Five carmakers are enjoying the challenge of the Super Taikyu Series ST-Q class. During a press conference at the Round 2 Fuji 24 Hours Race, representatives from each company shared their commitment to ensuring a future for both engines and motorsports.
The five ST-Q class “co-challengers” racing to create a carbon-neutral (CN) society—Toyota, Mazda, Subaru, Nissan, and Honda—gathered under one roof for their first-ever joint press conference.
Contributing to the future through motorsports
At the session, GAZOO Racing Company President Tomoya Takahashi was asked what he wanted to convey to the wider world, following the shift from the Super Taikyu Organization (STO) to the Super Taikyu Mirai Organization (STMO).
President Takahashi
I hope that people from different regions will get a small sense of how their lives may change in the future by seeing the ST-Q class. That would be our way of repaying the opportunities we receive through Super Taikyu.
As the incoming STMO chairperson, Morizo (Chairman Akio Toyoda) wants to make motorsports sustainable and engage with car lovers to ensure we can continue enjoying this for a long time to come.
At GR, we feel the same way. By nurturing CN technologies in this way, I think motorsport can make a positive contribution to the future and remain an exciting, carbon-neutral activity.
Cross-company decarbonization efforts speed up
Super Taikyu’s ST-Q class was set up in 2021 to allow manufacturers to bring in vehicles under development.
The journey began with ROOKIE Racing’s GR Supra, which took part in the season opener as a development vehicle. By the second round’s Fuji 24 Hours Race, the field of CN cars began to grow with the addition of the hydrogen-engine Corolla.
More like-minded partners have continued to come on board, starting with a Mazda Demio running on next-generation biodiesel, followed in 2022 by the Nissan Z Racing concept, as well as a GR86 and Subaru BRZ running on the same CN fuel. In 2023, Honda also joined the class with its Civic Type R CNF-R.
As the ST-Q contingent keeps growing, the participating companies have come to use races as an opportunity to exchange information on decarbonization. These activities have been dubbed the “Super Taikyu Waigaya Club.
Each of the club’s five member companies shared their thoughts on these joint efforts.
President Takahashi
We gather at every Super Taikyu race, without setting any real agenda, to talk about what we might be able to do together.
At the 2022 Auto Salon, Mazda’s Ikuo Maeda (Executive Fellow for Brand Design) spoke about embarking on a “co-challenge.”
I thought that was a brilliant way of putting it, so I borrowed “co-challenge” as the keyword for our Super Taikyu Waigaya Club.
As for what that joint challenge is, I believe it is about “making car lovers smile.”
To put smiles on the faces of car fans around the world, ensuring no one is left behind—I believe this is what our five carmakers can do together.
Each company is working on different areas in Super Taikyu, but for us, the focus is developing products, technologies, and personnel. We hope that by pursuing such goals in this arena, we can make the world’s car lovers smile.
I want this to be a place where we can enjoy ourselves while also making our customers happy.