toyoda became president of Toyota, the scope of Gazoo Racing expanded. The team organised circuit events such as the "86/BRZ Race" and the "Toyota Gazoo Racing Festival", held each November. Sports conversion brands "GRMN" (Gazoo Racing, tuned by the Meister of the Nürburgring) and "G's/G Sports" were established in 2009 and 2010 respectively. Naruse died in an accident in June 2010; in 2014 the team played a three-class domination in his honour.
From April 2015, all motorsport activities previously divided across "Gazoo Racing", "Toyota Racing", and "Lexus Racing" were unified under "Gazoo Racing". TGR works machines adopted a common colour scheme of red and black stripes on a white background. In 2017, the Toyota Gazoo Racing Factory was reorganised into the "Gazoo Racing Company", an in-house company with greater independence, dedicated to feeding knowledge gained in racing back into road car development.
From 2002 to 2009, Toyota Motorsport GmbH (TMG), based in Cologne, Germany — later renamed Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe in April 2020 — engineered and developed Formula One cars for Toyota. Racing under the name Panasonic Toyota Racing, the team spent eight years in the championship, recording thirteen podium finishes including five second places, three pole positions, and three fastest laps, but failed to win a single race. Toyota withdrew at the end of the 2009 season, citing the global economic crisis as the primary reason; the TF110 car for 2010 had already been developed but was abandoned. During their Formula One programme, Toyota also supplied engines to Jordan, Midland F1 Racing, and the Williams team.
In October 2024, Toyota and Haas F1 Team announced a technical partnership under which TGR provides design, technical, and manufacturing services. Toyota chairman Akio Toyoda stressed that the company was not making a full comeback to the sport, but sought to provide opportunities for its engineers, staff, and drivers to experience Formula One. In December 2025, Haas and Toyota announced a title sponsorship, with the team entering the 2026 season as TGR Haas F1 Team. In December 2024, Toyota also announced a collaboration with Hitech Grand Prix, which will compete as Hitech TGR from 2025 onwards.
The Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team (TGR WRT) is based in Jyväskylä, Finland. The team was established and operated by independent company Tommi Mäkinen Racing at Toyota's request for their return to the championship in 2017; TGR Europe purchased Tommi Mäkinen Racing and its assets in 2020, bringing the team under manufacturer control. Former rally drivers Jari-Matti Latvala and Juha Kankkunen serve as team principals.
TGR WRT operated Yaris WRC cars between 2017 and 2021, winning the manufacturers' championship in 2018 and 2021. Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja won the drivers' and co-drivers' titles in 2019; Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia won in 2020 and 2021. Since 2022, the team has operated hybrid GR Yaris Rally1 cars, winning a third manufacturers' championship in the car's first year, along with driver and co-driver titles for Kalle Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen.
TGR's entry in the FIA World Endurance Championship is operated by TGR Europe from the company's headquarters in Cologne, Germany. Racing under the Toyota Gazoo Racing name since 2016, the team have won the World Endurance Championship four times, with three victories at Le Mans using the LMP1-class TS050 Hybrid, and two with the LMH GR010 Hybrid. TGR Europe also enters the Nürburgring 24 Hours endurance race.
Entries in both the Dakar Rally and FIA World Rally-Raid Championship are operated by Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa, an alias for independent local company Hallspeed. The company entered rally-raids domestically and internationally under the direction of Toyota South Africa from 2012 until 2019, when Nasser Al-Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel won the car class outright. Since 2020, the entry has operated under the global Toyota Gazoo Racing name with greater support from the parent company. TGR also won the Dakar Rally in 2022 and 2023, and took the inaugural FIA World Rally-Raid Championship title in 2022.
Toyota Gazoo Racing introduced the Toyota Supra into the Japanese Super GT racing series from 2020 onwards. TGR partners with multiple race teams in the series, including TGR Team au TOM'S, TGR Team SARD, TGR Team WedsSport Bandoh, TGR Team KeePer TOM'S, TGR Team Wako's ROOKIE, and TGR Team ZENT Cerumo. TGR Team au TOM'S has won the Super GT championship in the GT500 class four times, in 2021, 2023, 2024, and 2025.
In the UK, Speedworks Motorsport operates the British Touring Car Championship entries of Toyota Gazoo Racing UK. In Argentina, Toyota Gazoo Racing Argentina enters various Argentine championships. Lithuanian driver Benediktas Vanagas and Estonian co-driver Kuldar Sikk also compete internationally under the name of Toyota Gazoo Racing Baltics.
The GR-branded performance road cars include the GR Supra, GR Yaris, GR86, GR Corolla, and GR GT. The GR Supra, launched in 2019, shares a platform with the BMW Z4 (G29) and is produced under contract by Magna Steyr in Austria. The GR Yaris, launched in 2020, and the GR Corolla, unveiled in 2022, are produced at the dedicated "GR Factory" within Toyota's Motomachi plant using a non-conveyor belt, station-based assembly process staffed by experienced technicians. The GR86, introduced in 2021, is jointly developed with Subaru and produced at Subaru's Gunma assembly plant. The GR GT, unveiled in 2025, is the fifth GR-branded car and the first standalone GR-branded model. TGR also uses Gran Turismo 7 as a platform for virtual motorsport through the Gran Turismo World Series and the Toyota Gazoo Racing GT Cup.
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