TOYOTA GAZOO ROOKIE Racing

24H Nürburgring 2026

LOCATION: Nurburgring, Germany
TEAM: TOYOTA GAZOO ROOKIE Racing
DATE: 2026-05-14
RACE: 24H Nürburgring 2026
RESULTS: Overall DNC

Class DNC SP2T

Best Lap Time 9:33.699

Average Speed 80.904
TAGS: #n24h #motorsport
DESCRIPTION: TOYOTA GAZOO ROOKIE Racing brought one of the most meaningful manufacturer stories to the 2026 Nürburgring 24 Hours. The #109 Toyota GR Yaris was not entered simply to chase a class result. It represented Toyota’s deeper reason for racing at the Nürburgring: building better cars by placing engineers, mechanics, drivers and even company leadership directly inside the pressure of the Green Hell. The strongest part of this story was behind the wheel. Morizo, the racing name of Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda, shared the #109 GR Yaris with Daisuke Toyoda, Hiroaki Ishiura and Kazuya Oshima. For most manufacturers, Nürburgring is a proving ground observed from pit walls, telemetry screens and boardrooms. Toyota took a different route. Its chairman did not only support the project from above. He drove the car himself, felt the track, faced the problems and experienced the same conditions as the team. That makes this entry special. The #109 GR Yaris was part of Toyota’s long-running belief that motorsport should create both better machines and better people. The car had been updated with a focus on powertrain, aerodynamics, cooling and a wider track, while the #110 sister car served as a support and comparison vehicle. Together, the two-car programme turned the 24-hour race into a live development laboratory. The race itself was difficult. The #109 GR Yaris completed 77 laps, but the team did not meet the finishing criteria and the official result was recorded as DNC. Along the way, the car dealt with issues including a cracked windshield, wiper problems, a speed limiter button issue, a puncture and finally a major vibration problem that led the team to replace the engine and driveline. After hours of work, the car returned to the track and Morizo drove the final stint to bring the GR Yaris across the line. On paper, this was not a clean result. But for Toyota, this was exactly the kind of Nürburgring experience that matters. The #109 GR Yaris showed that development is not only about victory, but about listening to the car, repairing it, learning from failure and continuing to drive. In a race filled with GT3 speed and headline battles, Toyota’s story stood apart because it was built on direct responsibility: senior leadership, engineers and drivers facing the same brutal test together. This gallery captures more than a GR Yaris at the Nürburgring. It captures a rare manufacturer philosophy in action, where racing is not a marketing slogan, but a way to build trust in the machine from the inside out.