Power Wheels Magazine A Notch Above
ROOKIE Racing Co., Ltd. (ROOKIE Racing) and Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota) announced their competition in the IDEMITSU 1500 SUPER ENDURANCE 2022 (Thailand 25H Endurance Race) at the Chang International Circuit in Thailand from December 17 to 18, 2022. They will race with the ORC ROOKIE GR Corolla H2 concept, a hydrogen engine vehicle., and the ORC ROOKIE GR86 CNF Concept, a carbon-neutral fuel vehicle. The participation will not be for the entire 25-hours but will be for the first and last few hours of the race. This will be the first time for both vehicles to compete in a race outside of Japan.
In addition, one of the Toyota Gazoo Racing Team Thailand’s vehicles is also going to run on carbon neutral fuels. Starting with participation in the Thailand 25H Endurance Race, ROOKIE Racing and Toyota, will continuously strive to increase and accelerate development of carbon neutral technologies in Asia through motorsports.
ROOKIE Racing challenge in Super Taikyu series in Japan
ROOKIE Racing and Toyota participated in the Super Taikyu series in Japan midway through the 2021 season, with a hydrogen-powered Corolla, and accelerated efforts towards “producing,” “transporting,” and “using” hydrogen, together with like-minded partners inside and outside the industry with the aim of helping to achieve a true carbon neutral society. From the 2022 season, in addition to the hydrogen engine Corolla, ROOKIE Racing and Toyota are racing the synthetic fuel GR86 and continuing to approach the challenge of expanding clean energy options, including through the use of internal combustion engines.
Akio Toyoda, President of Toyota Motor Corporation, is also the founder and team owner of ROOKIE Racing and participates under driver name “Morizo”.
Expansion of Motorsports activities to Asia
Recently, during the ninth round of the World Rally Championship (WRC) in Ypres in August and the 13th round of the WRC in Japan in November, ROOKIE Racing and Toyota ran a demonstration of the GR Yaris H2 hydrogen engine vehicle under test development. This was aimed at demonstrating the potential of hydrogen as a viable option for achieving carbon neutrality under grueling rally conditions. Morizo also drove the vehicle to provide its safety and performance credentials.
Now the demonstration moves to Asia. The Chang International Circuit venue is a major international circuit in Thailand, and hosts the Thailand MotoGP, the world’s most prestigious motorcycle racing series. Since the circuit opened in 2014, Toyota Motor Thailand Co., Ltd. has been the main sponsor, and has promoted the development of motorsports in Thailand by holding one-make races there. Rookie Racing won the 10-hour “IDEMITSU 600 SUPER ENDURANCE 2019”, its first entry in a race held at the circuit. This year, ROOKIE Racing and Toyota’s first entry in three years, the cars will be tested in an environment different from Japan, to accelerate efforts to expand technology options toward creating a carbon neutral society across the globe.