The opening race of the VLN series set in the Nurburgring, a conventional race track representing Europe, was held on April 4th at a temperature of almost 20°C under the clear sky. A total of 163 various machines from the Mini, Golf, Porsche, down to the Dodge Viper, and a variety of participants from amateurs down to active professionals in their teen to sixties gathered on the race track in high spirits.

GAZOO Racing Team gave a challenge to the Nurburgring together with the Altezza and IS250 in 2007 and 2008, respectively. We challenged this time together with the premium two-seater sports LF-A. The primary objective was to train the vehicle under development which attracts attention of world motor fans through endurance races.

The Nurburgring racetrack, built in 1927, is almost 25 km in total length. This is located in mountains, so it goes up and down over and over. Most of the over 170 turns are blind, the track is narrow, and there are thousands of bumps on the road surface. “It is unconquerable,” “It takes a lot of nerve to give full throttle,” or “It makes me feel scary when driving in spite of my driving experience of 20 years long” say many well-experienced drivers. However, they also say, “It is precisely because of such characteristics that driving on the racetrack is meaningful.” This is why auto manufacturers around the world select the Nurburgring racetrack to finish confirmation of their vehicle’s driving performance, in other words, "to add subtle enhancements” to their vehicles.

This time the meaning of GAZOO Racing Team’s entry into the 4 Hours was a trial of actual battle prepared for the Nurburgring 24 Hours to be held in May. On the day before the preliminary race, the LF-A appeared on the racetrack as attracting lines of sight from the competitors and the press. The machine lapped the track repeatedly issuing a piping note from the exhaust pipe, and finished the last trial run without trouble. In the vehicle inspection for the host to confirm that the machine conforms to the rules, we were checked in more carefully than ever. This also meant that we were attracted so much attention.

In the preliminary race, a professional car racer, Akira Iida, headed toward the racetrack on which over 160 machines crowded. On the second lap, when the pace was getting higher, an unexpected trouble has occurred. “The car ahead dropped its pace so suddenly I bumped it fatally” said Iida after he made an emergent pit stop. The front bumper has just split in two. The damage was remedied using a tape as first-aid action, and Morizo, a driver challenging in his third year, sat at the wheel. But there appeared a relief in the faces of the team staff who were glued to the monitor screen as being worried about the damage on the machine’s main body, and he drove smoothly and returned to the pit. “I was able to have a conversation with the machine because she had been finished well” commented Morizo in a calm tone as wiping sweat off his face softly. Javier Kyros, a driver who does auto race competition for enjoyment as managing a sales agency of Toyota vehicles in Costa Rica, took his turn at driving, and entered in the track. He drove on his first Nurburgring racetrack making a comfortable exhaust note. “This car is fast and excellent in braking and stability. It is the greatest” said the businessman driver.

Five minutes before the closure of the preliminary race, driver Iida, who was not able to do time-attacking due to bump to some other car, made a pit start as expecting only one chance. The time was 08:41:914! He was 15th place in total, marking the top time of the class.

At noon on April 4th, the 4 Hours got off the mark. The LF-A of GAZOO Racing Team was driven by Iida, and raised its position up to the 11th car. The machine battled against regular machines of the upper places such as Porsche, and made a pit stop on the sixth lap for the drive to take a turn. Morizo also kept a stable pace and lapped the track six times as planned. Then, Kyros took his turn up to eight laps, and made a pit stop at almost 40th place. With almost 40 minutes to go, Iida’s machine made the final pit start of the race. At this point the possibility of victory in the class became almost sure, so the members inside the pit began to show slight tension on their face.

The rivals of the SP8 class (over 4000 cc and under 6200 cc) were the Aston Martin, Corvette, Lamborghini Gallardo, Audi, etc. Furthermore, these teams were veterans who know about the Nurburgring very well. Iida marked a pace record beyond that he made in the preliminary race lap after lap late in the race, and finished in 36th place in total and first place in the class. As aiming at checking durability and obtaining data in preparation for the 24 Hours, he demonstrated his speed as well. His best lap time in the race was almost three seconds better than that of the machine in 6th place in total.

Moreover, Hiroshi Naruse, the master test driver of Toyota who takes the leadership of the team in a position like a playing manager, appeared from GAZOO Racing Team together with test drivers named Minoru Takahashi and Yoshinobu Katsumata by driving the IS-F. He finished in 108th place in total and second place of the SP8 class.

I have already made close-interview of the challenge of GAZOO Racing Team for three years. It is needless to say that the power and speed of the machine which enters the race have been improved year after year. Moreover, the mature of this project is shown by the teamwork and the calm atmosphere of the drivers including Morizo. “Making those involved energetic and touch by strengthening a vehicle. This is the start line of producing a new vehicle.” I think with high expectation that the consistent policy underlying from the beginning will bear fruit soon.

I think with high expectation that the consistent policy underlying from the beginning will bear fruit soon.