Toyota’s executive vice president Hiroki Nakajima has published a message reviewing the 2026 season. It was the team’s first season competing as TOYOTA RACING, and it brought four victories and both the manufacturers’ and drivers’ world titles. The message also pays tribute to a driver named Mike, who is retiring from racing at the end of the year.
A new name and an immediate payoff
Toyota’s endurance racing team has rounded off its 2026 campaign with a message from Executive Vice President Hiroki Nakajima. It was released alongside the team’s coverage of the 6 Hours of Monza. In its first season under the TOYOTA RACING banner, the team won four races and took both the manufacturers’ and the drivers’ World Championships.
Nakajima summed the year up in one line:
“In 2026, TOYOTA RACING took a step forward.”
The races that shaped the year
The message picks out several moments from the season. According to Nakajima, the run began with the team’s first win of the year at Imola. He credits strategy, determined driving and a whole-team effort for getting through the 24 hours of Le Mans.
At Fuji Speedway, the team’s home event, he says the support of fans who filled the grandstands in red became a source of strength. At Barcelona, the work done over the season turned into what he describes as a convincing result.
Nakajima also admits that not every weekend went to plan. He says team members took responsibility, learned from setbacks and applied those lessons at the next event, and that the squad grew stronger with each race.
Thanks to the team, rivals and a retiring driver
Much of the message thanks the people behind the result: fans at the circuits and around the world, partners, and the team’s drivers, engineers and mechanics. Nakajima says he is “truly proud of the way you never gave up, united your strengths, and fought until the very end.”
He gives special mention to Mike, who ends his racing career at the close of the season. Nakajima thanks him “for supporting Toyota’s challenge over so many years and for the tremendous contribution you have made to this team.” He also thanks rival teams and everyone involved in running the races.
The Morizo influence
Nakajima credits Morizo, the racing name of Toyota chairman Akio Toyoda, with laying the foundations for the success. He says Morizo has developed both people and technology through motorsport, creating an environment where individuals think independently and take on new challenges.
What it means
The message makes clear that Toyota does not treat the titles as an end point. “The results we achieved in our first season as TOYOTA RACING are not the finish line,” Nakajima writes. He adds that the team will use the experience it has gained to drive its “next evolution” under the motto “For the Engineering Race”.
Winning both world titles in the team’s first season under its new name is a strong start for Toyota’s rebranded motorsport programme as it looks ahead to next season.
Source: newsroom.toyota.eu