Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda himself will race a Supra at Nurburgring 24

Akio Toyoda is commonly known by most people as the president and CEO of Toyota Motor Corporation. Aside from running the company, he is also personally involved in the brand’s motorsports division. In fact, Toyoda-san is currently taking part in the development of the race-spec GR Super Sport Concept for the World Endurance Championship’s (WEC) new Hypercar Class by test driving the vehicle.

But, it appears Toyoda-san will be stepping it up a notch this weekend. Instead of testing cars, Toyota’s 63-year old president and CEO will be participating at the 2019 Nurburgring 24 Hours driving the all-new GR Supra.

For those of you wondering, no, it won’t be his first time participating at the annual endurance race. In reality, he has raced at the Nurburgring 24 Hours for a few years already. Back in 2013, he and his team even managed to finish 2nd in their class and 37th overall driving a GT86. For this year, Toyoda will be driving the #90 Toyota GR Supra in the SP8T Class together with other drivers Masahiro Sasaki, Kleen Uwe, and Herwig Daenens.

Just like in his previous Nurburgring 24 races, Toyoda won’t be racing under his actual name. Instead, he’ll be using a pseudonym – ‘Morizo’. So, if you’ve ever come across some of Toyota’s race cars featuring a driver named Morizo, do remember that the president himself drove that car at one point.

Aside from the GR Supra piloted by Toyoda-san and his team, Toyota will also be fielding a Lexus LC for this years’ Nurburgring 24 Hours. The LC will be participating in the SP-Pro Class and will be piloted by Takeshi Tsuchiya, Naoya Gamo, Takamitsu Matsui, and Yuichi Nakayama.

Catch the Toyota team, together with the president CEO at the Nurburgring 24 Hours this June 21-23, 2019.