OREANDA-NEWS. Starting April 11, Toyota will unite all motorsports activities under GAZOO Racing. The move will clarify the role of Toyota's motorsports in its efforts to make ever-better cars and foster new generations of car enthusiasts.

Until now, Toyota has participated in competitions around the world—including the World Endurance Championship (WEC), the Super GT in Japan, and the N?rburgring 24 Hours endurance race—through the separate Toyota Racing, Lexus Racing and GAZOO Racing teams. Of those, GAZOO Racing in particular was created to expand the role of promoting motorsports beyond that of traditional automakers, and carry out grassroots activities aimed at creating new and ever-growing generations of car enthusiasts.

Concerning today's announcement, Toyota President Akio Toyoda said: "Our founder Kiichiro Toyoda once said that motorsports are vital to the evolution of car making and the entire auto industry. With this in mind, GAZOO Racing has carried out activities aiming to nurture our people, develop our cars, and inspire new car enthusiasts, under the belief that the roads build the people, and the people build the cars."

Toyota will participate in races and rallies under the team name Toyota GAZOO Racing. The first event Toyota GAZOO Racing will participate in will be the Motor Sport Japan 2015 Festival in Odaiba, to be held by the Japan Motor Sport Promotion Organization on April 11-12, 2015 in Tokyo.