The Super Taikyu Series enables carmakers to trial new energy sources that could be the options for realizing a carbon-neutral society. In Round 2, newcomers Honda and Nissan joined in the cross-company efforts.
Looking beyond the trials
President Sato
Over the past few years, this series has given us the opportunity to test out various initiatives.
In the longer term, we must move beyond the trial stage, so it’s important that we figure out how to expand this into a public rollout.
There is much to be done, but as the next step, I believe my role is to move the process from honing the technology here to making it publicly available in preparation for mass production.
On the race day, ENEOS held a ceremony to demonstrate synthetic fuels at the Toyota Safety Education Center “mobilitas,” next to Fuji International Speedway.
Among the attendees were national lawmakers, including members of a group promoting domestically produced carbon-neutral biofuels and synthetic fuels.
At the event, ENEOS President Takeshi Saito said the company was aiming to “advance the development of synthetic fuels to establish the technology and make it publicly available.” A driving demonstration was conducted with Toyota’s cooperation.
At a roundtable discussion following the ceremony, President Sato was asked about his future plans for Super Taikyu.
President Sato
The more we have done, the more deeply I’ve come to appreciate the value and significance of Super Taikyu.
After all, this is the heart of grassroots motorsport, where everyone can come together to enjoy racing.
Super Taikyu was not intended as a PR tool for manufacturers.
And yet we are given development opportunities such as the ST-Q. We must look for ways to repay this kindness, and to that end, we need a deeper understanding of customer motorsports.
Given the limits to what a single company can do, we hope to come together in exploring ways to support customer motorsport and turn this into concrete action.
The Fuji 24-hour race also saw the launch of the “Super Taikyu Waigaya Club,” along with a dedicated website.
The club was born out of a “waigaya” session (Honda-speak for open, frank discussions) at last season’s final round at Suzuka in November 2022, between the carmakers working together on ST-Q endeavors.
From the new Super Taikyu Waigaya Club website:
“An experimental space for creating the future, bringing together carmakers who share the Super Taikyu philosophy. This is about more than winning or losing—it is about shaping the future of cars and motorsport, and through them, the earth. Innovations born on the racetrack will create a new era. What promising future will the Super Taikyu Waigaya Club bring?”
Three years after carbon-neutral efforts first came to Super Taikyu with the hydrogen Corolla, the series has sparked an all-Japan co-challenge spanning many industries and now plays an increasingly central role in creating the future of cars and motorsport.