Tomikawa
You spoke about making improvements without hesitation immediately through a recall. I feel this is similar to making ever-better cars through motorsports, particularly with the concept of driving, breaking, fixing, and constantly improving things you notice with the car.

A press conference was held for the Super Taikyu Organization (STO). The actual conference will be held after this episode is recorded, but please check out Toyota Times News for details.

In this conference, Akio spoke about changing the STO to the STMO. I understand the M in STMO stands for “Mirai (future),” but what are your thoughts on this?

Akio
We will be announcing a change from Super Taikyu Organization (STO) to Super Taikyu Mirai Organization (STMO) at this time.

This is an organization that was originally set up by the late husband of the current CEO, Ms. Kuwayama.

Previously, Super GT, Super Formula, and Super Taikyu were all run by the same group. This group then split into three, and the Super Taikyu was more of a participant-focused race, which was started by Ms. Kuwayama’s husband, who wanted to have a proper participation-focused event.

After her husband passed away, with the question of how to keep the STO going up in the air, Ms. Harumi Kuwayama stood up to take on the role of protecting that race.

Meanwhile, we at ROOKIE Racing, Toyota Motor Corporation, Subaru, Mazda, and others started talking about carbon neutrality. But motorsports and the idea of making ever-better cars through motorsports are almost the complete opposite, like the bad guy, when you think about things from a carbon neutrality perspective.

To turn things around and stop feeling behind the times, we decided to start building a carbon-neutral future through motorsports. We at ROOKIE Racing and Toyota Motor Corporation started using hydrogen and testing other ideas, while Subaru started using e-fuel.

I think we were able to demonstrate that we, on the motorsports side, are also working on carbon-neutral initiatives while racing and creating a picture of the agile evolution of our development progress.

Amid all this, Ms. Kuwayama consulted me about her concerns with the current structure of the organization when it came to deciding what to do about the future. So, as I will be announcing later, we will be adding new members who will help us create the future along with the personnel we already have on board.

We added “Mirai (future)” to the name and became STMO to change the structure so that we could work together to make motorsports even more appealing.

My name’s Morizo, right? I was the only one who suggested it might be M for Morizo.

Tomikawa
It’s an M you can also use for those sorts of jokes, too!

The quote I love most from Morizo is, “Like-mindedness gathers people, and the actions of those people create the future.”

Is this something that you are able to achieve in the field of motorsports and the Super Taikyu?

Akio
This is something Toyota Times News followed up and reported on continuously, and you were able to draw out quotes such as “Creating the future is something that is made through like-mindedness” and “If you take action, the future landscape will start to change.”

I think I have been able to get a lot more people to agree with me because you reported on this continuously. That’s not just us feeling that way, we’re actually gaining more supporters.

In addition, cars are getting better, and infrastructure development is moving forward. I feel those sorts of facts point toward an increase in the number of like-minded supporters, and I hope people will continue to support our activities with more interest than before.

Tomikawa
Speaking of making ever-better cars, I believe you also went to Nürburgring.

Akio
Yes, I did. One of the conditions I have set for myself as a master driver is that, if I can no longer drive the Nürburgring, I will have to retire from being a master driver.

I hadn’t driven it for almost five years, partly due to COVID-19.

After a five-year absence, I wouldn’t be able to get approval to enter a race. That’s another reason why I want to race at Nürburgring this year.

The roads of Nürburgring are quite tough, so I’d like to see if I can drive it after five years.

Various manufacturers use this really tough stretch of road, known as the “Industrial Park,” or IP, for development. That means that all sorts of manufacturers use the same test course simultaneously.

So, the rule is that you must keep your eyes on your own car and your car alone.

The unspoken rule is that you must not look at other manufacturers’ vehicles.

However, when I did my driving training there about 20 years ago, the car I was driving was a discontinued Supra.

I didn’t try to look at any of the other manufacturers’ cars, but I just happened to see one of the cars in passing. It was a car we had never seen before, but 2 years later, it appeared in a race.

As I was doing my driver training in the Supra and conversing with the road, it was almost like I could hear other cars saying, “You can’t do this at Toyota, can you? Just stay driving in your old car.”

That was around 2005, almost 20 years ago, when I started my training as a master driver before becoming president.

This time around, we brought our GR Yaris, and people were glancing at it. In fact, they parked their car next to us and stared.

Tomikawa
Maybe they came near it by pretending to park because there is that rule that you mustn’t look?

Akio
Oh no, it was far more blatant than that. You’re not supposed to look, but they were staring at it.

When I think about 20 years ago, coming back after being away for five years and having our car stared at so much was such an incredibly joyful experience that is difficult to put into words.

Tomikawa
The tables had completely turned.

Akio
It was at Nürburgring, so I don’t want to simply say I felt happy. It was closer to a feeling of ecstasy.

Tomikawa
It means you were able to arrive at this point because you continued to make ever-better cars through motorsports as the starting point, and what you have been doing all along was not a mistake.

Akio
When you don’t know what the correct answer is, you have no idea what to do even though people tell you “do this” or “do that.” But the important thing is that you do something.

Most may end in failure, but as I keep saying, if you continue to do things with the same goals in mind and continue to search for the same answers, the future of the world and the future landscape will change. I think this perfectly embodies that notion.

We didn’t know if Toyota could really make ever-better cars 20 years ago. However, “roads build cars and people,” and “let’s break cars, fix them, and hone them” became mottos. These were slogans that didn’t exist 20 years ago.

I believe that the fact that these sorts of things can arise from actions that are almost a matter of course is proof that the landscape is changing.