Deep inside Toyota Gazoo Racing’s facility in Cologne, Germany is an absolutely fantastic motorsport museum that is unfortunately only available to a limited number of visitors.
The racing car museum is closed to the public because it is located in Gazoo Racing’s R&D center, where engineers work on Toyota’s latest Le Mans and WRC technologies. I was recently treated to a guided tour of the museum – essentially a warehouse of retired Toyota racing vehicles – where I delved deep into the Japanese automaker’s international racing history.
The lobby welcomed a 2021 Toyota Yaris WRC car, as well as a motorsport-bred Toyota GR Supra and a Le Mans TS050 LMP1. The Yaris is a former rally model, not the modern 380bhp GR Yaris hybrid that debuted in the 2022 World Rally Championship. 2018 Le Mans 24 Hours Winner #8. No. TS050 is presented in ‘race’ condition, dirt and all.
The appearance of a GT4 Evo GR Supra in plain white made me want to see such versions on public roads. Since its first racing season in 2020, the GT4 Supra has achieved more than 100 podium finishes and taken home no fewer than 11 national and international championship victories.
The museum is divided into three parts: Formula 1, Le Mans and WRC.
The rally was what started everything: Toyota Team Europe was founded in Brussels in 1975 by the Swedish rally driver Ove Andersson, but in 1979 the organization moved to a new location in Cologne. In 1993, Toyota took full ownership of the company and renamed it Toyota Motorsport GmbH (TMG).
The Celica TA64 was the first TMG creation. This car was developed for Group B rallying and was nicknamed the “Queen of Africa” after its successes in the Safari and Ivory Coast rallies.
In the Group S category, which would have replaced the Group B, Toyota worked on a wild prototype codenamed 222D. Toyota engineers used the MR2 AW11 as its base, but swapped the 1.6-liter 4A-GE for a 2.2-liter 503E straight-four from a Toyota Le Mans car. The rally car produced around 600 hp, while the same base engine in the IMSA 88C cars could provide 900 hp.
Unfortunately, after a series of serious accidents in Group B, WRC regulators scrapped Group S regulations in favor of the much stricter Group A rules, so the 222D never saw the light of day.
After all the regulation changes, Toyota returned to the Celica chassis and the Castrol-cultivated ST185 GT-Four became one of the most spectacular rally cars of the Group A era with Juha Kankkunen, Carlos Sainz and Didier Auriol competing.
The museum houses a proper Safari-spec Celica ST185, reminding us that the Toyota WRC cars of the ’90s were the ultimate specialists on the rugged African roads.
The later WRC Corolla showed how a boring family car can be turned into a beautiful, wide-body racer. In its third year of competition, the WRC-AE111 won the constructors’ title in the 1999 World Rally Championship.
Toyota’s Formula 1 chapter was far less successful, but not for lack of dedication. TMG was commissioned to build the car for the 2002 F1 season. This included the engine, all under one roof here in Cologne.
Panasonic Toyota Racing scored points at the very first race in Australia with Mika Salo, but remained a midfield team for the rest of the season and for that matter until the end of their 2009 F1 campaign.
Under one of TMG’s wind tunnels sits Toyota’s F1 chassis from every year, including the most competitive TF109 vehicle used in the final race.
Unfortunately, it was not possible to look inside the tunnel, but TGR kindly provided a few photos.
To be honest, while photographing and examining similar-looking open-wheel F1 racers, my eyes kept wandering to some of the iconic TS020 Le Mans prototypes.
“TS020” might not sound familiar, but I’m sure the name “GT-One” does. These cars competed in the 1998 and 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans. The prototypes were extremely fast in qualifying, but suffered technical faults in the races. Also note the tiny wiper blade that the team installed during dry weather qualifying sessions.
The Japanese team with Ukyo Katayama, Toshio Suzuki and Keiichi Tsuchiya finished 9th in 1998 and 2nd in 1999. And yes, it is the Keiichi “Drift King” Tsuchiya.
The coolest part of the GT-One story is that TMG built two road versions of the car. One is on display here in Germany, while the other is at the Toyota Museum in Japan. It was the same era of racing when Mercedes-Benz had to build the CLK GTR and Porsche created the 911 GT1.
Essentially, the road-legal GT-One is the same prototype, just with a more civilized interior and a traditional production Toyota dashboard. Under the hood, the car boasts a 3.6-liter twin-turbo V8 engine capable of 600 horsepower.
Behind them is the #36 Toyota TS010, developed in collaboration with TOM’S. This car finished 4th at the 1993 24 Hours of Le Mans with Eddie Irvine, Toshio Suzuki and Masanori Sekiya at the wheel.
My tour ended with a series of modern race prototypes, namely the TS030, TS050 Hybrid and the latest GR010 Hybrid, which was introduced in 2021. Both hybrids have won five consecutive 24 Hours of Le Mans and four FIA World Endurance Championships. .
I am extremely grateful that Toyota allowed me to explore its vibrant European motorsport history, and I look forward to seeing how the revised GR010 Hybrid Hypercar will defend its premier status against the new era of hypercar competition.
Vladimir Lyadov
Instagram: kerekbyvovka
because@wheelsbywovka.com
www.wheelsbywovka.com
More photos by author Toyota Gazoo Racing
