On Wednesday, Toyota published a statement whose core message was, on the face of it, clear: Toyota Gazoo Racing will revert to the name Gazoo Racing in order to strengthen its roots in motorsport and further promote the development of ever-better cars.
What made the announcement confusing, however, was that Toyota did not clarify whether the name change will affect its WRC team, which has competed in recent years under the name Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team – and if so, whether the change would take effect immediately.
The statement went into detail about the origins of Toyota Gazoo Racing and how the Japanese manufacturer’s motorsport operations were unified under a single name in 2015. In 2017, Toyota returned to the World Rally Championship.
In the summary at the beginning of the statement, it is noted that Gazoo Racing – without Toyota in the name – will compete in top-level motorsport series, such as the World Rally Championship.
However, this cannot be taken as a direct conclusion that the WRC team’s official name will change to Gazoo Racing. In the entry list for Rally Monte Carlo, published on Monday, the entrant for Toyota’s factory drivers was still listed as Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT.
It is, of course, possible that the newly announced brand alignment has not yet been reflected in the official documents of the Rally Monte Carlo organisers and the FIA. Alternatively, the WRC team may continue under the Toyota Gazoo Racing name – or the name change may only be implemented after the 2026 season.
What was confirmed on Wednesday, however, is that the official name of Toyota’s factory team competing in the World Endurance Championship will change. Going forward, the team will be known as Toyota Racing, as will Toyota’s research and development centre based in Cologne, which previously operated under the name Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe.
Toyota’s WRC team is headquartered in Jyväskylä. The company behind the team operates under the name Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team Oy.
