Hyundai N and Toyota GR Collaborate for a Special Track Day Festival

Hyundai N and Toyota Gazoo Racing have collaborated to organise a special track day festival in South Korea.

It’s not often that we see two automakers collaborating for a special project, let alone if such a thing involves their respective performance arm. And fortunately, that’s what we exactly get, as Hyundai’s N performance arm is collaborating with Toyota Gazoo Racing (TGR) for a special motorsport festival.

Named Hyundai N X Toyota Gazoo Racing Festival, this special event will take place on Oct 27 at the Everland Speedway in South Korea, where visitors are slated to feast their eyes on some special race cars and models from both brands.

The inaugural collaboration between these two fierce rally rivals will include a track day session, providing visitors the chance to witness and experience various Hyundai N and Toyota GR vehicles in action. What’s more special is that both automakers even offer visitors to test ride their rally cars, as well as a demo drive with professional drivers from both teams.

Hyundai i20N Rally Hybrid WRC rally car (top-left), Hyundai Ioniq 5 N TA Spec (top-right), Hyundai Elantra N (bottom-left), Hyundai Ioniq 5 N (bottom-right).

Among the cars that Hyundai will be fleeting for this event include the WRC duo of i20 N Rally 1 Hybrid and Rally 2, several production models under Hyundai N such as the Ioniq 5 N and the Elantra N, as well as a bunch of prototypes like the Ioniq 5 N Drift Spec, Ioniq 5 N TA Spec, and even the retro-inspired N Vision 74. In charge of driving both the rally cars are Hyundai’s current WRC drivers’ lineup, comprising Thierry Neuville, Dani Sordo, and Andreas Mikkelsen.

Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 (top-left), Toyota GR Corolla H2 concept (top-right), Toyota AE86 H2 concept (bottom-left), Toyota GR86 & GR Corolla (bottom-left)

Meanwhile, attendees from Toyota Gazoo Racing include both the GR Yaris Rally 1 and Rally 2, the hydrogen prototype duo of the AE86 H2 and GR Corolla H2, as well as several production models under the GR banner. The two rally cars will be driven by Toyota’s current rally driver Takamoto Katsuta and his father Norihiko Katsuta, who is also a nine-time Japan Rally Champion, and Toyota Gazoo Racing WRC team principal Jari-Matti Latvala.

Leading the list of dignitaries attending this festival is Hyundai Motor Group executive chairman Euisin Chung alongside his Toyota counterpart Akio Toyoda, who is also known by his racing pseudonym Master Driver Morizo.

“This event will emphasise the fierce competition and friendship that coexist in motorsport and is an opportunity to demonstrate the pure passion for cars shared by both Hyundai and Toyota, as well as our commitment to further expand motorsport culture in the future,” said Yeong Ho Lee, executive VP of Global Operations Division for Hyundai.