Toyota's father-son duo to test carbon-neutral fuels at the 25-hour endurance race in Buriram, and here are 17 photos
Eric · Dec 16, 2022 04:16 PM
0
0
It’s race weekend again and the Idemitsu 25 Hours Super Endurance race is happening at the Chang International Circuit in Buriram, Thailand. Today is the qualifying round, with actual race days set to happen over this weekend (17- to 18-December).
Morizo is Akio Toyoda's racing pseudonym, and Daisuke Toyoda is his son
In addition to the usual race-prepped Toyota Corolla Altis and Toyota Vios, the list of participants include two cars that stand out: a Toyota GR Corolla bearing #232 and a Toyota GR86 with #328. One of the drivers for #232 is Akio Toyoda (Morizo), while his son, Daisuke Toyoda is one of the drivers for #328. Daisuke Toyoda is Senior Vice President of Woven Planet, a spin-off from the former Toyota Research Institute - Advanced Development (TRI-AD).
Just to set the record straight, both cars (GR Corolla and GR86) are not fielded by Toyota Gazoo Racing Team Thailand, but rather Rookie Racing, a race team that belongs to Akio Toyoda, the President of Toyota. While Toyota Gazoo Racing Team Thailand races for points at its home turf, Rookie Racing will race for a completely different purpose. More on that later.
While the rest of the race cars racing at the Chang International Circuit are fed with high-octane race fuel, #232 will be fed with a far different diet.
Instead of high-octane race fuel, #232 will be refueled with hydrogen. Toyota’s engineers engineered the GR Corolla's turbocharged 1.6-litre 3-cylinder engine to burn hydrogen instead of petrol.
As for #328, this Toyota GR86 has been converted to burn synthetic fuel instead of regular high-octane race fuel. Synthetic fuel is basically man-made petrol.
Instead of refining crude oil to make petrol, hydrogen is combined with carbon dioxide – preferably using renewable energy, to create a new carbon-neutral liquid fuel.
It’s important to note that Rookie Racing is not racing for points and the team won’t be racing the entire 25 hours. Their objective at this endurance race is to gather data for on-limit race conditions, trial logistics, and storage of hydrogen and synthetic fuels.
Catch the live steam of the race by visiting Toyota Gazoo Racing Thailand’s livestream here.
Started from the IT industry but somehow managed to find his way into the automotive industry. If he’s not gaming, he’s constantly tinkering with his daily/weekend car.
