Akio Toyoda has a deep passion in motorsports, and despite already making his way to the top chain of Toyota Motor Corporation’s management, that is no excuse for him to put it away. And for that, it is not much of a surprise that later this month the CEO of the world’s largest automaker will be making an appearance as a driver in the Nurburgring 24-hour race.
This is also not the first time for Toyoda to race on the famed Nordschleife as he had entered the event in 2007 and 2009. But during those years, he was only the vice-president of the company compared to the big boss he is today. Toyoda will be a part of a team of four driving a Toyota race car at Nurburgring on May 19 and 20, and he is not racing only for his own enjoyment.
“It is not merely a private activity. This is part of the company’s effort to produce good cars by judging the performance of our production under such severe conditions”, said a spokesman from Toyota.
While the car that he will be driving in has yet to be revealed, it may be something down-to-earth compared to the howling LF-A supercar that he drove four years ago. Our best guess would probably be something like the Toyota 86.
