The Hyundai Motor Company and Toyota Motor Corporation are to co-host a unique motorsport event, the Hyundai N x TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Festival, in South Korea to show their high-performance models and racing cars, and to expose Korean fans to the thrilling world of motorsport.
Scheduled for 27 October 2024 at the Everland Speedway in Yong-in, South Korea, the event represents the inaugural collaboration between Hyundai N and TOYOTA GAZOO Racing in Korea.
The Hyundai Motor Company and Toyota Motor Corporation will host a Track Day event where customers can immerse themselves in high-performance culture and witness Hyundai N and Toyota GR vehicles in action.
The highlight of the event will be a thrilling demo drive, reminiscent of an actual rally, featuring racing cars and professional drivers from each company’s World Rally Team. Customers can also experience the performance of these competition vehicles firsthand through a unique test ride. This special collaboration aims to propel Korean motorsport culture to new heights.
Euisun Chung, executive chair of the Hyundai Motor Group, will attend the special event and will be joined by Akio Toyoda, chairman of the Toyota Motor Corporation, who often engages in driver activities under the name of ‘Morizo’.
Hyundai N will show rally cars from its successful World Rally Championship (WRC) programme, including the i20 N Rally 1 Hybrid and i20 N Rally 2, driven by Hyundai Motorsport WRC drivers Thierry Neuville, Dani Sordo, and Andreas Mikkelsen. Hyundai’s Touring Car Racing (TCR) drivers Norbert Mischelisz and Mikel Azcona will drive Hyundai N’s production car lineup, including the IONIQ 5 N and Elantra N models.
TOYOTA GAZOO Racing will present its GR Yaris Rally 1 Hybrid, GR Yaris Rally 2, GR Supra, and GR86, as well as other rally cars and high-performance models. Toyota WRC driver Takamoto Katsuta, Jari-Matti Latvala, principal of the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team, and Takamoto Katsuta’s father, nine-time Japan rally champion Norihiko Katsuta, are set to participate as Toyota drivers.
In a nod towards the future of motorsport, the festival will also showcase future-oriented prototypes, such as Hyundai Motor’s IONIQ 5 N Drift Spec and hydrogen-powered N Vision 74, as well as the Pikes Peak record-holding IONIQ 5 N TA Spec.
Toyota will showcase TOYOTA GAZOO Racing’s hydrogen combustion engine AE86 H2 Concept based on the Sprinter Trueno, which was presented in Japanese animation Initial D, and the liquid hydrogen-powered GR Corolla, powered by liquid hydrogen to show Toyota Motor’s multi-pathway approach, offering a wide range of electrification options to meet the diverse needs of their customers.
“We are excited to welcome the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing team, our competitors in the WRC, to Korea”, said Yeong Ho Lee, executive vice president for the Global Operations Division. “This event will emphasize the fierce competition and friendship that coexist in motorsport and is an opportunity to demonstrate the pure passion for cars shared by both Hyundai and Toyota, as well as our commitment to further expand motorsport culture in the future.”
Both brands will come together to celebrate the spirit of competition at the Everland Speedway in Yong-in.
“We’re glad that Hyundai N and TOYOTA GAZOO Racing, which are competitors in world motorsport, are working together to create an opportunity to enjoy car culture beyond motorsport”, said Manabu Konyama, CEO and president of Toyota Motor Korea. “Toyota remains committed to furthering and strengthening motorsports culture.”
For more than 20 years Hyundai Motor has sponsored and held various competitions to help develop motorsport in Korea, including the Hyundai Click Speed Festival (2003-2010), the Korea Speed Festival (2011-2018) and the Hyundai N Festival (2019-2018).
