Akio Toyoda (Toyota) : « The phrase “hate to lose” has become our slogan »
In the 2023 season, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing won eight titles! Morizo hates to lose too often... Therefore I am as delighted as you could expect with eight titles. I'm so happy! To the team, to the drivers, and to the fans, thank you so much!
Now the phrase “hate to lose” has become our slogan. In Rally Finland, Kalle Rovanperä said to me "We hate to lose" after he went off couse and showed that we never give up. Not only the drivers, but also everyone in the whole team hates to lose! I felt that this common understanding is the secret to our strength!
Why do I hate to lose too often? The other day, I looked back at my past. I remembered a scene at the Nurburgring when I was being overtaken by other cars. This scene was the origin of my 'hate to lose' mentality! This scene was the origin of my 'hate to lose' mind! The cars that overtook me were new vehicles developed by European manufacturers... and I was driving an 80 Supra, which had already gone out of production and sales...
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I felt that the cars that overtook me were saying "Toyota will never make such a car like this..." It's frustrating to remember even now... This frustration was my origin. Since then, I have been determined to make a car like that! I have been working hard to achieve this. That's the reason I've continued my driving training. Even though I am not an engineer, I wanted to participate in car development somehow, which is why I took action. Looking back... at first I was fighting alone. I don't think anyone would have responded to me if I said "I hate to lose ", like now.
It took almost 20 years, and now I really have a lot of friends. Not only drivers but also engineers and mechanics. We share our frustrations... and we fight in motorsport. We are all friends trying to make a car that was said to be “impossible” to make at the time.
To win in motorsports, you have to make a car that is easy to drive together. I believe that the eight titiles are exactly the result of our ability to make such cars.
In the 2024 season, of course, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing will hate to lose. “We definitely want to win!” “How can we improve the car for that?" Today the friends who has that mindset come here, with Morizo.
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