Is Toyota the first name you think of when it comes to racing? Maybe, maybe not – but it does compete in a wide array of motorsports. And those activities will now be coordinated by this guy right here.
His name is Hisatake Murata, and he’s just been named president of both Toyota Motorsport GmbH and Toyota Gazoo Racing. His predecessor (and former boss) Toshio Sato is rotating back into Toyota’s production powertrain operations.
TMG is the Japanese automaker’s motorsports division based in Cologne, Germany. It operated Toyota’s F1 team when that was still competing, and today runs both the company’s LMP1 and World Rally Championship efforts.
Gazoo is the title under which both those teams compete. So basically, if Toyota’s racing on the world stage – which is to say apart from its American NASCAR program and Japanese Super GT effort – this is Murata-san will be calling the shots.
Murata has been working in Toyota’s racing divisions since the late 1980s, involved in everything from Group C sports cars to Indy open-wheelers. The promotion lifts him up from his current position as head of powertrain for the LMP1 effort, where he spearheaded the development of the complex hybrid system that propels the manufacturer’s front-running prototypes.
It comes at a difficult time for Toyota, however, as the automaker may be forced to withdraw from Le Mans and the FIA World Endurance Championship through no fault of its own.
Though it had Audi and Porsche (not to mention Nissan) to compete against until just a couple of years ago, both of the VW divisions have since withdrawn from the category. This leaves Toyota with the unenviable decision to either pack it up early (with a WEC title but no Le Mans win in hand) or be left performing what would basically come down to a parade with no rivals to compete against.
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