From one
50 years anniversary to another!
The year 2007 already appears to be rich in historical events as
Toyota, recently named (officially) the number 1 car manufacturer on the planet, was celebrating the 50 years of their presence in
motorsport.
A great opportunity for a motorsport fan like me to take a look back at the history of Toyota in this particular area of the automotive business.
For the Japanese manufacturer it all started in
1957 with participation to an Australian rally, a first taste at the competition that will lead the way to many other races all around the world.
Among those, the rally races have been a very important and helped Toyota to build its image and reputation on a global scale, it gave the engineers and technicians an opportunity to challenge the most prestigious European, American and Asian manufacturers in various areas such as suspensions, turbo engines or rear wheel and all wheel drive technologies. All, with effects on the domestic market vehicles built around the same time.
In 1975, a Corolla wins the very tricky Finnish Rally.
In 1990, after many victories, Toyota, thanks to the Spaniard Carlos Sainz behind the wheel of a Celica WRC, wins the title and will keep, with other drivers, the Toyota badge on the top spots in the early 90's until 1999, when Toyota decided to retire from the world of rally to pursue higher ambitions...
These higher ambitions led Toyota to racetracks, and what is better and faster on a circuit than a Formula 1 car?
The Toyota F1 program started in 1997 and as a preparation, a prototype was build for the 24 hours of Le Mans: the outstanding GT-One which participated to this legendary race 2 years in 1998 and 1999 only to grab the second place each time, however, the record lap stayed their property until 2006...
Just like most car manufacturers, Toyota uses motorsport as a way to shine at the highest level in the most prestigious races and series. In the United States of America they joined the CART, then IRL series, in Europe the British Touring Car Championship and many many others...and every time, they managed to adapt, be competitive and eventually win.
It is only in 2002 that Toyota made the big step to the Formula One with, all should agree with me, very disappointing results compared to the financial support granted to the team...
As you can see this little article sums up some facts and doesn't mention others that are (sometimes) as or more important depending on what you like and where you live, for example the NASCAR, the Super GT and an incredibly high number of championships in which Toyota is taking part in but are not given a lot of media coverage...
To end this, know that an S2000 (FIA Regulation) version of a 2007 Corolla does participate this year in the Australian Rally Championship, exactly where it all began 50 years ago...best of luck to Toyota for another half century of motorsport passion !
Posted on 04/05/07 By F.B
