Hyundai Motor and Toyota Motor Corporation Drive Motorsport Culture

Hyundai Motor Company and Toyota Motor Corporation have successfully teamed up to host the first-ever ‘Hyundai N x TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Festival’ at Yongin Speedway in Korea.

Hyundai N and TOYOTA GAZOO Racing, both competitors in the World Rally Championship (WRC), teamed up for the event to showcase Hyundai and Toyota’s high-performance production and racing cars. The sold-out event highlighted their shared commitment to boosting South Korea’s motorsport culture and enhancing customer engagement.

Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung and Toyota Motor Corporation Chairman Akio Toyoda actively participated in the event. Chung joined Toyoda piloting a Yaris WRC performing Morizo’s signature intense performance driving including donuts in the midst of roaring applause of spectators. After the performance run, the two men walked up on stage together thanking nearby fans, shook hands and shared their thoughts.

“With our high-performance N brand, we’re committed to delivering excitement and satisfying all car enthusiasts. We’ll continue to push forward in motorsport alongside Toyota so that more people can enjoy the thrill of driving,” said Euisun Chung, Executive Chair of Hyundai Motor Group. “When I met with Chairman Akio Toyoda earlier this year, we discovered our mutual passion for racing, and I was delighted that we could hold this event. Chairman Toyoda is someone in the automotive industry that I respect deeply, and it’s an honor to be here with him today,” he added.

Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda began with a warm “Saranghaeyo!” (meaning “I love you” in Korean) and continued, “Earlier this year, I had the pleasure of meeting with Executive Chair Chung in Japan, where this wonderful idea took shape. And here we are, just 10 months later, making this incredible event a reality! I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to everyone who helped bring this event to life. Together, Toyota and Hyundai are joining hands to create a better society and shape the future of mobility.”

Following the two executives’ show runs, the Hyundai N brand treated fans to dynamic show runs featuring its i20 N Rally 1 Hybrid, two i20 N Rally 2 competition cars for customer motorsport, the mass-produced high-performance N lineup – including IONIQ 5 N and Elantra N – and the IONIQ 5 N Drift Spec.

Hyundai N’s show run drivers included Thierry Neuville, who is currently leading the 2024 WRC drivers’ championship, Dani Sordo, Andreas Mikkelsen, and Mikel Azcona, the 2022 World Touring Car Cup champion.

Toyota demonstrated its high-performance lineup with dynamic show runs that featured the brand’s GR YARIS Rally 1 HYBRID, GR Yaris Rally 2, GR Supra and GR86.

The drivers included current Toyota WRC driver Takamoto Katsuta, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally team principal Jari-Matti Latvala, and Norihiko Katsuta, a nine-time Japanese Rally champion and the father of Takamoto Katsuta.

The festival included a variety of participatory programs to give customers firsthand experience, including a track day event that saw 30 Hyundai N-model owners and 30 owners of TOYOTA GR vehicles drive their own high-performance vehicles on the Yongin Speedway circuit. This allowed them to directly experience the performance of their cars on a professional-level circuit.

Other immersive programs included the ‘WRC Taxi’, where customers got the opportunity to ride in a full WRC racing car to witness impressive rally-style maneuvers, and the ‘WRC Circuit Taxi’, where drivers from both companies – including master driver ‘Morizo’ himself – took passengers on a high-speed tour of the track, showcasing the full capabilities of each brand’s WRC vehicles.

The event also featured a ‘Gymkhana Competition’, where professional drivers from Hyundai N and TOYOTA GAZOO Racing teamed up with customers to race in Hyundai’s Avante N and Toyota’s GR86. Additionally, the ‘Show & Shine’ corner of the event showcased participants’ customized vehicles, celebrating the tuning culture surrounding both brands.

The event culminated in a ‘Parade Lap’ featuring 66 Hyundai N and TOYOTA GAZOO Racing vehicles driven by customers. Executive Chair Chung and Chairman Toyoda led the way. Hyundai Motor and Toyota Motor Corporation also showcased their respective next-generation high-performance vehicles at their respective brand booths during the event.

At the Hyundai N booth, the company displayed two ‘Rolling Labs’: the RN24, a new test vehicle that embodies Hyundai N’s new vision of high performance, and the N Vision 74, a hydrogen fuel cell hybrid that underscores Hyundai Motor’s commitment to hydrogen innovation. The IONIQ 5 N TA Spec that conquered Pikes Peak and fan favorite the Elantra N were also exhibited.

At the Toyota booth, several innovative models were showcased. These included the ORC ROOKIE GR Corolla H2 Concept, the AE86 H2 concept – a hydrogen internal combustion engine powered vehicle based on the Toyota Sprinter Trueno. Alongside these, concept cars from the high-performance lineup, including the GR Supra and the GR86, were also on display.

Other attractions included the ‘WRC Game Zone’, where attendees could virtually drive Hyundai N and TOYOTA GAZOO Racing vehicles through the racing simulator. This was joined by the ‘Racing Car Service Park’ where festival goers could watch the competition race car being serviced and prepared for events exactly as they would in WRC stage.

At the event, Hyundai Motor and Toyota Motor Corporation announced that they will donate all proceeds from ticket sales to the Korea Automobile Racing Association (KARA) to contribute to the development of domestic car culture and the expansion of motorsport.

Hyundai Motor reinforces commitment to driving motorsport culture

The ‘Hyundai N x TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Festival’ is the latest effort in a long line of initiatives by Hyundai Motor to develop motorsport culture in South Korea. Over the past 20-plus years, Hyundai has held the ‘Hyundai Click Speed Festival’ (2003-2010), the ‘Korea Speed Festival’ (2011-2018), and the ‘Hyundai N Festival’ (2019-current).

In addition, since announcing its return to competition in the WRC in 2012, Hyundai Motor has participated in numerous motorsport events, gaining experience and developing innovative technologies, such as high-performance vehicle suspension and braking systems.

In 2015, the company launched its high-performance brand, Hyundai N, and released high-performance vehicles equipped with motorsport-based technologies. Hyundai’s N models continue to deliver the joy of driving to customers, enhancing the overall technological competitiveness of Hyundai vehicles by expanding the application of high-performance vehicle technologies to general vehicles.

Hyundai Motor is pioneering a new area of high-performance eco-friendly vehicles by applying this approach to technological innovation to vehicles such as the IONIQ 5 N, providing driving fun in the era of electrification.

Looking ahead, Hyundai World Rally Team and TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team will showcase dynamic performances of both squads when they compete in the FORUM8 Rally Japan, the final round of the FIA World Rally Championship 2024 series, from Thursday, November 21 to Sunday, November 24 in Aichi and Gifu prefectures, Japan.