Toyota at the Goodwood Festival of Speed 2024 - Weekend highlights
Famous faces joined Toyota motorsport stars at the Goodwood Festival of Speed to celebrate both current and future successes.
Toyota has demonstrated the breadth of technologies it develops in its multi-technology strategy to help achieve a carbon-neutral future at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, the annual celebration of motorsport that takes place over four days in the grounds of the historic Goodwood House, in Sussex (England), which concluded yesterday (July 14).
Its roster of circuit and rally competition cars at the festival has also made it clear how the experience and specialization it is accumulating in top-level international motorsport directly drives its commitment to creating increasingly better vehicles for its customers.
Rowan Atkinson, famous international film actor and automotive enthusiast, got behind the wheel of the first hydrogen-powered GR Yaris made in Europe at the Goodwood circuit. David Richards, chairman of motorsport and advanced technology company Prodrive and national sports organization Motorsport UK, and the Duke of Richmond, owner of the Goodwood estate, were among the special guests who were able to view the car from the co-pilot seat.
TOYOTA GAZOO Racing (TGR-WRT) came in strong with eight-time world champion Sébastien Ogier, reigning champion Kalle Rovanperä and 2024 title contender Elfyn Evans. The team presented both the GR YARIS Rally1 Hybrid and the Rally2 WRC, new for this season, and also tested the new GR Yaris, a sports road model developed with the direct participation of TGR-WRT and its professional drivers.
Team Principal Jari-Matti Latvala hosted the official handover of the keys to the two special edition versions of the new GR Yaris to Ogier and Rovanperä, with a special message from President of Toyota Motor Corporation and Master Driver Akio Toyoda (aka "Morizo"), who thanked them for their contribution to the championship. Each of the drivers has participated directly in the special editions, of which only very limited numbers are manufactured, adapting the handling of the cars to their personal preferences.
Toyota has demonstrated the breadth of technologies it develops in its multi-technology strategy to help achieve a carbon-neutral future at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, the annual celebration of motorsport that takes place over four days in the grounds of the historic Goodwood House, in Sussex (England), which concluded yesterday (July 14).
Its roster of circuit and rally competition cars at the festival has also made it clear how the experience and specialization it is accumulating in top-level international motorsport directly drives its commitment to creating increasingly better vehicles for its customers.
Rowan Atkinson, famous international film actor and automotive enthusiast, got behind the wheel of the first hydrogen-powered GR Yaris made in Europe at the Goodwood circuit. David Richards, chairman of motorsport and advanced technology company Prodrive and national sports organization Motorsport UK, and the Duke of Richmond, owner of the Goodwood estate, were among the special guests who were able to view the car from the co-pilot seat.
TOYOTA GAZOO Racing (TGR-WRT) came in strong with eight-time world champion Sébastien Ogier, reigning champion Kalle Rovanperä and 2024 title contender Elfyn Evans. The team presented both the GR YARIS Rally1 Hybrid and the Rally2 WRC, new for this season, and also tested the new GR Yaris, a sports road model developed with the direct participation of TGR-WRT and its professional drivers.
Team Principal Jari-Matti Latvala hosted the official handover of the keys to the two special edition versions of the new GR Yaris to Ogier and Rovanperä, with a special message from President of Toyota Motor Corporation and Master Driver Akio Toyoda (aka "Morizo"), who thanked them for their contribution to the championship. Each of the drivers has participated directly in the special editions, of which only very limited numbers are manufactured, adapting the handling of the cars to their personal preferences.
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MotorTranscript
00:00Goodwood is a very unique event. We have thousands of people, tens of thousands of people.
00:07But at the same time you have all the motorsport products that have been there, I would say, the last 100, 120 years.
00:14And you can see them all driving. And that is where you can hear the sound. And that's where the passion is currently.
00:23You know, I just so appreciate Toyota's courage in pursuing the hydrogen idea, mainly of course orientated towards motorsport.
00:32But, you know, motorsport needs to think environmentally as much as you need to think with road cars.
00:39So it's, you know, I just think it's very admirable. I think it improves all the time.
00:44And that's all you can hope for with development, isn't it, is you get closer to your ideal.
00:49This car was actually built in Europe. So together with TGIE, TME, TMC, we built this car in Europe so we can bring it to events to showcase the future technology for motorsport.
00:58And from Toyota's point of view, to make ever better cars. So the point is to showcase what is available for motorsport in the future.
01:08It's always for any car enthusiast a big, big pleasure to be here. It's amazing to see cool cars everywhere, basically.
01:16So I think we all love it. We all enjoy these moments. And it was also a special day for me, getting my Yaris GR, a special edition.
01:24Finally, it's a real honor and I'm looking forward to drive it at home.
01:32I don't think people expected this big of a truck to be here and to go on those narrow stages and obviously on the hill climb too.
01:38Everybody loves seeing the car jack up and down and see how that goes. So, yeah, it's been a lot of fun to see everybody's impression.
01:44For sure, I mean, we've got everything from a Dakar car to a hydrogen car. So we've got everything under the tent here.
01:49And the guys racing team family is very strong and the fan presence is real. So it's been a lot of fun.
01:55I think it's very difficult to capture the true feelings that goes on inside the car from cameras and even from the outside sometimes.
02:20So to get a few lucky people in the passenger seat is great to experience what goes on in a Rally 1 car.
02:28And of course, this stage is quite narrow and testing. So, yeah, pretty nice to have a few passengers along.
02:37To be honest, it was my first time driving the Yaris GR and the Supra. And, wow, I'm really impressed how you can buy these kind of cars.
02:47Literally. I mean, it's like racing cars you can buy in the shop. So it's like fun toys to be in the garage.
03:00Yeah, it has been amazing. First plan was just to spend one day, but, yeah, I have to obviously stay for a second day.
03:07I have been enjoying so much. So many cool people and cars around.
03:13You don't even realize how many cool stuff you see every day. And, yeah, then obviously driving yesterday the rally car and also now my drift car up the hill for the fans.
03:23It's so much fun having some of my drift friends being here and just spending good times together and giving good show for the fans.
03:43.